HELP! New member needing info on Biscayne and Bel Air wagons

Hi I'm new to the forum but I need some info fast. When my dad got his license in 1977, his first car was a 1966 Chevrolet Biscayne station wagon. He LOVED that car. I have been trying to find one for the past few years to buy and restore as a gift for him. I have recently found a 1966 Bel Air wagon but I need to know what the differences were between these models. Body, interior, features, etc. Any info is much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

-Mike

 

Hi Mike,

This '66 Chevy Wagon brochure will be a good place to start. They didn't break production numbers out for wagons,
so it's difficult to know how many were made. On Northern cars, watch out for frame rot, particularly above the rear axle.
In high school, I had a '65 Impala (4drht, loaded with nearly every option), and understand why your Dad loved his so much.
Good luck on your wagon quest!

TG

 

I'm not a Chevy guy at all.. but I think the Biscayne is the lower entry with 6 cyl standard, and 3 on column whereas the Bel Air is V8 and most automatic and had a more deluxe interior probably a sport steering wheel, and full size hubcaps, assume features like light pkge included.
Some of the die-hard Chevy guys will chime in soon to give a better rundown.

 

I'm no Chevy guy either. But, I do know the Biscayne was the bottom of the line no frills model. The next step up was the Bel Air. Above that it was the Impala, the Impala SS and the Caprice. The stylish interiors and fancy trim didn't really show up till you got up to the Impala level.
Appearance wise, the only exterior difference between the Biscayne and the Bel Air, was that the Bel Air had "bright metal" (probably aluminum or stainless) drip rail moldings and a very narrow chrome (again probably anodized aluminum) trim down the sides for the length of the car. There was no trim whatsoever on the Biscayne. As for the interior, both had low budget upholstery, but the Biscayne's was the less attractive and had the fewest color choices. Beyond that, there likely were very few differences. In a Biscayne you might not have even gotten a dome light for the interior.
Optional engine and transmission choices would have been the same, but the standard engine and transmission combination may have been different between the two models.
The Bel Air wagon would have been available as a two or three seat model, but the Biscayne would have only been offered as a two seat.

 

Here's an additional link for a '66 Chevy brochure...

http://www.lov2xlr8.no/brochures/chevy/66chevy/66chevy.html

 

I'm not as sure on the 4 door/wagon models, but interior parts can be a pain for the Bel-Air/Biscayne models. In the 2 door version the Impala is a hardtop whereas the Bel-Air/Biscayne have a post. This means things like doors are specific to the Bel-Air/Biscayne. Things like interior door panels are absolutely non-existent unless you find some NOS. In '67 the Bel-Air used the same taillights as the Impala and the Biscayne got its own taillights. After looking at the brochure KK posted it looks like the '66 variant Bel-Air shared its taillights with the Biscayne.

You could get any engine/transmission in the Bel-Air/Biscayne that you wanted. The only difference between the lines was what came standard. I know the Biscayne came standard with the 6 cylinder 3 speed. Not sure on the Bel-Air.

The Biscayne's are/were pretty basic, but they are easily upgradeable. Our '67 Biscayne did have an interior dome light, but you could only turn it on with the dash knob. Easy enough to add door switches. It all depends on what you want to do.

 

The Bel Air also came standard with the 250 cid 6 cylinder and 3 speed Muncie manual transmission. The main difference between the Biscayne and the BelAir was the trim and some interior appointments. Otherwise, they were pretty similar.

 

Difference was upgrades - Bisquit was bare-bones and weighed about 3-500 lbs. less, without carpets, chrome side trim and insulation.
Interior was a bit less 'comfortable' as it seemed thinner.
Both were available with any option, such as 425HP 427, M-22 and positraction with any gear from 2:48 to 5:38.
I was a hiker at a Chevy Dealer, and constantly bugged the Sales Manager for pricing!
'66 Biscayne 2-dr sedan 427, 425 HP, M-22, 4:10 Posi gear with AM-FM woulda been $2275 out the door!!
Shoulda bought 10!!

 

As the proud owner of a '66 Biscayne wagon since 1974, I can tell you what you want to know.

Main difference is the trim. The Bel Air has a body side moulding and a drip rail moulding. The Biscayne has no side chrome of any kind. Inside, the trim pads are different and the seats are cloth (vinyl on the Biscayne)

Years ago, when I re did my car, I had a Caprice Wagon donor. I used the Caprice trim pads and vent window trim (same as Impala). The Caprice/Impala had different armrest and interior door handles but everything interchanged. I only used the stuff because it was like new verses my worn stuff. My Biscayne had a carpet as original equippment.

Powertrain and convenience options were the same for most all full size cars although most Biscaynes were light on options and usually had the base 6 or the 283 V8. I believe a majority did have automatic tranmissions. I've never seen a Biscayne wagon with factory buckets and a console.

There were some floor shift Biscayne sedans. The only ones I've seen are the ultra rare 425HP/4 speed combo's (2 to be exact). Back around 1980, when I was rounding up things for my wagon, a '66 427 4 speed Caprice wagon showed up in Hemmings. It was from the Chicago area and was reasonably priced (I should have bought it). It had a floor shift, but I believe it was a bench seat.

During the 80's, there was a '65/'66 Chevy club. The founder was from the Philadelphia area and gave me the '66 Caprice donor. I do recall that a member had purchased the Chicago 427 Wagon and that was the last mention I saw of it, in one of the newsletters.

On edit, I just googled the club and it is still around, in it's 29th years.

 

i worked or achevy dealer for years.the biscayne was the economy/cheapest model-then came the bel air-finally the top of the line was the impala.sorry i don't remember all the differences but a lot of it was trim and options
marty

 

Chevrolet had a habit of dropping the lowest level name, and introducing a new name at the top of the line up. This was done to create more sales. In 1966, the Caprice was the top of the line, Impala was the middle of the line, and Bel Air was the bottom of the line up.

In 1964, the Impala was the top of the line, Bel Air, middle, and Biscayne was the bottom of the line.

In 1955, the Bel Air was the top of the line, and the 210 was the bottom of the line. The Nomad was the top of the line in the Station Wagon class, but they didn't use the Nomad name on any other models, and it was a different body style that the rest of the wagons. You almost need a score card to keep track of the marketing name changes through the years.

 

The OP was all hot for the info in December,............and never came back.

 

110 55 Chevy

The bottom model in 55 was a 110 with no exterior trim I believe as I had a 210 as my first car should a kept it oh well