Used Car of the Day: 1962 Chevrolet Bel Air

Tim Healey
by Tim Healey

This 1962 Chevrolet Bel Air is considered a survivor and has paint and trim that is in good shape -- at least according to the seller.


There's a 283 cubic-inch V8 under the hood and the car has 69,000 miles on it. The transmission is a column-shift, three-speed with vacuum overdrive.

The suspension is stock, and the tires are 18s and 20s so that the car has stance. The seller says it's show-ready as-is, and he or she wants wagons in trade.

This car is in Fresno, California, and is priced at $26,000.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey
Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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  • Jeff S Jeff S on Jul 06, 2023

    My comment was deleted again for no good reason. Growing up I had a neighbor that had a brand new 62 Chevy Impala SS gold exterior and interior with bucket seats console, automatic with shifter in the console, a 409, air, power steering and power brakes. It was a beauty and it along with another neighbor who had a white 57 Plymouth Fury with gold side trim got me interested in cars at an early age. Both cars were lust worthy. Another neighbor had a fire engine red 2 door 61 Corvair Monza with 4 on the floor, bucket seats, and wheel covers with the spinners. I always liked Chevy Impalas from 61 thru 70 just beautiful cars. This 62 Bel Air is in great shape but I as others who have commented would rather have the original rims and hubcaps. Sweet ride indeed.



  • RHD RHD on Jul 10, 2023

    It's unique because not very many of them are around any more. As far as a driver, it would be pretty mediocre, especially by the standards of today. Poor handling, acceleration, mileage, comfort, braking, clouds of carbon monoxide, no seat belts... it would be like buying a 1962 refrigerator over a nice, quiet new one with all the lights, storage bins and icemaker. It looks cool, gets the job done, but is terribly outdated and was a very ordinary car even back then.

  • Redapple2 jeffbut they dont want to ... their pick up is 4th behind ford/ram, Toyota. GM has the Best engineers in the world. More truck profit than the other 3. Silverado + Sierra+ Tahoe + Yukon sales = 2x ford total @ $15,000 profit per. Tons o $ to invest in the BEST truck. No. They make crap. Garbage. Evil gm Vampire
  • Rishabh Ive actually seen the one unit you mentioned, driving around in gurugram once. And thats why i got curious to know more about how many they sold. Seems like i saw the only one!
  • Amy I owned this exact car from 16 until 19 (1990 to 1993) I miss this car immensely and am on the search to own it again, although it looks like my search may be in vane. It was affectionatly dubbed, " The Dragon Wagon," and hauled many a teenager around the city of Charlotte, NC. For me, it was dependable and trustworthy. I was able to do much of the maintenance myself until I was struck by lightning and a month later the battery exploded. My parents did have the entire electrical system redone and he was back to new. I hope to find one in the near future and make it my every day driver. I'm a dreamer.
  • Jeff Overall I prefer the 59 GM cars to the 58s because of less chrome but I have a new appreciation of the 58 Cadillac Eldorados after reading this series. I use to not like the 58 Eldorados but I now don't mind them. Overall I prefer the 55-57s GMs over most of the 58-60s GMs. For the most part I like the 61 GMs. Chryslers I like the 57 and 58s. Fords I liked the 55 thru 57s but the 58s and 59s not as much with the exception of Mercury which I for the most part like all those. As the 60s progressed the tail fins started to go away and the amount of chrome was reduced. More understated.
  • Theflyersfan Nissan could have the best auto lineup of any carmaker (they don't), but until they improve one major issue, the best cars out there won't matter. That is the dealership experience. Year after year in multiple customer service surveys from groups like JD Power and CR, Nissan frequency scrapes the bottom. Personally, I really like the never seen new Z, but after having several truly awful Nissan dealer experiences, my shadow will never darken a Nissan showroom. I'm painting with broad strokes here, but maybe it is so ingrained in their culture to try to take advantage of people who might not be savvy enough in the buying experience that they by default treat everyone like idiots and saps. All of this has to be frustrating to Nissan HQ as they are improving their lineup but their dealers drag them down.
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