Ernest Vidinha confesses that he is a child of the ‘60s, and this is probably the main reason why he bought and restored his “Blast from the Past” 1961 Chevy Impala to its present immaculate condition. Vidinha was raised in
Ernest Vidinha confesses that he is a child of the ‘60s, and this is probably the main reason why he bought and restored his “Blast from the Past” 1961 Chevy Impala to its present immaculate condition.
Vidinha was raised in ‘Ele‘ele, got his driver’s license when he was 18 and remembers when there was only one rule for borrowing his dad’s blue 1948 Plymouth, “Don’t bring it back with an empty tank,” said Vidinha with a laugh.
Six years ago Vidinha came across his classy white 1961 “bubbletop” Impala when a friend of his who kept it in storage offered to sell it. The ’61 Impala is called a “bubbletop” because the roof has more glass surface area than metal giving its bubble appearance.
Vidinha described his first impression of the Impala as an “ugly duckling”, but felt it was like a passenger upgrade to owning a one-seater truck so he sold his 1952 Chevy pickup and bought it. “I ordered a lot of parts from the mainland and spent some bucks restoring it but it was worth every penny,” said Vidinha.
Though there are many contemporary luxury cars to choose from in today’s market, Vidinha feels the GM cars of the ‘60s and seventies were built more for pleasure and still have a lot of “love” in them to this day. Vidinha says his Impala is definitely not a racing machine and takes great joy in describing it as a “Cruiser” with an emphasis on “croooooz.” The ’61 Chevy’s Full Coil suspension is the reason for its remarkable ability to soak up the road and give it that cushion smooth ride.
Vidinha’s Impala also sports a four-barrel carburetor on the Chevy’s 283-cu.-in. Super Turbo-Fire V8, making this golden oldie a “mo’ bettah” go-getter.
Asked if he has ever driven his Chevy to see how fast it would go Vidinha replied, “Oh yeah I’ve taken it out to see how fast it can go, but I’m not going to say how fast it goes. That’s a secret.”
Like most of the Kaua‘i Custom Car Club members, Vidinha takes great pleasure in driving his buffed out “bubbletop” only on sunny days. On rainy days he keeps it garaged because it simply takes too many few hours to detail it back to its pristine condition.
“Restoring and owning an old classic is a little expensive but it brings with it a lot of love and pleasure. In fact my wife says that if I treated her half as good as I treat my Impala she would be ver-r-ry happy,” said a grinning Vidinha as he and his love boat sailed out into the sun-soaked Lihu‘e traffic.
Anyone wishing to share their classic auto may find out more information by calling Richard Aki at 482-0688 or Harvey Maeda at 651-2813 or e-mailing harveyskoi@juno.com.
To view a short video of Ernest Vidinha’s 1961 Chevy Impala, browse for “Video” at The Garden Island Web site, thegardenisland.com
• Leo DuBois, contributor, can be reached via news editor Nathan Eagle at 245-3681 (ext. 227) or via e-mail at neagle@kauaipubco.com
