One car, 50 years, 450,000 miles

ahh yes , a chev y that runs forever . To bad we all can't be engineers .

Super story. Great tribute to an American car and its' life and times. Nice tribute to a couple, too. Congratulations.

I think this is just wonderful. The places this car has been and the detailed log the couple kept. It's as much a part of American History as American History itself! Congratulations!

Great story! Most people were lucky to get 100,000 miles out of a car back then, so it's amazing how well he's kept the car maintained and mostly original. There's lots of old cars out there, but very few with good stories behind them and still in original condition.

I am going to send this article to General Motors so they can do a story on this couple.

Only 450,000 miles? I recently took a ride in the cab of a tow truck (don't ask), and the driver told me he had just clicked over the 1 million mile mark.

Great story, great couple, great car.
Lets see any 2008 model fine examples of plastic and white metal, do this.

To the Hydes,congradulation's on your 60 years
of marriage,bless you both. And of course your
Chevy. and like that rabbit we see on the t.v.
commercial,it keeps on going and going and GOING !
SEE THE U.S.A. IN YOUR CHEVROLET !
joebsr laurel,Md.

I think it's great that in today's "use it up and throw it away" consumer culture, there are still folks who appreciate good machinery, maintain it well and don't get rid of it for the sake of fashion. This has to be the most thorughly documented '58 Chevy in history and I hope that someone at GM sees the article and gives the Hydes - and their car - the recognition they deserve. Congratulations!

Frank Roylance wrote:

Only 450,000 miles? I recently took a ride in the cab of a tow truck (don't ask), and the driver told me he had just clicked over the 1 million mile mark.

Heavy duty trucks (class IV and higher) are routinely run to 1,000,000 and higher. because of the high initial investment, it always makes sense to keep repairing on such a vehicle. More than 200k for a car is amazing, especially given that it is 50 years old as well.

pretty cool

Good story, but give most any car 3 engines and they will last 450,000 miles.

Hey Kevin, The Impala is the only 58 Chevy that could be called SNAZZY. That year Chevy made 4 models of the same car. The Impala was top of the line followed by the Bel Air, Biscayne, and the cheepo junko Del Ray. These were cars that answered to the name of Heavy Metal Thunder. The more chrome the more expensive. The Hydes are wonderful for loving their car. It has served them well.

watch out folks, Furher O'Malley might enact a classic car tax, cant have people not paying their fair share to the Peoples Republic of Maryland!!

jimmy swift wrote:

ahh yes , a chev y that runs forever . To bad we all can't be engineers .

now were lucky if we can get it out of the dealers lot, before the warranty is useless!

Great story...a couple key takeaways, GM should go back to making quality products that retain value. Maybe if GM made better products they would not be in the mess they are in. Secondly, are parents appreciated high dollar items more than our throw away generation. Finally, how is it that a car in 1958 gets 16 miles a gallon and a car in 2008 gets 20 miles per gallon...go figure???

I found the spirit of this story not to be in the car, but in the couple. How ironic (or rather, fitting), that their longevity has equaled their car's? You don't find many 50 year old cars on the road today and you definitely don't find many couples married 50+ years today. Boy, do they look happy. As a newlywed, that is where I hope to be in 40 years--smiling next to my best friend. Maybe not in my 2000 Civic, though. ;)

What a nice story and a beautiful car. Back in the 50's I had a customized 58 white Impala. Today, I have an agean turquoise 1958 Impala and my wife and I cruise around Bel Air and Fallston on nice weekend days. Needles to say, when I saw the Hydes car, there was an immediate connection. But wow, to have your ORIGINAL 1958 car! And, what great records Mr. Hyde kept. Keep on cruzin', Mr. & Mrs. Hyde.

A great story, but Rob is wrong--GM should NOT go back to making "quality" products like this '58 Chevy that is still running like a top after 450,000 miles.

The truth is that GM products today are MUCH better made, and routinely last MUCH longer than the average 1958 model Chevy. The fact that this car lasted so long is attributable to the owner's being an engineer who "can fix anything short of a Trident submarine."

If the owner had been a more typical car buyer of 1958, this car would have been on the junk heap around 1965 or so--cars were not made to last so long in those days, especially as there was no real foreign competition aside from the VW Beetle.

When Japanese automakers began to invade the american market with more reliable cars that got better gas milesage with fewer repairs, only then did US automakers start taking quality seriously.

Great story, I know of a gentleman who has a 1965 Mercedes 2-dr convertible gas engine car that has over 650,000 original miles without any overhaul and it's the same engine. He's been awarded the 500,000 mi award from Mercedes Benz. They don't have any awards for higher than that mileage. He still drives it every now and then. It's amazing to me that a gas engine car could go that many miles with no overhaul!