bubble top is a 62' belair with 61' syle roof. 2dr 59',60, were simply hardtops unless you added 2 more drs. and you ended up with a "vista roof". spend some time looking through some original advertising and you will find the answers you seek. its like the chevy trucks being AD of TF'S simply marketing.
Damn...I give up! Thats what I said.....Ive owned both....my understanding is if it doesnt have the crease in the roof its a bubbletop, I also thought the 59 and 61 never had the crease on the roof, therefore they were called bubbletops! Alright, Im all "bubbled" out.......good luck guys...
perhaps it has to do with the actual glass of those particular years? i know pontiac bubbletop glass swaps with impala. ????
Sorry. I didn't even think of the "literal" bubble top show cars ala Plowboy, and Ed Roth when I started this thread
pulled this off an "Impala" site.....now im really confused! 1) The term "Bubble-top" has been around since these cars were released in 1959 with the Impala until 1961 when they were discontinued in favor of the "Crinkle" top in 1962 which had the appearance of a convertible top...Although Chevrolet had quite a few of these bubbletops leftover they put them on 1962 bel Air hardtops which dominated the racetracks with their aerodynamic flow...Imagine a soap bubble about to burst hence the term originated from that I guess.. 2) The 59-60s were not considered bubble tops. Technically the bubble top got its name from the way the rear glass meets the deck on the 61 and 62 and the bulging rear glass. LIke a soap bubble stretching from a surface. 3) The bubble top name is used to describe the look of the windshield and the back glass. The A pillar on the '61 & '62 are the same, they tend to follow the roof line to the top edge of the windshield then descend at about a 45* angle to about 2" above the window then turn sharply curved downward until it meets the lower body. If you look at a side view, you will notice how the windshield seems to bulge out. They are the only bubble tops. The '59 & '60 had different style A pillars, and so did the '63's
CRAP, I'm confused too. #1 says the term's been around since 59, and #2 says 59-60's are not considerd bubbletops
To me, all the 59-61, thin C-pillared, big back window 2 door GM hardtops will be considerd bubbletops. But, most the people I know disagree. They can't say why, but they disagree. Go figger
I never considered my '60 to be a bubbletop. Always figured it was a hard-top. The marketing literature calls it a "Scenicoupe" which oughta throw a wrench in the works This makes sense to me:
59/60 all 2 doors had a bubble top style, correct? When the new creased roofs were introduced on 2 doors suddenly there's a need to differentiate the roofline. Term bubbletop gains popularity because there's suddenly a NEED for it. Previously the ads may have called it a bubbletop, but to the consumer it's just a roof, cuz there's only one available. So would 59/60 be a bubbletop? Technically yes, but applied retroactively. make sense?
I've always called any make of car with the huge back window a bubbletop... can't forget the ultimate bubbletop.... '60 / '61 Starliners.... Even the pentestar contigent had em.... -Shiny
my opinion, and its just that, is the 62 belair is the only true bubble top, term used to diferentiate the 2 hardtop models offered that year. all 61's get the name by default since they share the same roof. I think with the proliferation of the internet (search engines/ebay) people have started calling any 59-62 GM a bubble top to get more hits on thier product. I have never in my life heard a 59-60 referred to a bubble top until just recently on ebay searches, and by uninformed announcers on barrett-jackson... if you say it on tv , even if you are wrong... all of a sudden a milloin people "know" what a bubble top is.
I bet the term didn't get popular until the prices started skyrocketing on those cars , 62's. I use to always think of them as a Bel-Air or the cheap model.
Hey Groucho..... Look at a '60...and then a '61. Look at both from the side. Now imagine there is no glass in the car and focus on the roofs. The '59-60's have straight up and down A-pillars, and '61's are sloping. The top itself appears "bubble-like", which is exagerrated once the glass,which is also more "bubbled out", is installed. Hmmmm....the '62 top is the same as '61.
here's the deal - bubbletops are a 61/62 only. Note that 59 and 60 have what is referred to as a DOG LEG at the wraparound windshield corner...that is NOT a bubbletop. nuff said dj
Around here in the 60's a bubbletop was a 62 Belair hardtop. As time drug on definitions got fuzzier and.................... Sound familiar??
62 chevy's are the only bubbletops -thats it -, the rest are hardtop ,they called a bubbletop because they already had a hardtop --duh i don't call my 60 buick a bubbletop it's a hardtop
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