I love all of the concept except for the rear glass. If they would have made that smaller I think they would have had a hit on their hands.
I mirror that thought. When I was still on pedal power, there were two '61's roaming our little 'burg. A Roman Red Impala, and a Honduras Maroon Belair. Always thought the thinner (white) side-trim on the Belair was the home run for the model. Love 'em both though, and still wish I'd kept my '62....
I’m a sucker for anything in the Bubbletop era. My favorite is the 61 Coupe Deville, but obviously partial to my Buick. Don’t see them very often.
I prefer the "scoops", trim, tail lights, and bumpers of the '63-'64 best, but there's no denying the '65 front end treatment. On my '63 I did the best of both worlds, ran the '65 grille and moved the headlights out to the side markers.....incidentally, something little known is that the first gen Riviera markers/clamshells were designed to mimic the late '30s-early '40s LaSalle grilles.
Collectible Automobile regularly included pictures of design concepts in their articles. I liked the ones where they would use one design on the right side of the styling model and another design on the left side. I always wondered how many iterations the design studios would go through before settling on a final design.
< I'm obviously a fan of the 1961 model year, but 1965/1966 was pretty much a hit all across GM lines too. They did pretty well all through the 1960s for that matter (although the 1968 Grand Prix was a little bit of a turkey.)
The 'old' H.A.M.B. woulda dragged @Ryan over the coals for not using the search function before posting
I'm there, right there. Now I'm gonna fuck you up. (In my best Rod Sirling voice) imagine if you will, a Rivera with a bubble top. It would have to be a 63-4, couldn't possible soil a 65. But the 63 is just stealing a roof from a sibling just a year older. It could work, but only here, in the Twilight Zone...
I have wondered why GM made the bubble top rear window when it is very close to the sport coupe rear window.
Here's a comparison of the Impala vs Belair trim. Also notice the design of the rear window vs the mock-up that BACKNRED posted:
Whoa! So cool. Call me weird but I actually dig the center grill headlight setup. “Venting” inserts below the rear window look really cool too. Sorta reminds me of what they did above the rear window on the 58s.
The Jalopy Journal
