(first posted 1/6/2012) Why was and is the ’64 Chevy so commonly loved? Well, it’s not because of its willowy X-frame (update: it actually wasn’t willowy), crappy drum brakes, Powerglide, undersized tires, funky seating position, vague and slow steering, wallowing handling, or any other objective quality. Let’s face it, by 1964, its 1958 underpinnings were obsolete. Yet who doesn’t feel emotions well up when confronted with one, even a battered old survivor like this one? It’s America’s sweetheart, and it’s not polite to talk ill about her. Nobody’s perfect. Maybe that’s its secret.
Chevys were embraced for decades, because…everyone else drove one. It’s like kids; we may all think we want our kids to grow up to be President, but deep down we just want them to fit in, be well adjusted, and most of all, be loved. Despite their inevitable lack of perfection. And ours. So folks just got a Chevy wagon, and half the battle was won right there. Nobody spoke ill about a Chevy, so that was hopefully going to rub off a bit.
Well, life isn’t quite so simple anymore. In 1964, a Chevy wagon could be driven by anyone, whether it was a pinko college professor with a couple of kids, or a John Bircher with half a dozen. The prof would trade it in a couple of years for a VW Squareback, to his kids’ annoyance. But this was 1964: the last year before the sixties really kicked into high gear of the old Interstellar Powerglide.
Of course it’s iffy to pick 1964 as the exact watershed year. Obviously, things had been brewing for years. But it exploded in 1964. The Beatles arrived, and so did long hair. The youth culture now become the predominant one; a passing of the torch (song). And how many Chevys were traded in for a brand new Mustang? The kids will survive somehow in its cramped rear seat.
Coincidentally, or not, the 1964 Chevy was the end of one road, literally. And no, it’s Jet-Smooth ride wasn’t going to fly anymore. It was grounded; the world was changing too quickly.
Instead of “See The USA” it was “See More Skin”. The times they were a changing, quickly.
No, Chevy love didn’t magically disappear in 1965. But those bulging hips…there was a suggestion of overt sexiness that hadn’t ever been there before; the new Chevy was literally busting out of its formerly chaste suit.
The ’64 reeks of the “good old days” as if that mythological place really ever existed. But myths are often more powerful than reality, and the ’64 Chevy is an icon of it. Or more like an altar to it.
The myth, that is. Just don’t look to closely, because like all myths, it’s full of holes. But we don’t really want to see them or hear about that. Bring on the love, of a time when we all rode happily in our ’64 Chevy wagons, or our neighbors’, or Grandpa’s. Or just imagined we once did. Or hope we once will. But before it rusted out.
Does the kid who owns this one have memories he’s preserving? Or is it just cool, because it is? Which it is, and always has been.
Isn’t the ’64 Chebbie the original low-rider? It was a natural for the role, given how those Jet-Smooth coil springs were notorious for losing about a half-inch of their ride height every year. Every ’64 Chevy was a low rider, after a couple of seasons. And why do you think low-riders have such skinny tires?
It’s a love affair, anyway you look at it. Never has a dashboard offered such a sweeping vista, yet with so little content. A fitting metaphor.
But in a sea of little Japanese cars near the campus, this wagon stands out proudly, a survivor of another epoch. An era about which this kid has heard plenty about, but can’t begin to grasp its full reality. One either lived during the time of the ’64 Chevy’s reign, or didn’t. But the allure is still there, presumably. Love transcends all. Even crappy GM starters.
IMO, the 1963 Chev wagon looked better from the back, as it had the multiple circular taillights. Two for a Bel Air, probably three for an Impala. However, both model years looked boxy in comparison with the much improved 1965.
Even though I loved my Matchbox taxi as a child, I’ve never quite understood the appeal of these 64 Chevys, At least to my eyes, it’s the least imaginatively designed and detailed full size Chevy of the decade, and sadly birthed its genes to the first Chevelle.
The ’64 Chevy was the box the ’61-63 came in.
The ’64 Chevy also seemed to somehow birth its genes to the new ’65 Mopars and Fords, which resembled ’63-’64 Chevys more than the current ’65s, and it would be years before they could ape GM’s new flowing look.
