Travis Barker’s 1959 Impala looks like it rolled out of a time capsule. Then he puts his foot down.
Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker brings his 1959 Chevrolet Impala convertible to the garage, a one-year-only body that Jay remembers seeing new as a kid. It’s a Texas car still wearing the paint it had when Travis bought it, finished black on black with a lift kit to lay it down, 14-inch Dayton wire wheels and a Continental kit that makes a long car look even longer.
Under the hood, the original 348 is gone. In its place is an LS3 (“I think it’s 495,” Travis says) with Wilwood brakes, Vintage Air, and a Magnaflow exhaust. Travis calls it “two personalities, one cruiser, one bruiser.” He even swapped the giant factory steering wheel for a smaller replacement, because his wife couldn’t turn the car with the original.
Along the way, Travis talks about growing up in Fontana with a dad who worked at Kaiser Steel and kept one running Cadillac and a couple of broken ones in the yard. The neighbors called the police on his garage drum practice. He also talks about his Hulu documentary, Travis Barker: Louder Than Fear, which was shot over nine years, and getting back on a plane after the crash.
Jay shares his tip for storing a convertible, plus the story of his dad’s Italian friend Mario, whose ’59 drop-top made the neighborhood women swoon. The two also compare notes on Travis’ growing collection: a ’60 Cadillac, a ’62 Impala wagon, a ’63 Impala convertible, a Buick GNX, K5 Blazers, a K10, a Mazda Cosmo, and the 1982 square body he still wants back.
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