1961 Bel Air family project

[k9hotrodder409]

Thanks to everyone for the compliments. It's very much appreciated. We are getting excited for the weekend as well.
We came up with a design for T-Shirts but our dad isn't really a 't-shirt' type of guy...he prefers baseball caps. I wonder if we can have one made in time? The back of the cap needs to say "ORIGINAL OWNER".....that would be cool.

Here is what we have in mind....

View attachment 33910

My son John would definitely want one of those !

 

[oldskydog]

I've never been to one of those things, are they fun? Are you taking a car there to show? I'll look up the info online....maybe we'll go to that one as well. Thanks for the head up!

No, I don't have anything to show and don't do shows even if I did. It's a good days outing with all the cars you could possibly want to look at, a swap meet, and all the commercial vendors as well.

 

[DonSSDD]

Great job, it was a short year and having your family help is pretty cool too. I love the white red interior 61's.

Don

 

[Shake-N-Bake]

We had an eventful weekend. Our parents arrived on Friday to see the car and help us with last minute preparations for the car show on Saturday. Everyone was quite excited. The car show was an all day event and the weather was sunny and warm. It's a good thing these cars have a huge trunk because we had it crammed full of chairs, coolers, shade etc. The car received a lot of attention at the car show....it was the only 348 car that I saw so that was cool. Quite a few family members came by to see the car as well so that was nice. After the show my daughter and a couple of her cousins wanted to dress up and take silly photos so they had fun with that. When we went for our first ride, our dad pretty much drove the car like he stole it and our mom couldn't stop laughing from the back seat. It was quite a weekend.

 

[troublemaker427]

So cool!!!

 

[Shake-N-Bake]

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read this thread and follow along with this restoration. It's been a very interesting project and I am glad I had the opportunity to learn more about these incredible cars. This morning my wife and I took our parents for a ride and we went to see the folks who straightened the brightwork and the folks who stitched the interior. Without their help the car wouldn't have come out nearly as nice....(special thank you to Chuck at Metro Plating and Gina at Ciadella).

We drove about 35 miles round trip and car didn't miss a beat. It really rode nice, especially for it's age. Having the windows down and arms hanging out the opening was a great way to cruise. Now I understand why the hardtops are so popular.

Now you guys get to help me keep this car running it's best. I see a 4 speed conversion in our future....

 

[63 dream'n]

What a fantastic family event.........you should be very proud that you could all come together over a family project.......and for all to get that kind of enjoyment,life long memories is what you created......oh,and a beautiful car and family.....you are blessed!

 

[real61ss]

Great, absolutely great. Its great that you did that for your father. Both of you are indeed blessed

 

[1961BelAir427]

What a fantastic family event.........you should be very proud that you could all come together over a family project.......and for all to get that kind of enjoyment,life long memories is what you created......oh,and a beautiful car and family.....you are blessed!

Great, absolutely great. Its great that you did that for your father. Both of you are indeed blessed

THANK YOU for sharing not just this build, but the whole story with all of us here. I love that it's my kind of car, but would enjoy the whole thing just as much anyway.....just because it is a good thing ya'll did. 3 Generations of your family involved and I bet it will be a part of the family for at least a few more.

 

[LMBRJQ 60]

A for Awesome Greg,

First rate job...

All the best for the future with the car and the family.

Steve

 

[nomad59NZ]

Bloody Brilliant, super kewl and you will be so proud that you had everyone there to enjoy the moment.

Great work Greg.

Gav

 

[DonSSDD]

Your pics with the family bring smiles to my face, a very happy story. Congratulations, looks to me like nothing could have turned out better with this project.

Don

 

[Jim Sullivan]

Awesome!

 

[boxerdog]

Outstanding on all counts!!

 

[Shake-N-Bake]

What a great family project, and with long term curation in mind, I like it!

You probably know this already, but that particular body style (1961 Belair Sport Coupe) is very low production, and having a 348 in it is even more rare. There were nine thousand some made (I can look that up) and even fewer had V8s. We don't have any way of knowing just how many had 348s (the other V8 was the 283), but I would venture to guess very few.

Keep us posted as you move along, we can help with advise and encouragement .

Cheers!
TomK

Well, I had no idea how much these cars are in demand or of their value. We had ours appraised and I was quite surprised at the figure....we then had two serious offers to buy the car but like I said before...it's not for sale. Our dad has been enjoying the car quite a bit lately. He said he went to breakfast last week and parked right outside the restaurant (so he could see it through the window) and it took him 20 minutes to make it inside due to all the people that came out to see the car.
Oh yeah...I almost forgot. He took it to a car show a few weeks back and it won Best of Show! He was quite excited.

Now that I have space in my garage again....I began working on my '55 Bel Air. It was a Dusk Rose/India Ivory car originally so I'll stay with the same colors but I am thinking of having Ciadella do something custom for my interior. My wife is in charge of that part so hopefully she makes up her mind soon.

 

[63 Biscayne]

Awesome !!! Nice ride!