1974 Chevrolet Caprice Classic, Impala, Bel Air and Biscayne

The full-sized 1974 Chevrolet was Canada’s favourite passenger car, selling 49,970 units during the calendar year.

Chevrolet has long been popular with the buying public since its introduction to Canadians in 1915. Assembled by the McLaughlin concern in Oshawa, Ontario, the inexpensive Chev complemented the higher-priced McLaughlin and competed head-to-head with Ford.

The 1915 Chevrolet Royal Mail.

In 1974 Canadians could choose among four full-sized models in the bowtie clan: The top of the line Caprice Classic, the Impala, the Bel Air and a model not available in the United States—a very modestly dressed Biscayne with a V-8 engine.

Advertising announced the car with bold words. “A lavish measure of comfort, fine handling and beautiful styling; these are the distinguishing marks of the new Chevrolets.” It further crowed, “there’s much to admire, even more to enjoy in driving the spacious new Chevrolets for 1974.” The wordsmiths had to work their magic to the best of their abilities because even to the untrained eye these cars were virtually unchanged from last year.

Visit my old car website at: The Oilspot Eh!

All of the big Chevs carried 5.7-litre (350-cubic inch) V-8 engines this year and automatic transmissions both features calculated into the base price of the vehicles. The standard equipment V-8 used in Canadian Chevrolets was rated at 185 horsepower--20 more horses than its stateside cousins received. The 18 different models sold domestically were sourced from GM factories in Oshawa, Ontario; Janesville, Wisconsin; St. Louis, Missouri and Wilmington, Delaware.

The 1974 Chevrolet Caprice Classic carried its own distinctive rear deck moulding. Triple taillights were long a Chev hallmark. The coupe listed for $4,933 f.o.b. Oshawa.

Though the basic envelope looked a great deal like that of 1973, the Caprice Classic was more graceful and distinguished than its relatives, courtesy of a dressier front end and a sculptured deck in the rear. Body styling was crisp with voluptuously finished rectangular lines throughout. This car’s philosophy appealed to those who “think driving is something the car should do.” It was the reasoning behind the exceptional luxury. Caprice Classic had a “sure talent for putting pleasure into driving.” A dramatic new Colonnade roof--one with expansive fixed rear glass--appeared on Caprice Classic two-door sedans.

With its $4,441 price tag, the 1974 Chevrolet Caprice Classic had the full-sized ragtop field to itself as Ford, Chrysler and American Motors had all withdrawn its convertibles from the market.

Interiors of the Caprice Classic boasted a fold-down centre armrest on sedans. The upholstery was a velvet-look plush knit cloth with vinyl inserts in black, blue, green, red or taupe. There were all-vinyl interiors available in black or neutral. Faux wood accents were used sparingly and tastefully throughout the cabin. Doors featured slim, vinyl door pulls. 

The 1958 Chevrolet Impala.

The Impala first bowed in the 1958 model year. Its name evoked glamour and graceful glory then. In 1974 its name had dropped a notch and rode on Chevs that were designated as the marque’s traditional value leader. Impala promised to deliver not only during its years in the driver’s hands but at resale time, too.

The 1974 Chevrolet Impala four-door sedan weighed in at 4,338 pounds and carried a $4,506 price tag, f.o.b. Oshawa.

 The Sport Cloth interiors for Impala were patterned cloth in black, blue, neutral or green with matching nylon cup-pile carpeting. Also there were all-vinyl upholstery schemes in black, neutral, green, blue or saddle.

The 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air four-door sedan.

The Bel Air name first appeared in 1953 as the top-of-the-line model and 21 years later still graced Chevrolet but this time on a modestly trimmed line of bowties. 

The 1974 Chevrolet Bel Air.

Bel Air’s practical all-vinyl material could be ordered in Green or Neutral for a few bucks extra. The standard interior was a stylish pattern cloth and vinyl in black, neutral or green and still boasted nylon cut-pile carpeting and a colour-keyed steering wheel and column.

