Jerry Yatch's 1959 Chevrolet

Photo by George Barris

Photo by George Barris

A similar restyled 1959 Chevrolet Impala convertible sitting in a snowbank. This photo started popping up on Facebook in February of 2021. It was supposedly taken in Canada, and many started wondering if the Xcidian made it to Canada after Martinez sold it, and if somebody cut its roof off.

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1959 Chevrolet Impala restyled by Bill Hines for Jerry Yatch of Lincoln Park, Michigan.

Known as the "Xcidian," Bill restyled Jerry's Impala in 1959 after he had returned from a 9 month trip to California. In 2020 Bill's nephew, Teddy Zgrzemski, told Sondre Kvipt of Kustomrama that the Impala was brand new when Jerry brought it to his uncle. "He molded the side pipes on it, did the hood, deck, door handles, and all that. Then he put the teardrop taillights in it." Bill shaved away all the trim up front on the car and installed antennas horizontally on top of the fenders. The grille was kept stock. The teardrop taillights were shaped in a radical curve to match the butterfly wings of the car, and they featured handmade lenses with round protruding plastic teeth and a fine chrome trim. Bill also installed a 1960 Buick rear bumper on it before he gave it a Candy Apple Red paint job. Teddy believe Jerry's Impala received the first Candy Apple Red paint job in Michigan. "Uncle Bill was real good friends with Mike and Larry Alexander, so he went over there and showed them all the formulas and how to paint Candy Apple Red, and all the other colors. The blue. The Candy Gold. The Candy Tangerine. He gave them all the formulas and walked them through their first paint job. I think The Mroz Brothers' 1950 Ford were their first Candy Paint Job. I’m not sure if they did that or uncle Bill. It might have been the one uncle Bill taught them on. That car never got finished. They took it back to Chicago, and God only knows what happened to that car."

Sold to Eddie Martinez

Jerry ended up selling the Impala to well-known custom upholsterer Eddie Martinez in California. Martinez didn't own the car too long before he sold it and had Bill Hines build him a 1959 Chevrolet El Camino.

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