History whats the story on 62 belair bubble tops ?

My buddy bought a new 61 SS, late in the production year, and it was a 409 with a single 4 barrel. Absolutely gorgeous car.
My understanding was, that there were only a very limited number of 409 cars produced in the 61 year.
The only reason I know this, was that I in the early 90s, I had the opportunity to buy the shell of a 409 SS car. The car looked like it had been in a demolition derby, and the only thing realistically salvageable on the car, was the tag and the engine in pieces, and yet he wanted $4,500 for it. I passed on the car, because even if I had been willing to buy the car, it would have been a real challenge to find the rest of the right parts, particularly for the engine. Even the colours were right, red with black trim.
He also had a low mileage, (70.000 miles) Impala (I don't remember if it was an SS), with a 283 that he wanted to sell separately for another $2,500, with the idea of swapping the tags. This car was rust free and would have been a great deal by itself. I regretted not buying it.
I passed on the deal, but I know he still has both cars and a large trailer of both 348 and 409 W block engines. He never did anything with it, and now, he won't sell anything.
The above posters are also correct, in stating that in 1962, the best bubble top you could buy was the Belair.
Bob

 

I always refer to my 61 as a bubbletop even though that was the only roof for the 2 door Impala coupe. The term became popular mostly in reference to the 62 409 cars that are highly sought after. The 62 Bel Air sporting only two tailights on each side , steel color matched wheels with poverty/dogdish hubcaps and simple stainless moldings made the car desirable. The no frills look with a high horse 409/409 dual quad engine was the ultimate sleeper . A restored one will surely draw a crowd and serious money. Oh, my 61 is going up for sale soon if interested shoot me a pm for pics.

 

Actually, there were the Flatroof hardtop sedans in 59 and 60. Olds called it the Holiday Sedan. They also made bubble top 4 doors.

 

A little off here, but didn't Pontiac also offer a bubble top Catalina ?
Thanks guys.....i'm a ford guy, but, i LOVE 409 409's nuf said.

 

All GM divisions offered a thin rear pillar design in 61, including Cadillac if you look at a Couple DeVille, but I think only Chevy carried it over to 62.


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Who would have thought that many Bel Air sport coupes had a 235.

 

I love all gm versions ,and ford to for that matter .but 62 just has a flow . and if I ever find one {not likely] it will be off to the clone aka tribute , factory !! I think they mainly quit making them because they were to hot with all that green house .that's my story ,and im sticking to it . I think the flat tops are way ugly . but its all up for debate!!

 

Only because they are....

 

its settled THEN !end of debate!! about 5 + - yrs everyone was bending glass just to try and one up the others,seems like .I guess the jet fighter thing had a lot to do with it. thank god after several million busted knee caps they backed off .only thing I DONT like about 62s !! my 55 brbn has got me more than once as well

 

All GM lines used that roofline in 1961, but in 1962 it was only offered by Chevrolet.

 

V8flat44, pontiac also produced a Bubbletop in 60-61. Here is my 60 Catalina Bubbletop.

 

no thin pillar coupe in 62 for any other gm though . right ?

 

My Bel Air was a 6 cylinder car even though the body decodes as a V8 car. The clues are that the fenders have never been punched for V8 emblems and and lack of a sway bar (even lacking mounting holes), 235s never came with a sway bar. In 1962 a lot of the consumers able to afford a new car had grown up with the Chevy 6. Coupled with the fact that the Interstate Hiway system was not completed, the 235 gave adequate power for the two lane roads at the time. You can see the lack of emblems between the headlights and the wheel opening in the photo.

 

My understanding of the '62 Bubble top (just to ad to Jim's info) was that there were some tops left over from '61 and GM used them. It was actually a more or less common practice from GM and FoMOCO as I have been told to use up all the parts from the previous year.

 

I remember seeing quite a few 61 bubble tops. We called them fish bowls because you could see everything that was going on inside them. Don't remember seeing but a few 62 bubble tops in the 60 ,s I owned a 62 two door post 235 three speed. Bought it from a guy nicknamed Ringo. Kinda ugly Dood who thought he looked like Ringo Starr from the Beatles. Junked it. and hauled the body to the scrapper.

 

I generally don't believe things like this, it just doesn't make any sense, from a production and model year changeover perspective.

Chevy was pretty good about keeping the model lines well defined, and associated with body styles. The Impala was a prestige car in it's early years, although by 1963 it was the same as the Belair, aside from trim. But 58-61, it had a different body than the top of the line Belair. It wasn't an accident, they made those roofs that way on purpose.

 

Last summer in Fife Washington at the famous Pick Quick hamburger stand, there was this incredible Pontiac Bonneville 2 door bubble back. I had never seen one before. Everything about this car was fascinating, I am sure Squirrel can provide a lot more information on it than I can. Enjoy the pictures.
Dennis.

 

I seem to remember seeing a 62 buick that had what appeared to be the same bubble top?

 

I recall reading about Holman/Moody and their graft of the '61 Starliner top onto the former 'Boxtop' '63 Ford, picking up 16 MPH on the top end. Ford reps came out, angry that H/M cut up a new Ford loaned them, but returned with a hasty 'Fastback' retrofit promise.
I have a '63-1/2 Fastback, narrowly missed a '62 Bel Air with no engine/trans. (it was a racer's parts car! Moved it quickly, $400.) Love those bubbletops/Fastbacks!

 

The '62 BelAir hardtop was my first new car. I would have liked to have had the Impala trim package but I never did like ragtops and I especially didn't like the faux convertible roofline on the '62 Impala.
This is the one I wish I had back........

 

The 4 doors were not bubbletop cars. Only the 2 door hardtop.

 

I've always heard the red one called a flattop and the green one called a bubbletop.

 

I posted this one earlier somewhere. Saw it in Ryderwood WA last fall.

 

Ive got a 60. I call it a more door. I think I will get my old Hollander book and see what all used the same glass?

 

According to my Hollander manual the 62 belair Htp the 62 Pontiac catalina and 62 buick riverara all use the same glass. and the 61 chev bubble top used the same as the 62. I knew I seen a buick fishbowl once.

 

No Buick Riviera in 1962. No 62 Pontiac had that 62 Belair style rear window if that's what we're still talking about. No 62 Buick had it either.

 

A friend has sold several rusty bubble tops & cars to a gentleman here in NC (maybe VA) that puts them on '62 2 door sedans. They look great.

 

1966 Hollander. page 200 second collum. /buick /electria225 & Rivera 4829 both use 2204 windshield. same as the chevy. They must have made a few!

 

That's windshields, not the rear glass. Don't believe the rear bubbletop glass is called the windshield..

 

Back when the '61 Chevy B'tops were new, there was a guy in town who had a tonneau cover from the back of the front bench seat to the rear window deck, covering up the back seat. I was 18 and I thought it was the coolest thing since sliced bread. It caught on as a mini fad and there were a couple more done in my area, sometimes with a design painted in the middle. I saw the tonneau covers in some '62 Chevy hardtops with the (what I called) "convertible crease" tops, too. To me, it worked in those, also.