Weird sightings

"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile) 09/16/2020 at 10:15 • Filed to: Car Spottings

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Yesterday, I saw a car configured exactly as the below image:

Same color, but very much a “patina” rust layer, and not with all hubcaps. What makes it weird? Well... it’s a Bel Air Sport Sedan. A four-door hardtop option on the mid-range Bel Air, and not an Impala. Bel Air two-door hardtops are everywhere. Four door sedans, everywhere. Impala Sport Sedans... not common, but you at least see them. Bel Air Sport Sedan? Unheard of.

WilliamsSW > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/16/2020 at 10:26

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I didn’t realize this existed, although it makes sense. Chevy seemed to offer just about every body style in both the Bel Air and Impala ranges from 59-62.

I wonder if it’s more or less rare than this (ignoring the SS badges) ?

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > WilliamsSW 09/16/2020 at 10:36

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I saw it from the side, Bel Air badging bold as brass, and all the windows were down. “Nifty”, I thought. Since the only pic I got was from the back through a dirty Benz windshield, I thought I’d look up a “kind-of-like-this” picture to post as a sighting report, and then realized what an oddball I’d seen.

The guy driving it looked late 20s-early 30s, and being Asheville, was probably engaging in hipsterism in not getting it painted. The original dealer badge was from California, but he was running it with an antique NC license plate, and had added a repro (I assume) Kennedy bumper sticker. Like you do.

Jim Spanfeller > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/16/2020 at 12:05

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I’m not sure how I feel about hipster car people. On the one hand, it’s nice to see anyone keeping an old car running, but are they doing it for the love of cars or just for the image? And if they decide it’s no longer “hip” are they just going to abandon these cars? Would they be willing to have a nice conversation about old cars or would they be snobby about it? Guess I don’t know enough hipsters to be sure...

WilliamsSW > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/16/2020 at 12:19

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A couple of years ago, I saw a gorgeous 60 Impala flat top at a car show. Black, with a red houndstooth interior. Looked bone stock, with the usual period dress up stuff (dual antennas for one). Drive train was a stove bolt and 3 on the tree- a little unusual for an Impala but not overly so.

I don’t recall seeing a BelAir flattop though. 

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > WilliamsSW 09/16/2020 at 12:42

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I figure with this one, it was probably ordered by someone who went to the dealer and fell in love with an Impala Sport Sedan, but couldn’t justify the trim upcharge. “Order me the Bel Air. I’ll wait”. Or at least that’s what I imagine.

Exhaust note was a little chonky like it had a leak so hard to tell , but I think it might have had a stovebolt.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Jim Spanfeller 09/16/2020 at 12:45

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There was a hawaiian dancer in the back window. I wish I’d been driving my Galaxie with the hawaiian dancer on the dash to say howdy.

At least life expectancy is pretty good for cars around here if they stay garaged - it’s mostly salted roads and long-term sogginess + leaves that destroy , and both can be avoided. Not enough dry heat to destroy rubber, mild sun, no sea air.

Jim Spanfeller > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 09/16/2020 at 15:19

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That sounds pretty close to the climate where I live. It helps justify dailying a classic car :) Hopefully these hipsters will fall in love with their old cars and keep driving them for years to come.