More about the '55 - www.carsandstripes.com/articl... New from the ground up! Yes, the outstanding fact is that the 1955 Chevrolet is not just a new model but a completely new car.
Wish we could! Liked my fathers old 1959 Apache 10 panel truck he used as a plumber bought brand new by his company in 1959 & he was the only driver until 1970. That panel hauled tons of cast iron & galvanized piping as well as propane tanks used for the lead smelting pots involved with cast iron drain line connections.
GM was flying high in the fifties and sixties. I had a 1955 Chevy 2 Door hardtop in high school. I paid $300 dollars for it. I wish I had kept that car.
I think the 63-65 Riviera is the most beautiful car GM ever built. Followed by the 67 Lemans and GTO. But, I'll take any from 57-72, especially 60's. Even that ugly 62-64 Dodge/Plymouth. It's like an ugly puppy, you still love it.
John, I'm willing to offer you a cool $350 for that old Chevy. And ill even throw in a much more modern 1993 Ford Telstar completely free of charge. How does that sound?!
What a time in American automotive history! 1955 Chevy is one of the coolest looking cars ever built in the 50s. The dealerships covered all the windows leading up to the unveil of the new 55 Chevy!
My grandparents bought a '55 Bel Air,a 4-door,sea green with white hardtop,when it was a year old in 1956 for $1000! I was driven home from the hospital as a newborn baby in it in '65,and it was my family's car until my grandmother sold it after my grandad died in '71 when I was six.What precious memories I have.I still remember how it sounded when it started (idgy-idgy-idgy-idgy).It was the first great car that got away from me!
Outside my high school in 1955 sat a 55 Chevy Bel Air convertible turquoise & white , with fender skirts. November 1955. The car was loaded with students who were ecstatic & ready to ride !!
I bought my grandfather's 55-210 2dr green and white-6 3 on the tree after he passed from my aunt for $50.00 and that was back in 72. It had 16,000 orginal miles but needed to rebuild the motor since one of the piston rings broke and took out a piston. That started the bug since I do all of my own work on cars. Since I always loved Wagons, in 1974, I picked up a 55 Nomad that I completely rebuilt because it was stripped for racing as just a shell and frame. I still have it today. When I take it out for a cruise, it's like I'm 17 all over again.
My father had a blue 55 Chevy 4 door sedan with stick shift and a 6 cylinder engine. It got hit my a Mack truck and it still ran. He told me if Chevy would make that same car today he would purchase one. I took my drivers test in that car in 1967, no seat belts. It was a great car.
Cars are actually far superior in Safety and dependability. You Rarely saw a 55 with 100,000 miles on it. Very rarely. They were worn out. You changed sparkplugs every few thousand miles, and today they go 100,000. And you constantly readjusted points. Every 1,000 miles, or replaced them. Oils are far superior. But, you must add Zinc if you have an older Flat Tappet cam. Today's are Roller Lifters. And unbelievably superior. We see engines with 200,000 miles regularly, and I've seen several over 400,000. The body's are tremendously superior today, thou the fenders are thin and bend easy. Today, fenders are cosmetic, the structure is the protection. With crumple zones, the newer, thin but super strong metals are lightweight but are stronger than old steel 3 times as thick. In a crash today, the structure absorbs the impact, and the driver is surrounded by a cage. When you crashed in an older car, the frames didn't collapse Easily, and the driver was slammed forward into the steering wheel, dash, windshield. You felt it for days, weeks In your body. Today's cars don't come close to the Looks and styling of the 50's, 60's and early 70's. You could tell if it was a Ford, Chevy Dodge or AMC , even those foreign jobs. Today, I can't tell if it's a Chevrolet, Nissan, Toyota or Ford. Till I can see the badge. But as for dependability and safety, cars are truely remarkable today.
@@jeffcampbell2710 Wouldn’t it be nice if we could buy a new car now with the looks of the tri-five Chevys, and the durability, modern conveniences, and safety features of today?
I had one,...a well used green and while two door sedan, I paid $175.00 for it then, and it served me well. My '55 Chevy was powered with the Blue Flame Six and three speed on the wheel. It was a used car then and still today I remember it with great fondness. That was back in 1962,...of all the cars and pick up trucks I have owned over these past years,..this 1955 Chevrolet Two Door is the one that remains firmly in my memory of 'the best of the cars I have ever owned.' This video was a wonderful reminder of my teenage years.
My mom bought a new BelAir 2dr ht .so loaded it even had a oil filter. She bought me one in 63. Love the memories, even though it got stolen from a storage while i was in Vietnam.
