The American Graffiti 1958 Chevrolet Impala
THE HISTORY
Mike and Sandra Famalette, from Washington state, were the owners of the '58 Chevrolet Impala (Steve Bolander's car) from the movie. Sandra writes: "Mike purchased the '58 from Henry Travers who was working for Lucas Films. In 1972, before the movie was released, Mike had seen an ad in the San Francisco Chronicle for a car auction for movie cars and Mike had already been looking for his first car. So Mike and his father went to Sonoma. They were the only two there and Mike's dad was not too happy with his son purchasing this car because it was not in good shape. In fact, one of the puttied-in Caddy taillights fell off just before getting home and he ran a stop sign because the brakes didn't work. Mike drove the car to high school."
"In 1974, Mike joined the Marine Corps and the '58 was parked in his parents' garage. It wasn't until our daughter, Ashley, was looking for a senior project that she thought about the car. At her high school, the seniors have to choose a project that is a stretch from the normal things they do and there has to be a related topic to write a paper about. Since Mike was helping, she choose "the importance of a positive father influence on his daughter."
"We were so happy when she came up with the idea to remove and replace the engine of the car as her project. In the summer of 2002, Mike, Ashley, and our son, Matt, went down to California and pulled it out of the garage for the first time since 1974 and brought it back to Washington. Ashley finished her project and got an A, but the '58 still was not running."
"The local Spokane paper, the Spokesman-Review, has a column that runs on Saturdays called My Favorite Car. Mike had sent them some information and pictures of the '58. We missed seeing the article, but John Soloman had seen it. John went through a lot to try to get in touch with Mike, but came up empty every time. Then, one day, John showed up at our house when Mike was not home. He started to tell me that he was in charge of promoting the Late Great Chevy 2004 show in Coeur D'Alene in August 2004, and that he would like us to bring our car. I called Mike and John went through his story again. Mike wanted to bring the car but only if it was drivable. So John Solomon, Bob Bushnell, and Larry Fitzgerald helped with the final completion."
"Many other people helped out through the years. Rick Blackstock and a Marine buddy, Chris Gilbreath, were the first to help, and Todd Johnson, my daughter Ashley's automotive mentor during her senior project also helped. The car was originally brought home with a tired 348 four-barrel and a 3-speed transmission. It was replaced with a 283 and a 2-speed Powerglide. The next engine change was a 350 LT1, and it now has a 348 Tri-Power with a 3-speed turbo hydro. Mike has owned it for a very long time. The car has never been a show car and always been more of a movie prop. In fact most of the '58 replicas look much nicer than our original movie car, but we like it a lot, none the else." Note received August 1, 2004
Article and photos ©2004 Sandra and Mike Famalette
Update: Ray Evernham purchases and restores the '58 in 2015/2016!
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15344103/field-car-no-more-ray-evernham-restored-the-58-chevy-impala-from-american-graffiti/
Mike and Sandra Famalette, from Washington state, were the owners of the '58 Chevrolet Impala (Steve Bolander's car) from the movie. Sandra writes: "Mike purchased the '58 from Henry Travers who was working for Lucas Films. In 1972, before the movie was released, Mike had seen an ad in the San Francisco Chronicle for a car auction for movie cars and Mike had already been looking for his first car. So Mike and his father went to Sonoma. They were the only two there and Mike's dad was not too happy with his son purchasing this car because it was not in good shape. In fact, one of the puttied-in Caddy taillights fell off just before getting home and he ran a stop sign because the brakes didn't work. Mike drove the car to high school."
"In 1974, Mike joined the Marine Corps and the '58 was parked in his parents' garage. It wasn't until our daughter, Ashley, was looking for a senior project that she thought about the car. At her high school, the seniors have to choose a project that is a stretch from the normal things they do and there has to be a related topic to write a paper about. Since Mike was helping, she choose "the importance of a positive father influence on his daughter."
"We were so happy when she came up with the idea to remove and replace the engine of the car as her project. In the summer of 2002, Mike, Ashley, and our son, Matt, went down to California and pulled it out of the garage for the first time since 1974 and brought it back to Washington. Ashley finished her project and got an A, but the '58 still was not running."
"The local Spokane paper, the Spokesman-Review, has a column that runs on Saturdays called My Favorite Car. Mike had sent them some information and pictures of the '58. We missed seeing the article, but John Soloman had seen it. John went through a lot to try to get in touch with Mike, but came up empty every time. Then, one day, John showed up at our house when Mike was not home. He started to tell me that he was in charge of promoting the Late Great Chevy 2004 show in Coeur D'Alene in August 2004, and that he would like us to bring our car. I called Mike and John went through his story again. Mike wanted to bring the car but only if it was drivable. So John Solomon, Bob Bushnell, and Larry Fitzgerald helped with the final completion."
"Many other people helped out through the years. Rick Blackstock and a Marine buddy, Chris Gilbreath, were the first to help, and Todd Johnson, my daughter Ashley's automotive mentor during her senior project also helped. The car was originally brought home with a tired 348 four-barrel and a 3-speed transmission. It was replaced with a 283 and a 2-speed Powerglide. The next engine change was a 350 LT1, and it now has a 348 Tri-Power with a 3-speed turbo hydro. Mike has owned it for a very long time. The car has never been a show car and always been more of a movie prop. In fact most of the '58 replicas look much nicer than our original movie car, but we like it a lot, none the else." Note received August 1, 2004
Article and photos ©2004 Sandra and Mike Famalette
Update: Ray Evernham purchases and restores the '58 in 2015/2016!
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15344103/field-car-no-more-ray-evernham-restored-the-58-chevy-impala-from-american-graffiti/
YouTube Video with Mike Famalette, May 25, 2008
Pages created by Kathy Schrock. 1996. Last update: 12/10/2019. All rights reserved.