Talk about horrible looking customizations....

[AC Norton]

Although judging from the opinions of many people I talk to, the '70 Chevelle is the general favorite year for the car, I've always been more partial to the '71-'72, but this just looks terrible...so much work went into making something so ugly.

http://einstyn.com/einstyn-chopped.htm

....just  clicked on the photo........may need to seek medical attention now, I truly feel sick............heading for some Alka Seltzer,,,the Ace.....

[bbowser]

Not for me. '70s Chevelles all look bulky and puffed up to me. The best looking Chevelles were the previous generation...

I vote for the '68 as well.  These cars just don't lend themselves to chopping the top.

[Jon Haigwood]

There's this,

 

 

And then there's this,

 

 

Beauty is not always in the eye of the beholder!

 

Steve

Most of the time Beauty is in the eye of the Beer Holder

[Harry P.]

I vote for the '68 as well.  These cars just don't lend themselves to chopping the top.

To my eye, most (not all) cars look bad with a top chop... the more the chop, the worse the look. It completely ruins the proportions of the car. It generally works ok on some older cars, but a chopped '72 Chevelle  like that yellow monstrosity is just silly looking, IMO.

[Ace-Garageguy]

To my eye, most (not all) cars look bad with a top chop... the more the chop, the worse the look. It completely ruins the proportions of the car. It generally works ok on some older cars, but a chopped '72 Chevelle  like that yellow monstrosity is just silly looking, IMO.

Interesting.

I'm not arguing, I just personally find that the majority of cars are improved with a chop, so long as the overall proportions are carefully considered, and the result is looked at as a 'fresh' design and not compared directly to the original.

The yellow car fails because the lines go all fat and horrible, making the thing look hunch-backed and dorky rather than low and mean. The sail panel is WAY too heavy, the windshield needs to be raked more to flow into the roof, and the roofline itself is bulged and pregnant.

The height of most vehicles is determined by practical constraints like the necessity for headroom, etc. In some cases, the clothing fashions of the time determine the roof height. The Model T coupe with a roof that could accommodate a top-hat is one extreme example.

Out of curiosity, of the two rodded cars below, which proportions do you prefer? 

 

Edited May 7, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Harry P.]

Like I said, a top chop works best on older cars, especially those that had straight pillars, like the cars you posted. But on a modern-era car, where the overall styling is much more cohesive and integrated, with curves interplaying with other curves, messing with those proportions generally messes up those proportions. The yellow Chevelle is a perfect example. The end result is dorky, clumsy, ill-proportioned, ungainly... and just plain ugly.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Like I said, a top chop works best on older cars, especially those that had straight pillars, like the cars you posted. But on a modern-era car, where the overall styling is much more cohesive and integrated, with curves interplaying with other curves, messing with those proportions generally messes up those proportions. The yellow Chevelle is a perfect example. The end result is dorky, clumsy, ill-proportioned, ungainly... and just plain ugly.

Agreed.

A lot of later cars already had a bit of a chopped look.

Chopping them any further just makes them look like a cartoon to me.

There are exceptions of course, as long as the chop is not too dramatic.

 

Steve

[StevenGuthmiller]

Most of the time Beauty is in the eye of the Beer Holder

 

OOF!!

That would take a whole bunch of beer!!

 

Steve

[Harry P.]

A perfect example of the chopped top... the 1949 Mercury.

It has become a horrible cliché. Every '49 Merc has a chopped top! It's as if the automotive gods have decreed that no '49 Merc shall be allowed to exist unless the top has been chopped.

Well, to my eye, a stock '49 Merc is a far better looking car than one with the cliché chopped top.

[Snake45]

A perfect example of the chopped top... the 1949 Mercury.

It has become a horrible cliché. Every '49 Merc has a chopped top! It's as if the automotive gods have decreed that no '49 Merc shall be allowed to exist unless the top has been chopped.

Well, to my eye, a stock '49 Merc is a far better looking car than one with the cliché chopped top.

I've never understood the cult of the '49 Merc at all. It's like the idea was to take an ugly car and see what you could do to it to make it even uglier. Some achieved this in craptacular fashion.

[Harry P.]

I've never understood the cult of the '49 Merc at all. It's like the idea was to take an ugly car and see what you could do to it to make it even uglier. Some achieved this in craptacular fashion.

A stock '49 Merc really isn't a bad looking car. A '49 Merc with the obligatory chopped top is a cartoon.

[58 Impala]

Not for me. '70s Chevelles all look bulky and puffed up to me. The best looking Chevelles were the previous generation...

