1951 Chevrolet Models

A surprising share of the people searching for a 1951 Chevrolet are looking for a car that did not exist. Not because they are careless, but because the famous Chevrolet names, Impala, Corvette, Apache, Bel Air, all arrived at different times, and unless you know the dates there is no obvious reason why one of them should belong to 1951 and another should not.

So here is the whole 1951 range in one place, and then the honest answer about the names that are not in it.

What Chevrolet actually built in 1951

Two car series and one truck range. That is the entire company output.

The cars split into Special, which is the 1500 series, and De Luxe, which is the 2100 series. Each of those was available in two body families: Styleline, the notchback with a separate boot, and Fleetline, the fastback whose roof runs unbroken to the tail.

The De Luxe line came to 1,064,896 cars and the Special series to 185,090. Add the station wagon and the sedan delivery and that is the passenger range. The trucks are separate, numbered by load rating: 3100 for the half ton, 3600 for three quarters, 3800 for one ton, and the heavier and cab over series above them.

The names that are not there, and when they arrive

Impala. Begins as a Motorama show car in 1956 and reaches the public for the 1958 model year, as the top version of the Bel Air in two door hardtop and convertible form. It becomes a series of its own in 1959. Seven years after 1951.

Corvette. Shown at the Motorama in New York on 17 January 1953 and built in the second half of that year, three hundred cars, hand assembled in an old truck plant in Flint. Two years after 1951.

Apache. A truck name, and it belongs to the generation after Advance Design. From 1958 all Chevrolet light trucks were called Apache, and the name carried on through 1961. A 1951 truck is a 3100, a 3600 or a 3800, and never an Apache.

None of these are obscure distinctions once you know them, and all three come up constantly, because the names are far better known than the dates attached to them.

"People are not being stupid when they ask about a 1951 Impala. They know the name and they know the shape of an old Chevrolet and nobody ever told them the two are seven years apart."

— Earl Dawson

Getting the name right on a car you own

The plates settle it. The serial number on the driver's door pillar has a series character, J for Special and K for De Luxe, and the Fisher body plate on the cowl carries a style number whose first two digits are 15 or 21 for the two series.

After that the body is a matter of looking. Notchback roof with a separate boot is Styleline. Unbroken slope to the tail is Fleetline. Pillarless hardtop in the De Luxe range is the Bel Air. Fabric roof is the convertible. Two doors with no back seat is the business coupe.

And if what you want is a 1951 Chevrolet you can hold in your hand rather than one you have to store, that exists too, and it is a good deal cheaper.

Where this fits

The three names that come up most have their own pages: the 1951 Chevrolet Impala, the 1951 Chevrolet Corvette and the 1951 Chevrolet Apache, and the version you can actually buy is in the scale models. The real 1951 range is in the 2100 series Styleline, the plainer Styleline, the fastback De Luxe, the Special Fleetline and the hardtop Bel Air, with the trucks in the trucks of that year. The plates that settle any of it are in identifying one.

Sources and notes

• 1951 Chevrolet De Luxe Series, conceptcarz - the De Luxe body styles and prices with 380,270 Styleline four door sedans, 262,933 two doors, 131,910 Fleetline two doors, 57,693 Fleetline four doors, 103,356 Bel Airs, 64,976 sport coupes and 20,172 convertibles, in a De Luxe total of 1,064,896.
• 1951 Chevrolet Special Series, conceptcarz - the Special body styles with 75,566 two door sedans, 63,718 four door sedans, 18,981 sport coupes, 17,020 business coupes and the Fleetline Specials at 6,441 and 3,364, in a series total of 185,090.
• Chevrolet Impala, Wikipedia - the name beginning as a 1956 Motorama show car, the Impala introduced for 1958 as a top of the line Bel Air in two door hardtop and convertible form, and becoming a separate series for 1959.
• Chevrolet Corvette C1, Wikipedia - the prototype shown at the General Motors Motorama in New York on 17 January 1953, and 300 cars largely hand built in the last half of 1953 in an old truck plant in Flint, Michigan.
• Chevrolet Task Force, Wikipedia - the Task Force series of 1955 to 1959 as the first major truck redesign since 1947, and all light duty trucks being called Apache from 1958, carried through to 1961.
• Chevrolet model identification 1946-1954, The Old Car Manual Project - the J and K series letters for Special and De Luxe on 1949 to 1952 cars, on the serial number plate at the driver's door pillar.