2016-19 Chevrolet Volt and 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air. Shot by nifticus392
Cohort Pic(k) of the Day: The Evolution Of The Chevrolet
– Posted on May 29, 2022
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Curbside Classics Archives
2016-19 Chevrolet Volt and 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air. Shot by nifticus392
Some dimensions (inches). 2017 Volt versus 1954 Bel Air – difference
length 180,4 vs 197,5 – 17,1
width 71,2 vs 73,0 – 1,8
height 56,4 vs 59,0 – 2,6
wheel base 106,1 vs 115 – 8,9
Must be the picture, but the volt looks bigger, not the ’54.
I’d have thought they were closer, too.
It’s a ’53.
It took me years to figure out that the only obvious difference between the ’53 and ’54 Chevy was the parking lights, kind of like the ’55-’56 Fords. Now, if only I could master distinguishing the ’49 -’52 Chevrolets and the ’52 -’54 Fords.
The taillights are different, too.
I just learned very recently how to tell the 1952-54 Fords apart — the easiest way is to compare the parking lights. Here’s a composite with the ’52 in the upper left, ’53 in upper right, ’54 in lower left. (The first is from Google, the other two are my own photos.)
The one car show I attend every year is in a couple of weeks. We’ll see how I do.
Ah. Ok.
Blame nifticus; I just copied and pasted his title from the Cohort. 🙂
I should have actually looked at it, but I was in a hurry.
Corrected the year in the cohort post!
Another difference – I don’t expect to see a 65+ year old Volt sitting next to a 2087 Chevrolet ElectroPneumatic Hover Flight. But if we do, the prevailing reaction will be “Wow, I can’t believe people considered crude deathtraps like that to be normal. It’s amazing that any of us lived through that era.”
Will there still be a Chevrolet in 2087?
Will there be any humans around to notice?
^This
This pic offers a concise explanation as to why sedans have plunged in popularity; simply compare the roofline of these two Chevys and contemplate how much easier ingress/egress is in the old one than the new one. It’s no wonder so many people have turned to SUVs and crossovers for everyday driving.
We have come full circle. When I was a kid, it was all “longer, lower and wider.”
What I find odd is how American buyers stayed away from hatchbacks but later went all gaga over CUVs and the like.
That and the recent popularity of “SUV coupes”, that is, tall hatchbacks rather than the usual tall wagons. And the tall hatchbacks command a premium price.
One big difference I have not seen mentioned much here is the utter lack of trunk space in newer sedans. (Mrs. Fred had a 99 S80 Volvo which had a very large trunk, but the opening was too small. )
Try fitting a standard wheelchair in the trunk of today’s sedans, or helping a disabled person into the front seat, and the popularity of CUV/SUV makes sense.
It’s not the lack of cargo space in sedans I find bothersome, but rather how the severely sloped rooflines have reduced the decklid length to maybe a foot long. You basically have to slide your luggage or boxes in from the front and push them back. The near-vertical roofline popular from the late ’70s to early ’90s allowed for long decklids that raised to reveal a large opening to the trunk, allowing you to just drop items in. Now more than half the trunk is underneath the rear window and shelf.
Our family car was a “54 BelAir”, when I was born. Come 1962ih, it got replaced by a “57 Merc” hardtop.
Nice old ’53 .
The last of the Babbitt Pounders .
-Nate
Is this an example of Chevrolution?
(sorry, sorry — sometimes I just cannot control myself…)
The ’53 and ’54 Chevies had different grilles and parking lights. This example has a non-stock, customized grille. I’ll take the older Chevy for ease of entry/exit.
Looks like a ’53 grille with extra teeth added between the stock ones. 🙂
A few more teeth in 54 versus 53 is better than the “BLAA LOOK” of modern day cars that have no visible changes at all.
After, and before, the era of real cars having an appropriate number of cylinders.