Your Bel Air on a poster, chrome and all
The tri-five Chevy is the most recognized car of the 1950s, which is exactly why a generic Bel Air poster looks wrong to an owner. Two-tone split in the wrong place, the wrong year's grille, a hardtop when yours is a four-door sedan. Ours start from a photo of your car.
19 Bel Air owners have ordered one so far, all in the US. Here are real examples, which years they bring, and how to photograph a car with this much chrome.
Free preview before you pay. Nothing prints until you approve it.
§ 01
Real Bel Airs from real orders
Each poster is a paid customer order, shown with no readable plate and nobody in the car.
§ 02
Which Bel Airs owners order
All of our Bel Air orders so far are tri-fives, and the 1957 is the clear favorite, about two in three. The 1955 comes next, then the 1956.
Body styles vary more than you would expect: two-door hardtops, two-door and four-door sedans, a convertible, wagons, and a gasser with a supercharger sticking out of the hood. One was a husband's first car.
§ 03
Where owners put their Bel Air
Route 66 is the most picked scene for the Bel Air by a distance, which feels right for a car that was new when the road was at its peak. Monument Valley and the Columbia River Gorge follow.
Owners who wrote their own scene asked for a country road in fall color, the piney woods of East Texas by a lake, the wheat fields of North Dakota, and the Sierra Nevada on the drive into Reno, where one couple went to get married.
§ 04
How to photograph a Bel Air for a poster
Shoot the front three-quarter from grille height on a cloudy day or in open shade. Bright sun on that much chrome burns out the grille and bumper in the photo, and those are the parts that date the car: the 1955 egg-crate grille, the full-width 1956 grille and the 1957 grille with its bumper bullets.
Get the whole side in. The trim spear and the two-tone split are different on each year, and on a 1957 the anodized side panel is a detail owners always check. Keep the tailfin in frame too.
Tell us the body style, the paint names if you know them, and any non-stock parts like wheels or a hood scoop. Leave the plate on and we can remove it.
§ 05
Formats and prices
Bel Air owners go bigger: 16 x 20 in is their most ordered size, just ahead of 12 x 16 in. 10 of 19 chose the fine-art print and 6 chose canvas, a higher share than most cars. 3 went framed.
Every size comes portrait or landscape. US shipping is free and a digital copy comes with every physical print.
- 01$74
Fine-art print, 16 x 20 in
$74
Heavy archival matte paper. The size Bel Air owners pick most.
→ Prices and sizes - 02$119
- 03$59
- 04$119
§ 06
How it works
Upload one photo, pick a road or describe your own, and see a free preview in about a minute. Pay only if you love it. After payment you get a full-size proof and nothing prints until you approve it. The preview includes 5 free changes; after you order, changes are unlimited. A person checks every print before it ships.
From customers
“From what I could see thru the bubble wrap, it looks awesome ! It is a gift for my husband in November and I don't want to unwrap it. If it looks like the proof, he'll be so surprised and will absolutely love it, as that was his first car !”
“Looks great! The dog and the driver are spot on! Love it.”
Questions
Can I turn a photo of my Bel Air into a poster?
Yes. Upload one photo, any year. You see a free preview in about a minute and pay only if you love it.
How much does a custom Bel Air poster cost?
A 12 x 16 in fine-art print is $59, 16 x 20 in is $74, framed starts at $119 and canvas at $99. US shipping is free.
Will you get the year right, a '55 versus a '57?
Send a clear photo of the front and name the year in the notes. If anything is off in the preview, correct it before you pay.
I only have an old photo from the 1960s. Can you work from it?
Often, yes, if the car is clear and not tiny in the frame. Tell us the colors, since old prints fade.
Is this a good gift for a husband whose first car was a Bel Air?
It is one of the most common reasons people order this car.
Free preview before you pay. Nothing prints until you approve it.