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High Inventories Make for Hot DealsClassic Comparison: Chevy Bel Air vs Ford Fairlane
Icons of the late 1950s, the Ford Fairlane and Chevy Bel Air were packed with bells and whistles and all the chrome.
‘50s Highwater Marks
There are two primary frames through which we judge 1950s classic cars. The first is in their historical contexts. That is, how those cars were seen by the public and press when they were in production, the praise received, sales figures and general popularity, and performance against their segment peers. The second frame is a modern context, how those cars are seen today through the lens of nostalgia. Do collectors prize them? How do they contribute to the broad story of the automobile?
It is these questions that make comparing the Ford Fairlane and the Chevrolet Bel Air so compelling. Chrome was king in the late 1950s, with each manufacturer competing to outdo one another with ever more ostentatious designs. But it was not just about fins and fenders. Designers were eagerly concocting novel new features to capture the buying public’s imagination. While the Bel Air, named for the exclusive Los Angeles neighborhood, leaned on an eye-catching design that grew more elaborate with each passing model year, the Ford Fairlane was given a quintessentially ‘50s innovation in the retractable hardtop, guaranteed to impress your friends and neighbors.
Both cars represent what was so special about 1950s automotive design.
Chevy Bel Air
When I ask you, dear readers, to picture in your mind’s eye a car from the 1950s, a good percentage of you will inevitably conjure up a Chevy Bel Air, and most likely a ’57 Bel Air at that. Indeed, the Chevy Bel Air is a perfect case study on the evolution of automotive styling during that decade. The first-generation car, with its hulking fenders and long sweeps of steel still owed much to the Art Deco designs of the 1940s (which in turn, thanks to WWII, had not evolved far beyond those of the late 1930s).
All this changed with the second-generation Bel Air starting with the 1955 model year. Two-tone paint, chrome bumper and accent pieces, and a grille design directly echoing those of the Ferrari 410 racecar had the Bel Air living up to its posh namesake. The ’56 model continued the Bel Air’s evolution with a new grille and thoughtful tweaks to the car’s trimmings.
It is the 1957 model year, however, for which the Bel Air is most famed. The even more elaborate chrome grille was complimented by a new set of rocket hood ornaments and more prominent rear fins. The ‘57 Bel Air was a remarkable sight. Body styles included two- and four-door sedans, a convertible, a coupe, and a four-door wagon and a two-door wagon otherwise known as the Chevy Nomad.
The Bel Air also sported a new engine for the ’57 model, a version of its 283 cu-in V8 with a Rochester Ramjet fuel-injector dubbed the “Super Turbo-Fire.” This 283 came directly from the Chevy Corvette and was one of the first engines able to match displacement and output at a healthy 283 horsepower.
With power and stunning good looks that included Cadillac-levels of chrome, it is little wonder the Chevy Bel Air captured the popular imagination and remains one of the decade’s most iconic cars.
Ford Fairlane
The Ford Fairlane was embarking on its second generation in 1957. Like the Bel Air, the Fairlane featured two-tone paint, ample chrome, and tail fins. (The Fairlane was also named after a geographical location, this time Henry Ford’s Dearborn estate.) The car was longer, lower, and wider than the previous generation and offered numerous body styles that included two- and four-door hardtops and sedans, a convertible and wagon, and, like the Chevy Nomad, a two-door utility vehicle, the new Ford Ranchero.
The coolest body style, however, was clearly the new Fairlane 500 Skyliner with its retractable hardtop. There was the sacrifice of the entirety of the trunk, where the hardtop stowed away, but the party trick was well worth it. While the Hudson Super Six and Peugeot 402 B had retractable hardtops produced in small numbers, and the feature had been seen on some concept cars and prototypes, the Fairlane 500 Skyliner was the first retractable hardtop to go into wide production. The Fairlane 500 Skyliner tacked on an additional $2,942 to the cost of the car.
The Ford Fairlane was a hit with the buying public too, finally outselling its Chevrolet competition for the first time since 1935.
It’s Hard to Beat an Icon
Against about any other car from 1957 and the Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner would have an easy time winning such a comparison. But against the ’57 Bel Air, the Skyliner falls short. The Bel Air truly is an icon of 1950s design. Like the ’59 Cadillac Eldorado, the ’57 model year Bel Air was an evolutionary highwater mark for the car’s design, with elements at turns boldly elaborate and elegantly simple.
The classic car market seems to agree as the ’57 Bel Air is typically priced between $60,000 and $80,000 for well maintained and restored examples. Meanwhile, the ’57 Fairlane 500 Skyliner tops out around $50,000. Neither are cheap entries into collector’s cars.
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I was the metal man on the team that built that pink and mocha 57 convertible! Jerry’s Classic Cars Springdale Arkansas.Voiced my concerns though the whole build about it going pink, until we got it done and wow did it pop. Ended up building a few with that color combination. Kinda cool to see something I worked on show up randomly on my FB page!
Everyone talks about the 57 Bel air like it was a new design but no one ever talks about the car Chevrolet copied to make it. Look up the 56 Plymouth Fury, it is a copy.