My great grandfather bought a 4 door 55 Bel Air brand new in Wiconda Illinois and it stayed in the family all the way until I owned it in High School and college. Growing up, I got to ride in it, learned to drive in it and fell in love with it. Once a month I would wash it polish it and wax it. It was beautiful, turned heads and stood out standing head and shoulders taller and prouder than any car around it. Best of all, it had the v8 with a power glide and an add on air conditioner under the dash that would freeze you out even on the hottest days in Texas. I added a Kraco 8 track AM/FM radio with Jenson Triac speakers, slimline speakers and a 100 watt booster that just blew away any stereos in other cars. Originally the car was a 2 tone Malibu Tan and white, but repainted a chocolate brown which really made the chrome trim pop. The interior got a remake in the same color from the dash, door trim and seat covers. To really make the car look fresh, I repainted the emblems on the hood and side panels so they would stand out. Everything on the car worked like new including the clock. I will never forget the smell that car had. It was like no other, a mixture of the old upholstery mohair and my great grandfather's White Owl cigars. I cried the day it got wrecked....
Had one of those when i was a kid 👦 back in 1955, they were a great car 🚘, back when we had no electricity , when winter weather would get to cold, we would full the standard transmission with a team of horses in Saskatchewan 🇨🇦.
The 55 4 door Chevy, 265 V8, 2 speed Power-glide tranny was the first car I drove after I first got my license in the 1960's. My mother bought it for $300.00. After my uncle fixed the broken rear leaf spring It ran well. It got 18 MPG on the hyway. Which was pretty good considering a V8 with an automatic pulling a 2 1/2 + ton car. The ignition points would pit up and stall the engine (or the engine would not start at all) until the points were cleaned with a matchbook striker surface. It was lousy in snow, in stopping, starting and directional stability with bias ply tires. The one plus was that the radiator was a foot and a half back from the front bumper. So when one time I turned a corner in snow. it hit head on into a telephone pole around the corner that left a U shaped front end bumper and hood. But I drove it away with just cosmetic damage. It drove like a truck with the body on frame. The AM radio worked well.
Actually, Dodge and Plymouth were the trend setters those years, especially when the 57 Fury came out. The GM design teams went and stared thru the fence, realizing they better do something. The Dodge/Plymouth/Chrysler were the big sellers. And that 57 Fury was/is a gorgeous car. Today, the Yrib5's are the desired cars, but not in 57. The Dodge and Plymouth have always been a tougher car. That Torsion Bar was ahead of it's time, and gave a better ride, recovery, and handling. Watch the Promo video of the "You're on the track" test. I think that's the right name. But I was surprised at how much better the Torsion-Aire suspension was. The railroad test was surprising how the Chrysler cars did. The breaking, steering were better. And the takeoff test was crazy. The GM cars would squat, but the Dodge actually raised up, and took off. The traction was amazing. I learned a lot.
I had a 55 Pontiac with the 265 v8 and 2speed auto trani. My all time favorite car. Wish I had it today. Paid $35.00 for it and another $35.00 to have the trani fixed.
My parents’ first new car was a turquoise and white ’55 Chevy Bel Air. It was a gorgeous car that ultimately fell victim to Detroit winters and the associated road salt.
They are killing me with these marketing names for everything. “Get you motoramic 55 Chevrolet with turbo fire V8 complete with super swirl combustion chamber, all season air conditioning and quad poise suspension!”
I have a 55 2dht Bel Air I bought it in 1972 for 600$ It now has 87000 actual miles. Its been in my garage for 20 yearsno dents no rust and interior is. I just can't sell it.
It's interesting because this A/C was, in 1955, the closest thing to the systems that became pretty much universal by the late '60s & early '70s. I'm sure if you find a Ford "factory" system from that time it was pretty much an "add-on" hang under the dash arrangement not significantly different than an aftermarket unit. & Plymouth's "Airtemp" A/C was still one with a trunk mounted evaporator that blew cold air from the rear. No attempt on the part of either to integrate with the heater. Somewhere on-line there's a 1955 engineering booklet explaining various features of the '55 Chevy. This A/C was very much like the "re-heat" systems typically used much later. Temperature was controlled, not by the cycling of the compressor but by taking the cold air off the evaporator & then passing it over the heater core. That allowed for cooling, when needed but also provided dehumidification (and therefore defogging of windows) in any weather just as systems do today. About the only thing I see as a drawback was they were controlling the temperature of the heater core with a water control valve in the line to the core & they were notorious for sticking unless the cooling system would be kept scrupulously clean & I don't think that was easily done back in the day. So after winter use, with the valve in full open position & now it sticks there so you won't get cold air even if the refrigeration system is operating perfectly. The newer systems have full water flow at all times & regulate a vent door that only allows the desired amount of air to pass over the heater core to obtain the heat/"re-heat" necessary. But at any rate it was a very modern system. Well ahead of most of the industry! The other item mentioned here & in the engineering booklet were the changes to Powerglide. Even though Powerglide had been completely re-engineered in 1953, (previous PG was not truly a "2-speed" automatic. There was NO automatic shifting. ALL driving in normal "Drive" range was done without the advantage of ANY gear reduction. Power multiplication was accomplished entirely by an elaborate 5 element torque-converter. Low ratio was available only by manual selection.) In '53 the elaborate converter went away, replaced by a simpler 3 element type as commonly used by most "automatics". And the valve body was re-designed for automatic shifts & the internals were re worked somewhat to withstand the rigors of frequent shifting as opposed to the "occasional" use of low gear in the 1st gen PG. However it was discovered in 1954 that they had a problem when they tried to boost the pressure holding the low band. ('54 was given a bit of a power boost over the '53) they eventually had to re-set the '54 trannys to the original '53 spec. The whole band system was re-designed for '55 with a "double wrap" arrangement & much greater holding power. Presumably done because of the new V8 for '55 & even more powerful ones beyond that...
