Dean Edwards is going to be keeping us busy for a while, as he’s flooding the Cohort with his many pictures shot over the years. This is the one that grabbed me today: another Canada-only version of a popular GM car. In this case, it’s a Bel Air hardtop coupe, and decked out in typical Canadian-thrifty garb: dog dish hubcaps, durable black paint on the roof instead of vulnerable vinyl, and a six cylinder under the hood, given the lack of a “350” on the front fender. We’ll have to speculate if it has a three-on-the-tree, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
I find this quite compelling. There’s a charming simplicity about it. But then I’d probably have made a very happy Canadian if my father had decided to move there instead.
Would it have killed Chevy to offer a Bel Air hardtop coupe here too? Maybe just in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania? Like a regional special, the way certain Mustang special editions and others were offered regionally?
There are some amazing and prolific regular posters at the Cohort, and Dean’s finds keep hitting a sweet spot for several of us. I’m in the process of writing up another of his finds.
The ’70 full-size Chevrolet is a favorite. Growing up I’d periodically see a two-door, but it invariably it would be one with a formal roof. This one looks infinitely better in two-door form with this roof. That black does a great job of toning down all that gold although I would imagine it would make for a really toasty interior during the summer months.
Keep them coming, Dean.
I’ll try! I was looking at the pile and realized that I digitized a few too many without knowing that the shot was inversed or should have had the negative cleaned a bit better prior to being scanned. I will have to get back to the pile with a new and better resolution scanner. Sorry about too many Caddy pictures, but I was kind of besotted with the wreath and crest…
Great photo! I also prefer the Sport Coupe to the Custom Coupe.
I’m no expert but perhaps the roof colour isn’t original I’ve never seen a factory 2-tone black roof added to a non air- conditioner equipped car. It’s safe to assume a Canadian low priced Chevy didn’t have A/C in 1970, as it was an expensive option.
In my humble and limited experience, if the car didn’t have air conditioning, roofs were either body coloured paint or white (or other light colour) paint or vinyl at the time. A black roof would turn the interior into an intolerable broiler pan without the relief of A/C, even in a Canadian summer.
“I’ve never seen a factory 2-tone black roof added to a non air- conditioner equipped car.”
I have – the 69 Catalina sedan my grandma bought new. Black painted roof and black cloth interior with a silver car – and no air! Actually, I would suspect that the dull black finish of a vinyl roof would suck in more heat than a shiny black painted roof.
That’s interesting and imho a rare combination. I presume it was a special order?
No, actually. It was on the lot of a small-town dealer in northwest Ohio. Maybe it had been a special order someone backed out on, or maybe it was because the dealer thought it might appeal the folks in that thrifty farming community. She liked the silver and picked it over another color car that had air conditioning.
Could it have been a factory error? Paint was applied before the engines & interiors went in. Way different places in the factory?
Richard, I have seen a handful of 1969-70 GM cars with 2 tone paint in place of the ubiquitous vinyl roofs over the decades. The only reason I noticed them was because of Grandma’s Pontiac. It was definitely not a popular choice by that time.
Edit – there is a 69 Pontiac color and trim book on OldCarBrochures.org. It lists all of the colors, and for each any others available as two-tones. A silver car could get either a black or a white painted roof. Silver with a white painted roof sounds awful.
My grandmother had a ’69 Catalina, white with a black painted top, looked factory to me.
Growing up, a guy whose lawn I looked after had a 68 or 69 Delta 88 with this exact (or certainly very similar) combo. While I remember thinking it was an unusual combination, it never occurred to me it was the black painted (versus vinyl) top that made it weird.
My sister had a ‘69 Delta 88, silver with a black painted top. And I’m certain it came that way from the factory.
Factory two-tone was relatively rare in the ’60s, and after 1964, most two-tone involved a vinyl top.
The chrome band on the subject car at the base of the roof color looks factory, this car started life with either vinyl or two-tone, and I’d bet on two-tone.
Back in time, I came across a handful of two-tones. Most notable was probably a 1965 Bel-Air sedan a guy had at my high-school. It was immaculate, white with a turquoise top, turquoise interior and full wheel covers. With the bit of dress-up it didn’t like like a stripper at all.
You have to dig a bit to find documentation on two-tone options, but this 1968 color option guide does mention two-tone combinations were available….
My dad bought a 67 Meteor new, dark green in colour with a black crinkle top. Was a nice car which I took my drivers in. Non-A/C
My father had a ’67 Mercury Montclair with a black painted roof. I thought it looked kind of cool. None of the rust bubbles under the vinyl roof look that was so common in the Midwest.
IMO: Correctly optioned (350 V8 engine, 3 speed Turbohydramatic transmission, power disc brakes, power steering, factory A/C, heavy duty/F41 suspension) the 1970 Chevy was the best full sized Chevy… ever.
