Thursday 8 September 2016

The blob on the side of a Chevrolet Impala



That took longer than I had expected. Finally, decent examples of the blue Chevrolet Impala #220 with lemon and red interiors. I thought they would be quite common. Whilst there were several around they were either immaculate in boxes and cost a fortune or rather tatty.

The roof can often either get bent or twist on the thin pillars and many had that problem. The perspex seems strong for the windows but is very vulnerable at the front to getting scratched or cracked with so much exposed. Then you have to look out for those amazing fins!

These two have survived extremely well with the smallest of chips in a bumper here and there but that seems to be all. The one with red interior also has lovely shiny shaped hubs. I wish I could find a compound that would clean up old hubs like that. Maybe someone has some suggestions?

One thing you shouldn't have to worry about is the suspension which is nice and strong on just about every Impala I have encountered (except the dog grooming / poodle one which has very lively suspension for some reason I have yet to investigate).

I am still looking for a blue model with free spinning wheels. I have one in pink so they do exist but are definitely much scarcer than either of these variations.

I had often wondered what the blob was and why the side stripe seemed to change and now I can see just how well Corgi's casting people did in replicating the details.


The cast got plenty of use in Police, Taxi and Fire vehicles and the saloon gets one more release in 1965, by which time the real thing had been somewhat revised. Corgi slice it in half and insert a chrome section to provide the front grill and bumper and the whole rear section. This is only available in the toffee and cream colours and is not that common. Some sites say there was a blue one but I really don't think that exists. It may have been a trial but as far as I can tell, only this one gets to the shops.




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