With customizing existing as a big part of this era, this Impala also received pinstripes by Neal—Northwest Indiana’s local and preferred pinstripe painter—and a custom grille to make it singular in identity. These Day 2 changes are a part of its heritage and mystique, as they were applied while the vehicle was still considered an excellent “new car” design, not decades later. Indeed, though parked in the mid-1960s, this car was carefully cared for. The top is believed to have been lowered only six times since new, and this is possibly the only original-paint, original-interior and original-top Impala presently in existence. That level of preservation was what Thomas “Gearbox” Gearhart insisted on. THE MAN The name Tom Gearhart may not be familiar to some readers, but by his nickname “Gearbox,” he was legendary among Midwestern Rodders and racers. Whether pilots of sprints or drags, daily drivers or show cars, people in the know knew him. His marketing efforts actually began when he joined forces with Jim White of White’s Pit Stop fame in Dolton, Illinois, organizing a substantial number of racing teams under the WPS banner. Often seen as the on-track representative for the speed shop business, it has been said that if you were a racer, you knew Gearbox, had bought parts from Gearbox already, or were told to go buy parts from him. After over a decade with this firm, Gearbox went to work for Fred Van Senus and the well-known speed equipment business Van Senus Auto Parts in Hammond, Indiana, moving his family to the Hoosier State at that time. Again, he was in charge of organizing racing teams and putting them into the winner’s circle at places like U.S. 30 in Gary, Indiana, Great Lakes Dragway (Union Grove, Wisconsin), Byron Dragway (Rockford, Illinois) and many others. People he met and knew as a result of this interaction will be familiar to some—including Arnie Beswick, Joe Satmary, Dale Creasy and Rick Craft, to name a few—and he would work for Van Senus (later VSI) as a speed equipment manager for 30 years. Tom “Gearbox” Gearhart passed away in 2015, leaving his family, a legacy of friendships and this very special 1959 Impala. TODAY This car was parked for quite a while, hidden away in storage from approximately 1964 to 1984. Once unveiled again, it was never returned to its as-built configuration nor updated to more modern tastes. As a result, this second-year Impala represents a singular opportunity to own a multi-carbureted big-block Chevrolet convertible. As built, this is a model that helped champion what would soon blossom into the factory wars of the coming decades, aptly representing the optimal packaging Chevrolet offered at that time. And, with its prior ownership by a single individual who remained a well-known personality in the performance industry (Gearbox stayed up-to-date with attendance to the SEMA and PRI trade shows every year), the car is made even more unique, especially considering the Day 2 refinements that were done to personalize it. Its state of preservation into the current era is unparalleled. For those who may have hoped to own a car with a great story, this is it. Backdating to exacting OEM condition would not be a serious concern, but as it is, this 1959 Impala Convertible is a time capsule to the roots of the early 1960s car craze. Gearbox was proud of how it has survived for 60 years, and it is a car that will make its new owner proud as well.