The 1974 Chevrolet Biscayne was popular with police departments across Canada.

The Biscayne was a Canada-only model offered as a plain-Jane four-door sedan and an equally utilitarian four-door station wagon. The former listed for $4,139 and the later carried a $4,894 price tag, f.o.b. Oshawa.

Instrument panel for the 1974 full-sized Chevrolet was angular and spare, complimenting the exterior.

Chevrolet could be ordered in any of 16 colours—ten of them new this year. To top things off, extra cost vinyl roof covers could be had in black or white plus blue, cream beige, green red, brown russet, saddle or taupe—for two-door coupes and sedans.

Visit my old car website at: The Oilspot Eh!

 

There were as many options for one’s 1974 Chev as there are kids in the backyard pool on a hot summer’s day. Included among the extras were front bumper guards, steel belted radial tires; an outside remote-control mirror for the right hand side; simulated wire wheel covers; full wheel discs for Impala, Bel Air and Biscayne; “Love” (baby) seats; a plethora of radios and tape players; a new litter container, deluxe seat and shoulder belts; carpeting in black, blue red, gold or russet; a choice of Comfitron or Four-Season air conditioning; 50/50 reclining seats; power seats; power door lock system; power windows, Comfortilt steering wheel; Soft-Ray tinted glass; Cruise-Master speed control; positraction rear axle and a rear-window defogger. 

The 1974 Chevrolet Impala.

If that didn’t complete the shopping list, there was a Quiet Sound Group, designed to give extra insulation for those lesser than Caprice Classic models; superlift rear shocks; trailering equipment; a heavy—duty batter; auxiliary lighting; an electric clock; a dome reading light; door edge guards, a visor vanity mirror; rear bumper guards and rear fender skirts.

Sales were off badly for the biggest bowtie. For calendar year 1974 the numbers were 49,970 units delivered, down from 53,225 units delivered in 1973. Despite the low numbers management could heave a collective sigh of relief that Chev was still the number one best selling car in Canada—better than its 1972 finish when Toyota beat out Chevrolet as the nation’s best selling passenger car.

The 1972 Toyota lineup found favour with many Canadians and toppled Chevrolet from its traditional first place in sales.

Visit my old car website at: The Oilspot Eh!

Copyright James C. Mays 2004
 All rights reserved.

1950 Chevrolet in the US Market

It wasn’t Chevrolet's styling that caught Americans' attention in 1950; those graceful lines had been served up just the year before. Style changes were so modest that even a die-hard fan would have to look twice in order to distinguish the subtle differences between a 1949 and 1950 model,

Consumers were fearful that the Cold War was about to heat up. The USSR, China and the USA squared off over the future of Korea. Worried that the impending conflict would curtail auto manufacturing as it had in World War Two, buyers flooded dealers’ showrooms across the 48 states.

Chevrolet was given an all new model for 1950. More than 600,000 people had seen the 1949 Chevrolet Bel Air show car at GM’s Transportation Unlimited extravaganza in New York City and Detroit. Now Chev was given a dressed-up production hardtop of its own. Officially christened as the Bel Air Hard Top Sport Coupe, the prestigious and pricey pillarless two-door cost only $100 less than a top-of-the-line ragtop.

The hardtop convertible gave the feeling of riding in an open car without the inconvenience associated with a ragtop. The new body style was derived by welding the steel roof of a coupe onto a convertible’s body. The convertible body was used because it was heavily reinforced. That hard top, firmly positioned on the two-door convertible body, eliminated the “B” pillar located at the trailing edge of the front door and the leading edge of the rear side window on sedans.

There was more excitement as the long-awaited automatic transmission, Powerglide, made its debut. Chevrolet beat Ford and Plymouth to market by being first to install automatic transmission in car marketed in the low-priced fieldt. New owners were told that Powerglide was as easy as A-B-C. Instructions were to start the engine, set the “pilot control” lever and press on the gas! The two-speed self-shifter was of the torque converter variety. Automatic transmission added $159 to the price of one’s Chevrolet. Powerglide was available only on the higher-priced Deluxe models.