I had a real worn 64 Impala as a winter car in the mid seventies for 3 years. Very reliable spacious car with very little maintenance needed. Never noticed any seating issues. I think other comments regarding judging 1964 cars to today’s standards is very true. For the era, these were good reliable rides. Good memories they bring when seen.
I strain myself believing the platform and mechanical bits are basically straight from a 1958 model – it just looks so different on the outside, the ’50s look so completely eradicated, the last vestige which may have been the slight dogleg at the base of the windshield of the ’63s, It’s astonishing how much the look of American cars changed from 1958 to 1961. There’s been less change in the last 15 years than there was in those three.
The ’64 Chevy dashboard looks so modern; it wouldn’t have looked out of place in a Chevy from the ’90s.
Car advertising really did undergo a sea change around this time, replacing long text block description of mechanical features (always in over-the-top manner like “Jet-Smooth Ride”) with lifestyle marketing. Was the Mustang was the instigator of this?
oops, last year of the boomerang A pillar was ’62 not ’63
The 63 Chevy resembled the 61 Cadillac. The 64 Chevy resembled a rejected Oldsmobile. I have fond memories of a 64 Chevy but a thing of beauty it wasn’t.
My family had a 6-passenger ’64 Bel Air wagon in maroon that my father bought new in the spring of ’64. It came with the 283 V8 and had 3-on-the-tree plus overdrive. I particularly remember the durable red striped nylon fabric seats that were as durable as any vinyl, but still breathed. I also recall the enormous storage compartment underneath the rear deck. It extended under the rear tailgate into the area that was the inside of the rear bumper.
The car developed transmission problems at about 70,000 miles and my dad decided that it was not worth repairing so he traded it for a leftover ’69 Townsman in the fall of ’69 after the 1970 models had come out.
1964. The Beatles. Here’s a fun little tidbit too make you feel old…
Last week I spent a full day at a teacher training inservice. Sigh. Dullsville.
At one point the session leader, baby boomer aged gal, gave us all a handout with some fake student names on it:
John. Paul. George. Ringo.
I smiled, “look who the kids names are” I said to the young teachers at my table.
Blank faces.
“I don’t know what you mean” someone said.
It’s the Beatles I said.
A couple of them actually said, “who?” Some others knew who the group was but had never really listened to them. No one could name any of their songs.
Ancient history. As interesting to these young teachers as Byzantine politics in the 8th century.
Wow, even the kids I know have heard of the Beatles and some are even fans. Maybe it’s like when I was about 12 and heard that Elvis Presley had died – it was a familiar name for me but couldn’t quite place him. I conflated him with the likes of Wayne Newton, entertainers who were popular in Las Vegas. Didn’t really learn who Elvis was till i was a teenager.
Now the music thing that makes me feel old is visiting my mom in the care home she lives in. There’s a piano there that guests sometimes use to entertain the residents. I asked what they’d like me to play, assuming seniors would like songs they knew from Glenn Miller or Dean Martin. Nope, they wanted to hear Jefferson Airplane or The Who. Ouch! I’m officially old.
So true, nostalgia is a powerful thing! Anyone around back then knew somebody with a ’64 Chevy wagon, we knew no less than 3 families in Towson with one and had a relative with a lime green one as well, Dad’s sister Shirley and husband Uncle Fred! I think every one of them had the common-as-dirt combo of 283 or 327 V8 and Powerglide. Several were traded on the ’67 versions of the same car!
I always felt that the ’64 was the most anodyne and boring of the ’61-64 series… that front end looked like one of those generic insurance company ad cars, and the wagon rear? One dinky rectangular tailight? That’s it? Bill Mitchell, where were you??
Knew people with a “61 wagon”. Some others with a “67”. Knew no one with a “64”.
Friend of my mom’s got a “64”, post, 2 door in “1969”. Think she got it from a family member. Recall it being in rather good condition.
I will not forget the day in late 1964 when I went to my small town Chevy dealership for a part for my old 58 Del Ray.. After the purchase, the dealer leaned over the counter and said “do you want to see something special “? I quickly answered yes and he took me out in the shop to see his first 65 Impala. It was light years ahead of the 64 and even then I wondered how they would sell any left over 64’s.