And in the most popular color offered by Chevrolet in 1970 (after many years where white had been the top choice.) This is an appealing car – I think it may be the last big Chevy that I really, really like.
My Grandma had the 69 Pontiac Catalina version of this car, only with wheel covers and a V8. Silver, black painted roof and no other options I can think of beyond an AM radio and floor mats.
Being just a bit younger, I don’t have a great feel for Chevy colors in the early ’60s, but it does seem like every other ’61-’62 Chevy was white.
’65-’66 seemed to offer a lot turquoise, gold had a strong run from ’67-’70, and oh my goodness, Grecian Green in 1968. Chevy bought tanker cars of the stuff.
My folks had a Grecian Green ’68 Impala sedan, the neighbors across the street had a Grecian Green Impala Custom Coupe with black vinyl, there was an Impala hardtop with Grecian Green, black vinyl and fender skirts a few blocks from us, the dressiest ’68 Chevy I recall ever seeing without a Caprice badge on it.
Grecian Green was fairly common on the entire line from Camaro to Caprice. Maybe the Corvette was spared.
Not my parent’s car, but I’ve selected a fine Grecian Green Impala with a two-tone in keeping with today’s featured car. Even the ’68 owner’s manual was sort of Grecian Green!
Funny you should mention it Dave, and we’ve probably discussed this here before, but our family car from 1968 to 1973 was a Grecian Green ’68 Impala Custom Coupe, but WITHOUT the vinyl top. Ours had the standard Chevy wheel covers like the one in your picture.
And your picture a few posts up of the interior fabrics? – Yeah, ours was the cloth on the left… exactly like that. I think you’re right about Grecian Green being all the rage that year. Funny, as popular as it was, I believe JPC, CC’s resident “Color-Whisperer”, one time said it was a ’68 only color. I think he even said that every year of this generation had a slightly different shade of light green.
My Dad traded in a Firethorn Red ’66 Impala Fastback Coupe for that car, and to this day does not remember why he traded that one in so soon. I chalk it up to his Jim-Klein-like AADHD (the first “A” for Auto ;o) – again, Sorry, Jim.
But from 5 to 8 years old (’65 to ’68), I was becoming car aware and loved all things Impala. To this day, the ’68 is my favorite of that generation, looks-wise, although I will concede performance to the 1970 MY, as I have learned reading these very fine pages here.
Thanks for the blast from the past! I actually remember that Owner’s Manual!
Our neighbors bought a brand-new 1968 Malibu SS hardtop coupe, and, yes, it was Grecian Green with a black vinyl roof.
Another neighbor bought a brand-new 1968 Impala SS fastback, and it was a silver-green color with a black vinyl roof. The color had faded to silver by the time they traded it in 1976 for a brand-new AMC Hornet Sportabout with almost every option in the book, except for the V-8.
(What sticks in my mind that their cars had the standard wheel covers for the respective model line, even though they had ordered the SS version.)
My grandmother’s “gentleman friend” drove a 1968 Bel Air four-door sedan in light metallic blue. It had no radio, dog-dish hubcaps, blackwall tires and a column-mounted stick shift. It also sported the most poorly fitted interior carpeting I had ever seen…until we bought our 1973 AMC Gremlin.
Our neighbors bought a brand-new 1968 Malibu SS hardtop coupe with a black vinyl roof, and, yes, it was in Grecian Green.
Our other neighbors bought a brand-new 1968 Impala SS fastback in a silver-green color with a black vinyl roof. It had faded to silver by the time they traded it for a brand-new 1976 AMC Hornet Sportabout with almost every option in the book.
What really sticks in my mind about these cars is that they sported the standard wheel covers for each respective model line, despite being SS versions.
My grandmother’s “gentleman friend” had a 1968 Bel Air sedan in light metallic blue with dog-dish hubcaps, black-wall tires, column-mounted stick shift and no radio. It had the worst fitting interior carpeting of any car I had ever seen, until we bought our 1973 AMC Gremlin.
Grecian Green or similar avocado colors were the cat’s meow in the 1968-70 time frame, not just in cars but also in interior decorating.
Our family’s kitchen was remodeled in 1969, and my mother opted for ceramic tiles on the drywall in the space between the kitchen counters and the wall-mounted cabinets. She had decided on one of two colors – avocado or white, and asked me to choose. I selected white, guessing that it would better withstand the test of time.
On the roof colour front, my experience is that interior colour and material are bigger factors. My ’69 Skylark (white vinyl interior, white vinyl roof ) is hotter to sit in than my Commodore ( black cloth interior, white roof) My Holden HQ ( black vinyl interior, white roof) was always hotter to sit in than the HQ Statesman that replaced it ( flax cloth interior, black vinyl roof)
We didn’t get ALL the good stuff Paul. The south west is quite nice and I’d really like to see crater lake someday. 😉
But yes, that’s a nice normal car which is pretty typical of my growing up years, not too many ostentatious vehicles in 1970’s blue collar Hamilton.
