With a stunning red paint finish and oodles of chrome trim, this 1962 Chevy Bel Air Bubble Top definitely looks the part of a classic American two-door. However, add in the extra-large wheels, dropped stance, and modern LS V8, and it also has what it takes to make some pretty big smiles while cruising. Now, we’re taking a walk around this 1962 Chevy Bel Air Bubble Top and climbing into the cabin for a ride thanks to the following feature video.
When the current owner found this Chevy Bel Air, it was in pretty rough shape. Several body components were missing, including the trunk and floors, and it didn’t have an engine, transmission, or rear brakes. Now, however, this Chevy Bel Air is sitting pretty thanks to a full restoration.
The exterior is covered in Candy Brandy Wine paint with a Charcoal base, giving the panels a nice deep red hue. The car sits low, but isn’t slammed to the ground, tucking in a set of five-spoke polished wheels from Schott. The rollers are staggered at 20 inches in diameter in front and 22 inches in diameter in the rear, and play nice with the fresh chrome trim.
The owner kept the cabin mostly stock, simply adding new upholstery and classic-looking Dakota Digital gauges. Cream upholstery was applied to the seats, foot wells, and headliner, while body-matching red covers just about everything else.
Under the hood, this 1962 Chevy Bel Air draws motivation from a naturally aspirated LS3 V8 engine, which was stroked out to 427 cubic inches. The car was dyno’d at a little over 600 horsepower at the wheels, but that was with three bad cylinders, according to the owner. Output is routed to the rear rubber via an Art Carr 2004R automatic transmission, which feeds a factory rear end fitted with 4.11 gears.
Wilwood brakes haul it down, with six-piston calipers matched with 14-inch rotors in front, and four-piston calipers matched with 12-inch rotors in the rear. Global West was tapped for the suspension upgrades, while the rear is a custom two-link set up.
Check out the full build, as well as what it is like to drive, by hitting play on the video below:
Subscribe to GM Authority for a more Chevy Bel Air news, Chevy news, and around the clock GM news coverage.
Comments
Love it. Very tasteful. One of my favorites all-time!
600 Horses WOW, beautiful car.
The rare bubbletop Belair is a beauty! The restoration was immaculate!!
Thanks for including it in today’s edition. I had a ’63 with a 409.
The all steel instrument panel in this generation was particularly “impactful”… a padded dash was optional, extra cost.
Love those cars! When I was a kid my aunt had a 61 and we had a 63 (after the 55 got t-boned in an icy intersection in 65). Great cars and memories.
Now THAT is a style I would buy today! Very nicely done and it’s a driver!
Let’s start calling this body style a Sport Coupe as is on the title. The ‘B’ word sounds inappropriate for such a beautiful roof line that was used only for ’61 and ’62. The featured car is really pretty and deserving of the attention.
I had a 61 Impala bubble top 348/4sp still my favorite roof style wish I had it back
Very good color, beautiful job
Very partial to GM vehicles of the 1960’s.
Another LS? Come on! I like the LS as much as the next guy but this should have a W motor under the hood. An LS can go into anything but there is no artistic value to this.
The least he could have done was put the W motor coil covers on it some company makes them I’ve seen them on LS’s before but don’t remember who makes them
Love everything about it except the wheels. Never been a fan of this style. Now, a set of old school 8″ corvette wheels with the disc brake caps….. Thats all me. (I fully acknowledge I am old since my first car was a 57 chevy and my 2nd was a 62 Impala 327/300hp)
All I can say is WOW! I absolutely love this car, I’m kinda partial to the ‘bubble tops’ anyway. The most I’ve ever been genuinely scared from a ride in a hotrod was in one of these little nasties, and she was black with a red stripe, packing a factory 327-4speed. My buddy Kelvin took me for a helluva ride up a local 2-lane side road, where we achieved speeds normally associated with a much wider, straighter span of tarmac. We actually went airborne when we hit the little one lane bridge on that road, cracking the speedo at about 120. I was holding on for dear life, but I knew my buddy Kelvin had been driving that way for most of his adult life, and he looked like he was at the helm of a fighter jet, intensely focused on the tiny road ahead. Whew, what a ride! Is that little jewel for sale? Just curious…
Not a Bel Air. Two tail lights per side = Biscayne.
Impala’s had 3 taillights each side. Bel Air and Biscayne had 2.