History of Bodega as shared by Mr. Lambert:
I have been impressed with the 1958 Chevy Impala ever since I can remember, but never had the budget to purchase one. In August 2006 I was on EBAY just looking at the 1958s and this truck popped up. I wasn’t overly interested, but read the complete entry and looked at the photos. She seemed to be complete and the body looked fairly straight. The seller was forthcoming with basic information such as mileage was unknown and the turn signals didn’t work. I wasn’t in the market for a truck, especially a long bed, but after some research, I discovered that while the short beds are the most desired, the long beds are more available and growing in popularity. After conferring with my wife, Brenda, I placed a bid and ‘won’ the truck. The truck came out of San Dimas, CA. I believe she was used on the citrus farms located in that area since she is a long bed; short bed trucks were more of a town truck due to lack of capacity. Bodega Bay is a small town on the Pacific coast of California north of San Francisco. It is famous for being the film location of the Hitchcock movie, The Birds. Brenda and I had stopped there at the Bodega Inn for a bite to eat once many years ago and were very impressed with the food and the town. So, Bodega was, for us, a logical choice for the truck’s name and in keeping with her California roots. When Bodega arrived in Liberty Hill, TX I was working on jobs overseas lasting as much as a year or more. Between trips, I had her up and running with temporary tags several times. Then, in November of 2009, I had a stroke and was slowed down for a while. As soon as I was up and about I was offered another job overseas which I accepted. Sadly, Bodega sat during that time and deteriorated. It wasn’t until June 2018 that I was able to start her restoration
Mr. Lambert contacted Mike at Crossroads Vintage Restorations in Austin, TX who offered to take a look at the truck. Mike said that after an initial visit to the Lambert’s home in Liberty Hill “, there was no question, I wanted to do this project”. Mr. Lambert gave Mike a quick tour of his other collectible cars including a basket case Austin Healey, two Studebaker Grand Turismo Hawks and not one, but two Buick Reatta’s. Mr. Lambert definitely had an eye for unusual, hard to find cars. He said “ this is Bones, that one is Jools, and this one, (pointing at the 1958 long bed GMC), is Bodega.”
On first inspection, the truck looked pretty well intact. It was literally in a barn covered in an inch of dust and dirt. The truck had not run in years, but amazingly enough, the tires looked relatively new and held air. After hooking up a strap and some convincing, the brakes finally let go enough to wrestle her out of a deep slumber and onto the trailer. Man! This truck is so easy to love.
The entire bed along with several shelves in the barn were covered with surplus parts Mr. Lambert had been collecting for years. Knowing this was only a two-year production model truck, parts would prove to be near impossible to find. No telling how long it would have taken to build this truck had the owner not been scouring the internet for some of the most difficult to find pieces.
Being a base Model 100 originally from California, the truck had no heater or air conditioner. It did have a sturdy cleated rear bumper and a dealer-installed spotlight. The truck was a fine specimen of a farm vehicle. (This was made even more evident once the project got underway.) The previous owner had replaced the bed wood with a 1”x1” metal grid with diamond plate sheeting to handle just about any payload. The big challenge turned out to be the bedsides since one of the bedsides had been rubbed from one end to the other perhaps by a tree or a heavy gate. The bed is unique. It is a full 8 feet and reproduction parts are not available. The side spear would have to be cut out and hand fabricated. With the help of the good folks at LMC truck, many of the upgrade parts such as the blade-style bumpers, most of the badges and trim as well as all the rubber was great quality and a factory fit. The Pontiac V8 was rebuilt as well as the 4-speed hydra-matic transmission.
A few upgrades were made to improve the safety and drive-ability of this truck. Front disc brakes from LMC were added. Electric windshield wipers replaced the old vacuum system. The gas tank, originally behind the seat, was relocated to a position underneath the truck bed. The filler access now resides beneath the driver’s side tail light. The stock gas filler was left intact to not compromise the stock appearance of the truck. Much of the interior chrome was re-plated to factory specifications. The two-tone turquoise and dover white scheme is carried throughout the entire interior to include dash, door panels, and even the seat. Matching seat belts and a correct heater were also installed. The grille, hood emblem and front bumper were chromed instead of the factory painted option giving it a cleaner, more classic look. The two year only front marker lights were missing. Tom, our restoration specialist, actually found one in a junkyard in very poor condition. Doing what only Tom can do, he and our intern Mandi created a mold and produced two perfect factory quality lenses.The end result is stunning.
We, at Crossroads Vintage Restorations, are so proud to have been a part of bringing Bodega back to the flagship truck she was in 1958.
If you are ever in central Texas and see this truck around the Ft. Hood/Salado area, honk or give a thumbs up and thank Mr. Lambert for his service: he is a proud Veteran of the US Army having served for over 22 years.