Do we know what year that was shot?
Looking across the street looks like some ’90s vintage cars parked although I can’t tell the make. Could be Pontiacs or possibly Fords of some kind. Hard to tell.
In the Cohort, Dean posts the photo date was 2011. This car is in GREAT shape for 2011. Possibly restored?
I would say paint refreshed, it’s just too good. But, the body looks very original. Having lived with many big Chevrolets from this time period, the rockers, fenders behind the wheels and wheel lip areas were plenty rust prone. On this car, the the bottom several inches of the sides are incredibly straight and the chrome wheel lip moldings are in fine shape and are attached to clean, straight sheet metal.
I think that you are possibly right on some kind of restoration, as the car looked too nice. A lot of folks either painted the roof to cover up a vinyl roof re-do, or to get a two-tone effect on the cheap. My buddy used to do vinyl roofs in the day, and was saying that it was around $150 retail, and less for dealers. Dealers used to take a slow-selling bland car and attempt to pretty it up with a vinyl roof, pin stripes, etc. The shot was taken in 2011 in Harrow, Ontario.
Dean,
You reminded me of a Ford dealer in downtown Edmonton who used to throw 1/4 vinyl roofs on bland looking Torinos and Fairlanes. A half-hearted effort to move those pigs off the lots. With hubcaps and minimal options its no wonder they sat at the back of the lot.
You remind me that I did this very thing with my 71 Scamp. It was a dark brownish gold color (Tawny Gold Metallic) and had a really dark brown vinyl roof. After a buddy and I repainted the car the vinyl roof really started to deteriorate. The next summer I finished peeling it off, sanded and filled seams then picked a contrasting color. That seemed easier than trying to match the body *and* fill all of the holes for the chrome pieces that edged the vinyl roof.
I didn’t like any of the 71 colors for the roof, but that butterscotchy color from 72-74 or so was an almost exact match for my interior, so I went with that. I had the only one in the world when I was done. 🙂
According to the sign behind it it was for sale along with a 55 Chev, 62 Pontiac and 73 Mustang.
Wherever Roger’s Auto Sales was, it sold interesting cars!
What a beauty! I’d love that for a leisurely cruiser!
There were a number of low-trim full size hardtops available in the Canadian market after the two door sedan body style was dropped. Along with the Bel Air introduced in 1970, Pontiac offered both Laurentian and Strato-Chief hardtops beginning in 1969, and Ford introduced a Custom 500 mid-year 1970.
The last Bel Air hardtop in the U.S. was in 1962, and sales were minuscule, most likely the reason for its demise. Now real rarities were the Bel Air 4 door hardtops from 1958-61, and the 210 series 4 door hardtops in ‘57 and ‘58. I really can’t recall ever seeing one.
I’d lived in Canada for a couple of years when this car was new. At age 13, I thought nothing of pedaling my bike to the dealer and snapping up some sales brochures – most of which, sadly, have been lost to time.
But I DO remember seeing a BelAir sport coupe in a brochure but it was after I returned to the States and was older that I realized it was Canada-only. My head was attuned to spotting the more obvious Canadian offshoots like Meteors and Beaumonts…and my favorite of all from the Great White North, the ’62 Parisienne.
One Pandemic Parisienne coming right up…
Sorry, my bad, Laurentian will have to suffice.
The last Bel Air hardtop in the U.S. was in 1962, and sales were minuscule, most likely the reason for its demise. Now real rarities were the Bel Air 4 door hardtops from 1958-61, and the 210 series 4 door hardtops in ‘57 and ‘58. I really can’t recall ever seeing one.
I had a Bel Air, it was a 1981. I only had it for a couple of years due to reliability issues. I would include it in a COAL series should the opportunity permit, but no promises.
Definitely interesting to go with the painted roof. “My base model car needs a contrasting color to make it stand out, but an actual vinyl top? Way too swanky for folks like me.”
Except for the special.Impala could and convertible, the Bel Air was the top of.the.line in 58. The 4 door hardtop did about 83k units.
Hi guys,
Just found that older post. I do own one of theses Bel Air. Mine is dark forest green with green interior, 2 barrels 350 with TH350 tran. Restored with all original parts. Since I updated to front disc assisted brake and power steering from junk parts cars(1970 Impala) for more fun to drive.
Mine had few options, courtesy lamp everywhere possible, even the map lamp on the mirror, never seen that option on any other 1970 full-size.
Heavy duty supension, full wheel cover cap(from the Impala) and the remote adjustable driver mirror.
3458 units built with a V8 and only 47 with an inline 6…