This is the rarest Impala body style ever. For some inexplicable reason, in Chevrolet decided to offer its top-tier Impala in the staid 2-door body style, normally reserved for the low-trim Bel Air and Biscayne. In theory, one could have ordered the new Super Sport package that came out in the spring of on one of these. Unlike in later years, in it was available on any Impala except the wagon, meaning also the 4-door sedan and hardtop and the 2-door sedan.
Now I know. They did, one year later on the Impala, but went in a different direction for The new four door hardtop was actually the most forward-looking of them, previewing where GM roofs were heading, with more traditional roofs and broader C-pillars, as would be seen on the new convertible-style coupe roof coming in The glassy and finny late fifties were on their way out. The Corvair kept that roof style going through ; it still looked good at the time and it still does now.
The big Chevy 4-doors were a bit too dull for my taste; the 2-door had a unique flair, especially on the Impala with its additional fake exhaust outlets and all the usual Impala accoutrements. Visibility was of course unparalleled. And no sunburned necks like when riding in the back seat of a bubbletop.
The Chevys were a bit trimmer in all dimensions, reflecting the reality that Detroit had gone overboard starting in just as a recession hit and big cars were suddenly not so desirable. Maybe the mind-set of the lingering recession was the trigger for offering the 2-door sedan in the Impala line? And it does have power steering. You might be surprised, but the one I owned in my imagination back then had the hp 4-barrel and the 4-speed T manual. The did become available late in the year, but realistically they pretty much all went to racers, as only were built.
Chevy even advertised a version of equipped like this. He ordered a coupe with the heavy duty police suspension and brakes, and a few other goodies. At its first race at Silverstone, Gurney put the Impala on the pole, lapping the track 1.
