1962 Chevrolet Belair 409 c.i. "bubbletop"

Ever since the dawn of time, man has had a fascination with speed, constantly trying to out run his fellow man, even if it was just to make sure he didn’t get eaten! This love affair with speed would see the invention of the wheel, then the invention of the motor and finally, the invention of the muscle car. Man had now reached his pinnacle and there was nothing left to do but make improvements. Such improvements can be seen in the 1961 Bel Air Sports Coupe, which became affectionately known as the “bubbletop” due to the shape of the roof and glass at each end. The idea was to cut down on weight by using less metal in the vehicle, seeing the full size Chevy 100lbs lighter than its counterpart.

1962 would see Chevrolet take another leap forward in the muscle car race with the addition of the 409 c.i. big block as an option. The combination of these two improvements to the Bel Air Sports Coupe would see it become a very popular car among drag racers as it was now capable of reaching a top speed of 115 MPH over the quarter mile. Brakes, what brakes? They were unassisted drums all round, so you’d better make sure there is plenty of run-off after the finish line!

Later in 1962, Chevrolet went one step further in lightening its new kid in town by offering its fans the Z11 package, which consisted of an aluminium hood, and aluminium inner and outer guards. Only one hundred Bel Airs were produced with these additions and could be purchased for $2,668.

Murray owns this beautiful example of the 409c.i. bubbletop Bel Air and it has been a three year obsession to locate a good original one that hadn’t been tampered with that saw Murray travel to North America. It was located in a car yard of all places in Canada and, after a full going over and satisfied that it wasn’t a Mexican resto, the search was finally over.

While the engine bay is currently home to a 409 c.i. big block, it is not the correct one but have no fear, Murray has the correct 425 HP donk tucked away safe in his possession ready to go in when he finds the time. The rest of the muscle car is as it was when it came from the factory, 4 barrel carby, points ignition, 4 speed manual, drum brakes and a 3.5:1 Positraction differential, just to guarantee both tires are sticky off the line! The only change is the wheels which are hard-to-find Daisy old school alloy mags which suit the car to perfection. The fronts are 15x7 while the rears are 15x8.5 and shod in Cooper Cobra Radial GTs all round.