326. Chevrolets and napping

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Afternoon naps

Martha Grimes, in her Richard Jury mysteries, likes to portray a London club as the place the members go to sleep during the day. This reminds me of a lounge in ASU’s Memorial Union -- back when I was a student -- where I would go to nap after lunch. There were too comfortable chairs and white noise. I wouldn’t object to finding a place like that now. Mostly I was in the library at this time of day, which was much less comfortable. The carrels by the windows provided a certain amount of privacy but you inevitably fell asleep face down on a book.

Accounts of fancier restaurants late in the 19th century or early in the 20th, sometimes mention private rooms upstairs which makes one think of romantic liaisons. Yet there must have been at least the occasional older gentleman napping in private after his meal.

See the USA in your Chevrolet

I really can’t recall the last time I thought Chevrolet had a good looking car, but I like both the current Impala and Malibu models, which got me thinking... 

My family owned the very first Impala in 1958. 

This could be our Impala.

I still think that is one of the best looking American cars ever. My family saw the USA between Louisville and Boulder repeatedly in that Impala, and we saw much of Colorado and Wyoming as well, and later much of California and Arizona in my dad’s Chevys. 

Prior to 1958 my dad drove a classic Chevy Bel Air. In 1958 the Bel Air went from being one of the best looking cars ever, to being the model below the Impala. This was most evident in the rear lights -- the Impala had three on each side while the Bel Air only had two on each side. That same year Chevrolet also introduced the Biscayne which looked almost exactly like a Bel Air except that it had been hit lightly with the ugly stick. In the ‘60s both the Bel Air and especially the Biscayne would be pounded ever harder with the ugly stick, so the car buyer would suffer for not buying the top of the line Impala.

I’m not going to bother to do the (simple) research, but I suspect the sub-models also had smaller engines. I suspect this because my dad always got Impalas from his company and if there wasn’t a solid reason (power) I suspect they would have given him a cheaper model instead.

It wasn’t until 1964 that Chevy introduced the Malibu, a smaller, sportier vehicle. It was like an upscale version of the little Nova, introduced in 1962. Since 1958 Chevrolet had been trying to push their customers up their model list, but with the SS program (SuperSport) -- started on a very modest scale in 1961 -- they instead allowed the customer to tart-up lesser models. The Nova in particular I mostly recall in its SS version. By the late ‘60s it was Pontiac that had the best looking GM cars and Chevrolet has been boring ever since.

Now, still without doing any real research, my impression is that the Malibu is to the Impala what the Bel Air was in 1958. But they both look better than I’m used to Chevys looking. No one would confuse them with a Tesla, but it’s a start.