As I’ve written in the past, my parents replaced their first car with a used 1960 Chevrolet Bel Air right about the time I came along. I was looking through some old home movies recently, and ran across this great shot of me happily walking past the Chevy, probably in the Spring of 1964. The car would soldier on another five years before being sold off (or traded-in) on our 1968 Country Squire LTD wagon.
Here’s another shot showing the only-slightly-restrained-from-1959 rear fin styling of the 1960, accompanied by some other interesting iron from the General…
Cool, but you sure your folks didn’t have a Bel Air? Reason: The chrome spear running from the “plane” to the tail lights, which Biscaynes in ’60 didn’t have. I see a ’61 Pontiac and a ’57 “B” body in the driveway . . . .
, , , also Bel Airs in ’60 had the chrome surround on the tail light back/valance stamping where Biscaynes did without . . .
Could well have been based on those features… I was only two at the time, and this generation of Chevrolets are not ones I know that well…
My grandma’s next door neighbor was another elderly lady who drove a moss-green 60 Bel Air sedan. She kept it up until the mid 70s when she replaced it with a used Dart. The Bel Air was a 6/Powerglide car that was absolutely beautiful except for the northwest Ohio winters. Even then, the car remained in amazing condition because it was used so little.
That 61 Pontiac hardtop is sweet. My Uncle Bob had a white 61 Olds 2 door hardtop that they drove until 1967. I always liked that car quite a lot. I recall that a jerky-shifting Roto Hydramatic did it in. I think that his was not an unusual occurrence.
Oh, this thread has so much potential….me, having a big day on the town, with my Dad’s 51 Studebaker Champion
Ed, I’m a Chevy kid, my mother had 7 of them, you had a Bel Air
There you have it! Fixed…
See, your whole childhood just moved up a notch, now tell us about the awesome ’61 Pontiac Ventura (Not Catalina) in your driveway
That Chevy remind me of one my parents once owned; a ’60 Bel Air, four door sedan,
white with a sliver or a metallic grey. I remember the interior door panels were silver
vinyl. That’s all I remember about it.
1960 was the first year for the SBC in Australia on a property neighbouring a friends place in the middle of nowhere NSW were two pink and white V8 60 Bel Airs amongst 50 other old cars that were just parked in long rows and left.
Not unusual on farms in remote areas. When the old car broke, if you couldn’t fix it you’d hitch a ride into town and buy a new one. I know one place that had a couple of nice compact Fairlanes and about half a dozen assorted Valiants among about 30 old cars lined up – before the bushfires came through 🙁
I came home from the hospital in a ’60 Impala 4 door sedan, blue and white. Family folklore had it that, while riding up front, I threw into reverse on the highway during a family outing. Survived just fine apparently, but my dad traded in on a ’64 Galaxie 500 4 door hardtop soon after, the first of a succession of many Fords over the next 15 years.
I wasn’t allowed to ride in the front much after that, I hear tell.