Most Chevrolets came equipped with the company’s familiar Stovebolt Six, tweaked to give 92 horsepower. Powerglide equipped cars were given a beefy 105-horsepower Chevy truck engine equipped with hydraulic lifters. The more powerful engine compensated for the slippage that was common in first generation automatic transmissions.

General Motors and the auto unions inked a deal, assuring labour peace for five years. Workers’ pensions began to be funded through the stock market. “Finer than ever for ’50” was the Chevy sales slogan and indeed, Chevrolet was America’s favourite car as sales topped the 1.5 million mark. With truck production added in, a new record was set as 2 million new bowties hit the nation’s highways in 1950.

Visit my old car website at: The Oilspot Eh!

Copyright James C. Mays 2005 All rights reserved.

1955 Chevrolet

This 1955 Chevrolet was utilitarian in look and purpose.

 Development for the 1955 Chevrolet began in 1952. This chrome-and-steel confection would be the third generation of post-war Chevs and it needed to be stunning if the GM division was to keep its lock on first place in the sales race.

Designers were handed a package of instructions that included creating a vehicle on a 2 191-millimetre (115-inch) wheelbase. Early designs called for a split windshield to minimize costs. Style reigned supreme during the era and the two-piece windshield was ultimately nixed in favour of a one-piece affair with graceful glass that wrapped around the sides to greet a nicely indented A pillar.

   A September 1953 drawing reveals an attractive automobile-based pickup truck was under consideration. Ultimately that model was nixed in the Canadian and American markets but did find a home in Australia.

The 1956 Holden FE Utility made good use of the 1955 North American Chevrolet passenger car body.

What developed in the studio was an astonishingly fresh and clean design with slab sides and a discrete sweetheart dip in the rear quarter panel. Like this year’s Nash, Chevrolet carried an inset grille; Chev’s version was a simple, yet elegant, egg crate motif. The car’s chrome trim was tasteful as were the two-tone colour combinations.

The new V-8 engine introduced by Chevrolet
boasted a 4.2-litre (265 cubic-inch) displacement and generated
162 horsepower.

The small-block V-8 mill was new, too. Available domestically only in the 4.2-litre (162-horsepower) form, the Chev clipped along at a goodly speed with help from the three-speed manual transmission or Powerglide. 


The faithful Stove Bolt Six was still an excellent alternative and line workers in Oshawa installed only the 136-horsepower version. The now dated torque-tube drive was dropped in favour of the more versatile Hotchkiss setup, which permitted bodies to be lowered by 63.5 millimetres (2.5 inches) on sedans and a full six inches on wagons. Chev got a leg up on much of the competition by switching to a hotter 12-volt electrical system.

Visit my old car website at http://www.theoilspoteh.ca 

The instrument cluster was a large, chromed 1/3-pie slice featuring an easy-to-read speedometer, fuel and temperature gauges, oil and ammeter lights. 


The chrome pie-slice theme was repeated on the passenger side of the instrument panel where the optional electric clock fitted neatly into the base of the large “V”.

The 1955 Chevrolet models started rolling out the doors in Oshawa on September 8. Vehicles were now being built in the new South facility, comprised of an 11-hecatrare (27-acre) body assembly building, an eight-hectare (20-acre) chassis facility, a final assembly plant and a four-hectare (12-acre0 parts warehouse. Of the 28 models offered to the public, only six of the bowties were imported. On October 1st, some Chev and Pontiac wagon models were returned to domestic assembly lines after a 15-year absence. 