Today, the 55-57 Chevy's are highly desired, but it was the Dodge/Plymouth that was desired in them, especially that 57 Fury. It had the Designers at GM freaking out when they saw it. The whole team went to Stare thru the fence at the marvelous beautiful car.
14"tubeless tires,open driveshaft,12volt,key start(no push button),gear type door latches,firewell mounted battery,plastic coated wiring, 'inside the column' shifters (not on top),v-8s, non slotted valve cover on 6's,mast.cyl.on firewall, no more king pins OR crossmember center knuckle!😱, thats all I can add to it off the top of my head.
@@walterweddle7644 The various GM divisions had much greater autonomy in those days. They almost seemed at times, like separate companies & each division pretty much designed & built their own car. Very little was shared back then outside of the "Hydra-Matic" transmission & that wasn't used by all. There's an engineering publication on-line about the '55 Chevy. It was a surprisingly advanced car for the times & especially so within its price class.
Now that you mention the top mounted shifter, I realize that`s how my fathers Apache 10 panel 3-speed on the tree operated. Wish we had bought that old truck from my dads employer when we moved out of the city. It was a great hard working truck with the dependable 6 cylinder.
I building a 55 2 door now putting a Ls 6.0 an turbo 400 trans power brakes an power steering by ccp replaces all floor pans lower rear 3 inchs an front 3 cant wait to cruz
CBS must have had lenient policy then regarding outside activity by their news reporters. But about the car, in my mind this was the first big Chevrolet. Such a beautiful car with clean lines, minimum of chrome and that Euro sports car grille. I think they ruined it in 56 and 57 versions. I’m always surprised how many love the ‘57.
We prefer the 55 also. No big fins. Clean lines & roomy interior. The large steering wheel would have been a problem for our short stature though just like it is with our 1970 C10. Even the ads were better then. More optimistic outlook than today. Easier drive train to work on too.
My family had a new 55 BelAir and 8 years later I got one too. Mine was stolen out of storage while I was in Vietnam I keep hopping it will show up in mi.
Unsafe at any speed, especially compared to today's models but I'd give my canine teeth for another one. . . all original, V8 with a 3/speed. Stock wheels, no trashy-looking mags or chrome.
I wish Chevrolet had kept the same front and rear look for another two years, '56 and '57, then came out with the '57 look in '58 except with a not so heavy looking front bumper and grille and never even made the designs they actually went with in '56 and '58. The '55 is so much sportier and "bad" looking than the '56. The only thing I don't like about the '57 is the heavy look of the front that gives it a "Cadillac" look. And the '58 just "ain't got it".
I was born in 1955 but if I were to buy a classic Chevy it would have to be the '57. It's just a more aggressive, masculine look with the extended fins. The '55? Nice car, but it looks like a family car driven by mom to the grocery store. Overall, a softer look than the '57.
Honestly, while it's fun to be nostalgic, these cars if sold today would be considered laughably under-powered, rickety, unreliable death traps compared to modern cars. The same will be said about today's cars decades from now. Let that give you perspective on chasing material goods and consumerism. They are fleeting.
You and the little woman Would have no problem picnicking out of that. While the Mrs. Breaks out the picnic basket with the fried chicken. Lay back in the seat and catch a ball game on the new AM. radio...
You can through transdimensional etherical warping. Give me !,000,000 USD and you have your one way ticket back there to 55. But there is no un-dueing that action, you cannot reverse course so you must be sure ............
@@janwillemhament2824 I heard that from the older guys too way back. In my opinion, the wings truly separated the 1940’s models from the 1950’s. Not just the shape, but technological advancements and over all build. A lot of advancements were happening at that time. Many carried over too the 60’s and 70’s models. I do know the hot rodders preferred beefing up the 55’s.