One of my favorite body styles, wish I still had my 69.

[Harry P.]

One of my favorite body styles, wish I still had my 69.

That's about as good looking a car as it gets.

[lordairgtar]

Here's a better pic of the front and interior.

 

If it was a plain black or silver, it would look like a North Korean luxury car for Kim Jong Un

[CometMan]

There's this,

 

 

And then there's this,

 

 

Beauty is not always in the eye of the beholder!

 

Steve

But it is always in the eye of the beerholder!

[Ace-Garageguy]

The '49 Merc is a nice looking car, if a little stodgy.

This is the Hirohata Merc, the one that pretty well defined the look in 1953 and has never been excelled as far as flow and proportions are concerned. It's one of the most famous customs on the planet, and I personally think justifiably so.

Lotsa guys have tried it, most of them get it wrong.

 

Edited May 7, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Harry P.]

I know the Hirohata Merc. To me it's a cartoon. The dark cove color is especially jarring and works against the overall design of the car. In particular the awkwardness of the chrome trim strip above the front wheel cutout, which should have flowed back from the top of the cutout and not above it. Small detail... big fail, IMO.

Why this car has achieved legendary status is beyond me.

Different people, different tastes.

[kitbash1]

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should...

[Joe Handley]

As it has been said, beauty is in the eye of the beer holder, but the chop on that Chevelle must have involved enough alchohol that I could run my flex fuel car to and from work for at least a day or two!

[CometMan]

The Chevelle reminds me of the '70 Olds Rallye 350, but that somebody dropped something on it's roof. IMHO, the '57 Chevy is already one of the ugliest cars of all time, not alot can be done to make it worse.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I know the Hirohata Merc. To me it's a cartoon. The dark cove color is especially jarring and works against the overall design of the car. In particular the awkwardness of the chrome trim strip above the front wheel cutout, which should have flowed back from the top of the cutout and not above it. Small detail... big fail, IMO.

Why this car has achieved legendary status is beyond me.

Different people, different tastes.

I was primarily addressing the line of the top, which I find to be more pleasing than the more upright production version. Frankly, I've always preferred the Hirohata car in primer over the finished version.

Far as the rest of the details go, think through the process of reworking the Buick side trim to have "flowed back from the top of the cutout and not above it". It's stamped stainless. How would you have integrated the roll of the wheel opening into the curve of the chrome? Eliminated the roll? Raised the wheel arch? Lowered the chrome strip? Possibly. 

I agree the side trim and the darker color going at a wonky line back from the wheel arch roll isn't the ideal solution, but the car was built to the style of the times. Two-tones with less-than-successful color separation were pretty common...even on production cars. So were awkward chrome treatments.

And part of the reason it's a classic of the genre is because of the level of craftsmanship, fit and finish. Joe Shmo couldn't have built this thing.

Details aside, the major lines work on the Hirohata car. They just don't on that turd of a yellow Chevelle. 

Edited May 8, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[Harry P.]

Details aside, the major lines work on the Hirohata car. They just don't on that turd of a yellow Chevelle. 

Agree to disagree. I find more uncomfortable styling touches than successful ones.

Another case in point... the completely awkward tension between the curved cove molding vs. the "scoop" ahead of the rear wheels. Those two details have absolutely no connection, they don't work together at all. Just another bad "custom" touch that was either not thought through, or put into place by people who didn't know any better. Think how much cleaner and cohesive the design would have been if the whole rear fender skirt detail was eliminated. No chrome "grille" at the front, no body crease along the top... just a smooth, integrated skirt whose design would not have fought with the cove molding. That way, the curve of the cove molding would have gracefully mirrored the curve of the roofline along the tops of the side windows and resulted in a much cleaner and more successfully integrated design.

Again... this car is a collection of styling clichés, not a successful overall design.

And again... why this car has achieved some sort of icon status is beyond me.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Think how much cleaner and cohesive the design would have been if the whole rear fender skirt detail was eliminated. No chrome "grille" at the front, no body crease along the top... just a smooth, integrated skirt whose design would not have fought with the cove molding. That way, the curve of the cove molding would have gracefully mirrored the curve of the roofline along the tops of the side windows and resulted in a much cleaner and more successfully integrated design.

With that, I agree 100%.  

[KeithJackson]

When I saw the title, I thought that this was going to be a thread about Leepu and Pitbull.  As far as the Chevelle goes, maybe he was trying to salvage what was left after a rollover.

 

[Harry P.]

As far as the Chevelle goes, maybe he was trying to salvage what was left after a rollover.

It looks to me like the result of a rollover!