Like geese headed south for the winter, folks from St. John's to Victoria flocked to car dealers’ showrooms every fall to see the new cars. For the 1955 selling season the ritual continued unabashed as Canadians headed off to ogle the newest crop of automobiles. Studebaker claimed the honours of being first to step up to the plate this year when its redesigned automotive lineup was unveiled to the public on October 6. 

Chevrolet’s egg crate grille was controversial when introduced on the 1955 models.
The Bel Air two-door sedan carried a price tag of $2,021 and tipped the scales at 1 413 kilos (3,115 pounds).

Next up to bat was Chevrolet. From coast-to-coast, a hungry, curious public made a date on October 28 to see the new V-8 Chevs and the posh, new four-door Bel Air Station Wagon. The new Chevrolets were simply sensational. There had never been bowties like these long, low and lovely cars with their wrap-around windshields. 

While everyone admired the new Turbo-Fire V-8, opinion at the time was that the inset grille looked far too European. That style marker immediately became a point of controversy among purists. Regardless of where one stood in the grille debate, there were crowds a plenty on the showroom floors to kick the tires and slam the doors; Chevrolet had been Canadians’ favourite automobile for more than two decades.

1955 Ford.

Dealers with Ford-Monarch or Mercury-Lincoln-Meteor franchises were green with envy. They had beautiful cars too, but had little to show at introduction time because employees in Oakville were in the midst of a very long, bitter strike against the manufacturer. Only a handful of models, imported from the US and the UK were on display. That work stoppage at Ford didn’t hurt Chev-Olds dealers one little bit. 

1955 Chevrolet 150 Four-door Sedan.

Chevrolet fielded four models in the Spartan 150 Six series. The least expensive Chev on the market was the three-passenger business coupe with its $1,711 price tag. The two-door sedan carried a list price of $1,804; the four-door sedan cost $1,853 and the sober two-door station wagon sold for $2,185. Popping a V-8 mill under the hood hiked the final bill by a C-note. Interiors of the modest Canadian-built 150 series borrowed its dressier steering wheel from the American 210 models. Upholstery was cloth and vinyl and basic black rubber matting covered the floors. 

The 1955 Chevrolet 210 Townsman station wagon was 197 inches in length, weighed in at  1 528 kilos (3,370 pounds) and cost $2,614 f.o.b. Oshawa. Taxes were extra.

Further up the scale was the 210 Six series with a trio of entries. The two-door sedan was priced at $1,898; the four-door sedan cost $1,947 and the two-door wagon sold for $2,437. Adding $100 to the price tag got one the new V-8 instead of the six. The four-door V-8 wagon carried a sticker of $2,614.

If one desired a new Chevrolet Bel Air convertible in 1955, one reached into one’s bank account for 

$2,382 and took out a few extra bucks for taxes.

Then there was the ritzy Bel Air clan, made up of a two-door sedan at $$2,021; $2,070 for the four-door sedan; a hardtop coupe that retailed for $2,211 and a sweet ragtop selling for $2,382. 

1955 Chevrolet Nomad featured a racy tail combined with hardtop styling.

When it made its mid-season debut, the imported Nomad two-door wagon would sport a price tag of $2,654 Once again, a crisp $100 bill gave one that Turbo-Fire V-8 upgrade. Bel Airs were graced with interiors that were colour-keyed to the exterior of the car and given luxurious carpeting as well. 

Popular options included power steering, power brakes, power windows, the Signal Seeking radio, white sidewall tires, full wheel covers, windshield and side window visors, an electric razor and a Continental spare kit. Wise folks ordered the extra-cost heater and defroster as well as the engine block heater. 

The Chevrolet Corvette received numerous upgrades in 1955.

Finally, one could escape far from the madding crowd in a snappy two-seater Chevrolet Corvette. The fast fibreglass coupe and convertible received a raft of sorely needed changes to make it more competitive with Ford's sassy Thunderbird. The sportiest bowtie in the Chevrolet family now started out at a cost of $2,774. 

