1957 Chevy Bel Air Motorcycle

1957 Bel Air Themed Motorcyle is SEMA Sensation

1957 Chevy Bel Air Motorcycle
On display in front of SEMA Show

Take a 2008 Harley Davidson Dyna Street Bob motorcycle, add huge amounts of ingenuity, imagination and innovation and blend with over 3,000 hours of labor and you might end up with this homage to the ever popular 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air.  This red beauty was seen at the SEMA (Specialty Equipment Marketing Association) show held in Las Vegas, Nevada  last week.

57 Chevy Bel Air

The 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air is an iconic look from the 50’s.  Any enthusiast will easily recognize the front chrome bumper, the bullets on the hood, the swoopy aluminum molding along the sides and the wild fins and rear tail lights of the 57.  It is ironic that these styling features were only found on the 57 and none of the other Chevy years.  For the tri-five years, (1955-1957) Chevrolet altered the appearance and styling of their vehicle.  Try re-tooling a car line now like that every year!

1957 Chevy Bel Air Motorcycle
Close Up of Rear End View

LUPO Racing

The builder, LUPO Racing, was from France and brought over this interesting takeoff on the iconic ’57 Chevy Bel  Air.  The builder/owner used the styling cues from the Chevy “fins” for his rear end and actually utilized the rear tail light to accentuate the rear view.  The exhaust exits through the rear end’s light housing.  Originally Chevrolet had thought of using the same idea for their cars, but the exhaust left a residue on the chrome which stopped that concept from going to production.   He also used the “chrome Dagmar’s”  from the Chevy’s front bumper to help carry off the theme.  Add in some Chevy emblems and badging and mix up some great imagination, and you end up with one sweet look.  Famed motorcycle builder Arlen Ness handiwork was even  used for the engine cover.

SEMA Show

This motorcycle parked in front of the SEMA Show, where anybody could walk by and admire the handiwork.  To top it off, the builder/owner drove it out of the SEMA Show on the Friday night Cruise.  The bike caught the eye of Hot Rod Magazine, who was at the cruise too.  Here’s their closeup of the motorcycle.

The bike had been featured in two writes up in bikenet.com previously as well.  Part One featured the frame and Part Two looked at the rear tail light housing.

You’ve got to admire the craftsmanship of the builder and the expense of carting it over to the states to be seen for one week here in Las Vegas!

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