Bubble Burster

Cliff Findlay’s Extreme Bel Air Sport Coupe

- Rob Fortier

In 1962, Chevrolet was transitioning from shapely space age designs to what they refer to as a more rectilinear (less curvy) look; but not without giving its most notable achievement next to tail fins—the bubbletop—one last supporting role on showroom floors.

What was once the maker’s top-of-the-line model just a decade prior, the car used to introduce Chevy’s all-new V-8 in 1955 had slowly been resigned to taking a back seat to their new king of the road, the mighty Impala. But prior to its down-ranking to a less-optioned economy model, the Bel Air was afforded its swan song in the form of the ’62 Sport Coupe hardtop. The last of the bubbletops, the car that got the previous year’s Impala SS hand-me-down roof, also got the all-new, dual-quad 409, the very beast that inspired a legendary song to be written about it, not to mention many a legendary drag racer to capitalize on it and that lesser-equipped body package wrapped around it.

It should go without saying that over the years the value of all versions of the ’62 Bel Air Sport Coupe have steadily risen in value (believe there was one last year that rolled through Barrett-Jackson fetching a quarter-million!). However, when it comes to hot rodding, oftentimes purity and preservation are thrown straight out the window. Case in point: Cliff Findlay’s bubbletop, taken to the extreme by Ironworks Speed & Kustom, with its namesake hardtop and exterior sheet metal the few remaining stock (or close to) identifiers. If the Ferrari