Some unusual Chevs were built that year. A 210 Townsman Station Wagon was delivered to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. The royal ride had special bars installed in the windows of the cargo bay to protect the glass from any shifts in luggage or cargo. It featured other custom appointments including unique, full-width rear door pockets.

Chevrolet was chosen to be the pace car at a the Indianapolis 500 in 1955.

Another Chev was chosen to pace the Indianapolis 500 that year and worldwide, GM turned out its 5-millionth passenger car on November 23, 1954—the honour falling to a ’55 Chev Bel Air Sports Coupe that rolled out the doors of the Flint, Michigan factory. The car’s usual chrome parts were gold plated to mark the occasion.

Workers in Oshawa built 79,308 Chevs during the 1955 model year, making it the marque’s third best year in the Dominion and keeping the bowtie brand Number One in the hearts and garages of the nation.

Visit my old car website at http://www.theoilspoteh.ca 

 Copyright James C. Mays 2004
All rights reserved.

1961 Chevrolet

The 1961 Chevrolet Impala two-door was easily identified by the trio of taillights. The two-door sedan listed for $3,629 with the optional V-8 engine.

The first Chevrolet was assembled in this country in 1916. The McLaughlin Motor Car Company Limited acquired the rights from William (Billy) Durant. The durable and economical little Chevrolet was built in Oshawa, Ontario alongside the fancy McLaughlin. Sales were good for both. 

General Motors bought the McLaughlin concern in 1919 and transformed it into GM of Canada, Limited. The entire range of company’s products was phased into production in Oshawa—even Cadillac. The only GM car never built here was the Marquette, a short-lived, lower-priced companion to the Buick.

Chevrolet appealed to the public and quickly bested Ford as the most popularly purchased automobile in the Dominion. The rivalry between the Blue Oval and the Bowtie to be Number One in the hearts and driveways of Canadians would continue for decades to come. General Motors marked its Golden Jubilee in 1958 and boasted that more than half of all cars driven in this country were GM products. 

Despite the relentless onslaught of small, cheap European imports, in 1960 Chev alone accounted for 15.5 percent of all new car sales.  To sweeten the pot, the GM division introduced a rear-engined compact car series that model year to do battle with Volkswagen and Rambler. The Corvair enjoyed modest success with consumers. It all added up to a banner year for GM as the manufacturer produced 175,086 passenger cars—the best year on record since 1953. 

The 1961 Impala convertible was the only ragtop that year in the full-sized Chevrolet family. The price tag was $3,533 when equipped with the six-cylinder mill and $3,658 for the V-8 version.

The 1961 Chevrolet family included a full-sized stable made up of Impala, Bel Air and Biscayne models. These cars were new from stem to stern. The compact-sized Corvair continued with minor changes. The image building two-seater fibreglass Corvette with its new bobbed backside rounded out the bowtie kinfolk.  

The graceful roofline distinguished Sports Coupes from other Chevs in 1961. This Bel Air cost $3,062 with a six under the hood and $3,286 for the V-8 model.

The full-sized envelope was styled under the direction of design chief William “Billy” Mitchell. They lost a few pounds and a few inches off the length, though they continued on the 119-inch wheelbase. Much was made of the  “slim new size” that made Chev “easier than ever to drive, park and garage.”  

 The car carried headlights integrated into the ribbon grille, emphasized by a uni-brow that defined the leading edge of the hood. Between that defining mark and the grille itself were the turn signals spaced nicely by a half dozen open vents that lined up with vertical grille depressions.

Visit my old car website at http://www.theoilspoteh.ca

Heavily sculpted flanks gave the impression of flight with a fin-like look in the rear quarter panel. Circular tail lamps set in a flat panel were distinguished by a heavy indentation dipping into a sweet “V” at the centre of the rear. The greenhouse featured curved and canted front pillars. Slim C pillars created a unique roofline for the Sport Coupe and the Sport Sedan was given a wide rear pillar to “add a touch of town-car luxury.”  The result was a trio of rooflines giving acres of viewing area. 

