5.02.2012

TireKicker Time Machine: 1970 Chevrolet Bel Air

Front view of white 1970 Chevrolet Bel Air with rusty roof parked in parking lot

Some TireKicker Time Machines are well cared-for, almost museum quality pieces.

And...some aren't. But there's beauty in surviving against the odds, and this 1970 Chevy falls into that category.


Rear view of 1970 Chevrolet Bel Air with rusty roof and rear fender parked in parking lot

While some top-of-the-line Impalas and Caprices got the care needed to make it to the Saturday afternoon car shows around the country, cars like this '70 Bel Air (the two taillamps per side instead of three is the giveaway, as well as the somehow surviving Bel Air badge on the front fender) were meant to do workhorse duty for salesmen and frugal families more than 40 years ago, then be junked like an old refrigerator or washing machine. Still, the Bel Air was one rung up the ladder from the bare-bones Biscayne.


The concentration of rust on the roof makes me think this may have originally had a vinyl top...a popular option of the time that was notorious for trapping moisture right up against the sheetmetal.

For a taste of what this car was like in its prime, here's a neat little video of a better-preserved '70 Bel Air, not perfect...but with considerably less rust: