Say what you want about the Bel Air, but despite the Impala staling its mojo in the late ’50s and the early ’60s, it remained a fabulous car.
Sure, the Impala was the best you could get from a full-size Chevy, but the Bel Air still commanded an important customer base in the United States. It shared many parts, engines, and looks with the Impala but fitted everything into a more reasonably priced package.
A 1960 Chevrolet Bel Air landed on Craigslist not long ago with a strong desire to return to the road after spending years in hiding.
You don’t have to be a major Chevy connoisseur to determine this car’s biggest issues. The owner says the Bel Air has been sitting in a shed on a ranch “for years,” and while they don’t offer more specifics, the rust problems suggest we’re not talking about only a couple of years here.
However, the owner says the floors are clean, and an interior shot after the carpet was removed seems to indicate that you won’t find any big problems there. You should still put the car on a lift and inspect everything.
The trunk and rear quarters exhibit unsurprising rust issues, but the good news is that this Bel Air is far from becoming the rust bucket that we’ve seen others turn into. The car is no longer complete, but I wish the seller had offered more information on what’s missing. The interior has already been removed, but that’s good news because this is the easiest way to determine how much work it needs from a metal perspective.
The engine is no longer, and I wouldn’t blame anyone if they walked away at this point. An incomplete Bel Air isn’t good news for anyone planning a complete restoration to factory specifications. However, it’s a great candidate for restoration if your objective is rebuilding the car from the ground up and installing a new engine under the hood. The top engine in 1960 was a 348, but you can fit any unit in there if you’re interested in more power.
It’s unclear what happened to the engine and the transmission, but considering the powertrain and the interior are missing, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they were donated to another Impala or Bel Air project.
The good news is that you can get this Bel Air cheaply, as the owner will let it go for $2,600. It’s difficult to say if it deserves the money, considering how much is missing, but you should inspect it in person to determine its value more accurately. The car is parked close to Phoenix, and you’ll need a trailer to take it to your garage.