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1952 Chevrolet Styleline De Luxe Convertible [2134]

1952 Chevrolet Styleline De Luxe [2134] in Habana Blues, Movie, 2005

Class: Cars, Convertible — Model origin:

1952 Chevrolet Styleline De Luxe Convertible [2134]

00:20:18 Vehicle used a lot by a main character or for a long time

Comments about this vehicle

Author	Message
antp ◊ 2007-01-18 23:04	Described as a 1952 Chevrolet in the movie.
firebird86 ◊ 2007-01-18 23:37	Yup, 1952 Chevrolet Bel Air
Yvon52 ◊ 2007-12-13 03:04	Sorry Firebird86, this is not a Bel Air. It's a DeLuxe model 2134 The Bel Air in 1952 was only the hardtop coupe
antp ◊ 2008-03-18 22:21	Comments exchanged with Jim by e-mail: Jim wrote Great website! But, the grille on that red convertible is from a '51. The 52 would have "teeth" in the middle bar, wider parking lights. In high school, I had a 52 driver, and two 51 parts cars. My buddies had 49 and 50. All were similar, but the grilles were slightly different each year. antp wrote Thanks. Note that in Cuba most of the cars are repaired with various parts, usually not the original one: It may have received parts from a '51. Isn't there some detail which allow to identify it to a '52 despite these few '51 features? If you confirm me that despite that it is still a '51, I'll change the year of the car and copy your comment there for reference. Jim wrote I'm pleasantly surprised to hear back so soon from you. Thanks! I've been thinking, it's quite possible that the grille might have gotten damaged & replaced some time in the intervening 56 years. My '52 received its '51 grille in about 1966, merely 14 years after it was made. The four years (49 through 52) share a common body. Dashboards were changed between 50 and 51, from one BIG dial to two smaller ones side by side. That still doesn't differentiate between 51 & 52. Which is too bad, as it'd be very hard to replace a dashboard. I can't recall the rear fender details, will have to look on the web: I know that 49 and 50 had a chrome strip to cover a seam, which disappeared by 52. Trunk latches also changed along the way. Cuba is a wonderful time capsule for American cars, but as you say the passage of time and lack of US parts has probably caused much improvising to keep them running. I'll see what I can find on the web about rear detailing between the 51 and 52 Chevvies. Jim wrote I've been surfing up a storm here, looking at online old Chevy brochures, vintage car pictures, and have to admit that this is a puzzler. As I mentioned, the rear-end details (trunk handle, tail lights, and chrome trim band) changed at 1951. I can't spot any difference back there between the 51 and 52. The dashboards are essentially identical as well. It would appear that Chevrolet's big improvements for 1952 were limited to the "teeth" in the grill crossbar, plus slightly larger parking lights. If the grille's been replaced, then there's no way I can think of to spot the difference without someone closely inspecting the car, reading off the year code on the lamp lenses or the model year from the nameplate.
oddsox ◊ 2015-02-16 15:46	Note added Imperial tail lights. -- Last edit: 2015-02-16 15:47:53

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