(first posted 5/22/2014) For those of you who associate the traditional American car of the 1970s with tinsel and filigree, I present this Chevrolet Bel Air wagon. It is both the largest and most basic expression of GM’s biggest-ever full-size line-up and as a 1975, one of the last Bel Airs made for the US market.
Having traveled 69,000 miles over thirty-nine years, this big, black behemoth is a survivor aside from its paint job. And with its rare, extreme base specification, there are few cars like it left today. It doesn’t even have air conditioning. Might someone near the end of their driving career ordered it brand new? Or was it a government fleet vehicle?
Bel Air sedans were available with a six-cylinder paired to either a three-on-the-tree until 1973 or Powerglide until 1972. Wagons were mercifully not paired to anything less than a 400 four-barrel V8 backed by a Turbohydramatic, but as a small block, with the extra displacement mostly coming from a larger bore, it sure looks tiny in that engine bay.
Nevertheless, I really like the ’71-’76 B and C bodies. The wagons, particularly, are gigantic with a lot of glass. The wraparound rear windows give it a much more modern look than the boxes which replaced them and in black, it looks great with dog-dish hubcaps and plain, painted flanks. It’s impossible not to be reminded of the era’s freshly-released jumbo jets or of a glassy airport terminal. Even with the choked engines under the hood, the impression of heft, strength and capacity is undeniable, and in this most basic model, the illusion isn’t tempered by any effete trim.
Even the most basic models were given a foldaway rear window and tailgate. I’m not sure if this is a manual or power tailgate, but not having to wait for motors to complete the job of moving those large panels into place seems like a greater luxury. As much as I’m bowled over by the standard fitment of a retractable fifth door, most people went with the other whopper of the era, the Ford LTD wagon. They must’ve known something GM did not.
The Bel Air continued until 1981 in Canada, where more people could be convinced to buy an vinyl-lined room on wheels. The institutional vibe of this wagon had limited appeal, and this Bel Air couldn’t be more different than the 1986 LeSabre that was yesterday’s headliner. People at the lower end of the market didn’t want capacity as much as they wanted economy and when it came to full-sizers, more feature content was expected. If towing wasn’t a regular chore, I can easily see this being replaced by a base level Plymouth Voyager. That, of course, is a familiar story.
In the case of either the Plymouth or this Chevy, this sort of very basic specification is rare. From this angle, with all the doors open, the mismatching mirrors are evident, as well as the full-width bright trim around the windows which doesn’t appear original. Like the ’73 LeSabre JP Cavanaugh posted, it appears that at some point, someone didn’t like how the frames looked originally, but it’s a tasteful modification which works well with the black paint, dog dishes and white wall tires. All it needs is a enthusiastic new owner to keep it pretty; which savvy Swede will the lucky one who scoops this up?
This was like the first new car that my father bought. A brown 1972 Chevy Kingswood wagon. It was my mother’s car and I drove it in high school. I once had 25 high school friends in that car. It’s amazing how many friends you get when you get a car in high school. The rear springs rusted towards the end of its life. And it was swilling gas. It actually only lasted until 1980. But gas prices were insane at that time. My mother replaced it with a Chevette, bur that is a story for another day.
Back in the early 90’s, my uncle bought two cars from an army surplus auction. First was an olive drab75 Valiant and the other a light green 78 Concord. Both were really low mileage cars, unfortunately the body and floor pretty well gone on the Valiant. The one thing that struck me as odd with both-no optiions except auto trans and A/C.
Fred Crismon called out those Valiants in his book US Military Wheeled Vehicles. They had no rustproofing and were shoddily finished all around. Quite the come down from the indestructible WWII and M-37 3/4 ton trucks.
I remember a guy selling used government fleet cars in the late 70’s / early 80’s. Mostly Mopar B-body sedans and postal jeeps. Many of them repainted (poorly) in garish colors – house paint, from the looks of it. One of my classmates picked up a powder blue Jeep Dispatcher.
I don’t believe a manual clam shell tailgate and window were available. They were all power regardless of model. I couldn’t imagine trying to operate that heavy mass manually.
They were also a son of a gun if involved in a rear end collision. They were the dickens to try to get lined back up and sealed where they wouldn’t leak.
All the windows were powered. But you could get a manual tailgate, and on some base models it was standard. My friends had one It was well counterbalanced, but still a heft.
Thank you Robert. Never knew that. saw was powered. even the base models. Was it done by lowering / raising the lower gate and the glass followed on it’s own?.