Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Berkeley Street Sighting - 1960 Chevrolet Impala

Turquoise is such a 1950s-1960s color. Long before everyone went mad for metallic teal in the '90s, you had nice hues like this. In some lights it looks blue, in others green, but it's kind of a happy, optimistic color in keeping with an optimistic time. The chrome was thick, cars were big and floaty and if you weren't careful you might cut yourself on the tail fins. This '60 Chevy Impala sedan is Tasco Turquoise with matching interior, and just enough Ermine White to prevent being overwhelmed by all that turquoise.


If you're wondering what a name like Tasco Turquoise means, apparently it's an Anglicism of Taxco de Alarcón, Guerrero, Mexico. Taxco is known for its silver and turquoise jewelry. There's plenty of turquoise and silver going together on this Impala, which is unusually clean for an old car on the street in Berkeley. I've always thought 1960 was a surprisingly tame year for Chevrolet, after the wild '59s with their sharp sloping horizontal tail fins and teardrop taillights. Side trim was slightly more restrained, and front end styling was almost phoned-in apart from some stick-on gingerbread on the leading edge of the fenders that in my opinion doesn't contribute anything to the design. The rear fins have a bent look to them that reminds me of a Vought F4U Corsair fighter plane's wings, except upside down. It's a car that needs the right color to properly set it off, and I think this one found it.

No comments:

Post a Comment