Stored 27 Years: 1951 Chevrolet Bel Air Hardtop

GM introduced its pillarless hardtop coupe on the Buick Riviera in mid-1949. In the next model year, the sleek-looking roofline was offered on Chevrolet, Pontiac, and Oldsmobile models. I read that the stylists at GM wanted to capture the look of a convertible with the top up and the four windows down, with no B-pillar to obstruct the view. For Chevy’s new hardtop coupe, the Bel Air (named for the swanky Los Angeles suburb) was launched for the 1950 model year. It looked great on the previous year’s all-new styling and nudged out Chevrolet’s fastback Fleetline model as the “sporty-looking” Chevy. Here’s a spotless, well-optioned example of a 1951 Chevrolet Bel Air that was beautifully restored in the late ’90’s and part of a 130-car private collection. The seller, Mike, says the Bel Air was warehoused with the other vehicles for 27 years, and “was run every month and taken great care of.” The Bel Air currently resides in sunny Sarasota, Florida, and is listed for sale here on craigslist for $26,000. A Barn Find’s thank you to Rocco B. for spotting another GM gem and sending it our way.

Mike says he has done many frame-off restorations and knows a quality restoration when he sees one (he includes two photos of a gorgeous ’51 Chevy Convertible he restored), and says, “this is a super nice car, not some car that was patched over and falling apart!” Based on the photos, this Bel Air looks spotless and worthy of being in a private car collection. The dark metallic paint (I believe it’s Fathom Green Iridescent) is beautiful in the Sarasota sun, and the Moonlight Cream top and sun visor make a perfect looking, classy contrast. Add to that the glistening chrome and all of the other visual goodies on this fully dressed-up Bel Air (spotlight, fender skirts, front and rear bumper extenders and guards, wide whitewalls, etc), and you have an award winner if the next owner chooses to enter it in local car shows.

The “hardtop convertible” Bel Air had an exclusive interior available in four two-tone color choices: red, blue, black, and the green you see here. The green leather seats trimmed in striped “fine pile cord” wool fabric look great, as do the door panels, two-tone instrument panel, and steering wheel, and everything else I can see from the photos. The seller says “the glass is perfect, windows roll up and down perfect, and window frames are great. No rust!” There are also photos included of a clean trunk with a black trunk mat and a new spare tire.

Under the Bel Air’s hood is a very clean, stock 216-cubic-inch Stovebolt inline-six that produces 92 horsepower. It’s paired with a 3-on-the-tree column shift manual transmission. Mileage is listed at 76,000, but there’s nothing said about whether that’s original. The seller claims “the car runs perfectly, just push the button, and it’s running. Smooth running and drives perfectly.”

This is one of the nicest fully-restored ’51 Bel Airs we’ve ever featured here on Barn Finds. It’s still a good-looking “hardtop convertible” that would turn heads in fancy Bel Air, California, or in your garage in Anytown, USA. What do you think?