Impala was the posh Chev. It sported such thoughtful touches as an electric clock, a parking brake warning light, back-up lights, deep-twist carpeting, fingertip door releases and custom-length arm rests as standard equipment. Consumers were told the would be “hard pressed to find a reason for wanting any more car than this.” Interiors were upholstered in soft leather-grain vinyl over foam-cushioned seats. There was a four-door Sport Sedan, a four-door sedan, a convertible and a two-door sedan to choose among.

 The 1961 Chevrolet Impala boasted a capacious but compactly designed Instrument Console with all controls conveniently located within easy reach of the driver.

Bel Air was the mid-range beauty in the full-sized family. Billed as being popularly priced, it offered a glove box light, a dome light, foam for cushions fore and aft, deluxe door handles, window cranks and steering wheel and ash trays in the rear compartment. Each item was described as a Chevy virtue at a “price that makes buying too easy to resist.” The Bel Air was available as a Sort Coupe, a Sport Sedan, a four-door sedan and a  two-door sedan. 

The least expensive full-sized Chevrolets in 1961 were found in the Biscayne Fleetmaster series. The two-door listed for $2,730 and the four-door was priced at $2,797 with the six-cylinder engine.

The least expensive Chevrolet was the Biscayne. Offered as a two- or four-door sedan, it boasted dual sun visors, front arm rests and a glove box lock. Interiors were simple and colour-keyed to a durable rubber floor mat. Even less expensive was the Biscayne Fleetmaster, designed for business. This hardworking pair was available in two- and four-door models. 

Station wagons were listed separately and could be ordered with six or eight-cylinder engines. The wagon tribe included a very elegantly appointed Nomad four-door, six- or nine-passenger model, a mid-priced Parkwood six- or nine-passenger, four-door model and an inexpensive Brookwood four-door, six- or nine-passenger wagon. Each offered 97.5-cubic feet of cargo space. To add icing to the cake, a new concealed compartment under the floor provided additional space and out-of-sight safety for precious items. 

Options? You bet! Owners could load up on goodies galore including power steering, power brakes, power windows, a 6-way power seat, a deluxe heater with or without the All Weather or cool-Pack air conditioning. The E-Z Eye tinted glass was required with the air conditioner. There was  dual exhaust, a two-speed electric windshield wiper and pushbutton windshield washer, For listening pleasure, Chevrolet offered a choice of radios. A four-speed manual transmission was available and for the shiftless, PowerGlide or TurboGlide automatic transmissions could be had, too.

Visit my old car website at http://www.theoilspoteh.ca

Colours for the 1961 Chevrolets were all Magic-Mirror acrylic lacquer. The deep-down lustre was protected by the plastic base that promised to resist road sins such as sun, salt, road tar and chipping. Tuxedo Black, Twilight Mist Metallic, Ermine White, Sateen Silver Metallic #2, Midnight Blue Metallic, Jewel Blue Metallic, Tradewind Blue, Arbour Green Metallic, Seafoam Green, Honduras Maroon Metallic #2, Coronna Cream, Cherrywood Bronze Metallic, Twilight Turquoise Metallic, Seamist Turquoise, Almond Beige, Dawnfire Mist Metallic, Fawn Beige Metallic, Roman Red and Shadow Grey Metallic were the hues of the season. They could be applied to the Body by Fisher envelope in solid colours or in striking two-tone combinations.

When the calendar year was over, Chevrolet had done well for itself, racking up 70,072 deliveries of its full-sized cars and an additional 8,777 Corvair sales. The small car was here to stay but consumers’ love affair with the full-sized Chev was far from over.

The priciest Chev in the 1961 lineup was the eight-cylinder, nine-passenger Nomad wagon with a price tag of $3,929.

-30-

Visit my old car website at http://www.theoilspoteh.ca

Copyright 2006 to James C. Mays

.

.

.