The battle for full-size domination was already fierce in the late '50s, but the debut of the Chevrolet Impala more or less changed the rules of the game. Launched in 1958 as the top Bel Air version ...

In 1959 America was in a postwar boom cycle. Gas was cheap, jobs were plentiful, optimism was at its peak, and there was barely enough chrome to go around to meet demand. It was the era of tailfins ...