One of the most successful cars of the 1950s (and perhaps of all time) was the 1955-57 Chevrolet. The styling seemed to appeal to everyone, and they sold nearly five million copies in three years (helped by Chevy’s first V8 engine in 37 years). The seller’s example from 1955 used to be a Bel Air convertible, but it’s more like a “basket case” now. Said to be mostly complete, this drop-top can be found in Detroit, Michigan, and is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $25,000. Credit for this tip goes to Barn Finder Chuck Foster.
If you wanted a Chevrolet convertible in 1955, your only choice was the upscale Bel Air model. They weren’t exactly scarce at 42,000 units from an overall pool of 1.7 million Chevies produced that year. When it was new, this Bel Air must have been quite impressive, wearing India Ivory/ Regal Turquoise two-tone paint (per the cowl tag). And if it’s numbers-matching (we don’t know), a 265 cubic inch V8 may have been along for the ride.
We’re told this car came out of Colorado and is rust-free thanks to being in dry storage for more than 50 years. It’s hard to tell that, given the Bel Air’s state of disassembly, so a personal inspection is recommended. The seller says the car is “virtually” all there, sans the rear seat. That should include all of the original trim pieces, though we assume reproductions are available because of the popularity of the “Tri-Five” Chevrolets.
A 3-speed manual transmission is part of the package, with holes in the floor for the shifter. The indicated mileage is 50,000, but is that important at this stage of the game? This will not be an inexpensive restoration, not aided by a low acquisition cost. But Tri-Fives can still command big bucks – in the right condition for the right buyer.
I’d go $2500.
I’d go away.
I’d give them 250 for the front and rear seats. They can haul the rest to the scrap yard.
Someone is going to need a lot of ambition and money to bring this one back. Good news is as Russ said, the aftermarket has just about every part to do it. I remember as a kid watching one of the beach movies from the early 60’s where they pushed either a ’55 or ’56 conv. over a cliff. Even then I was upset. All I could think was that car would have been worth a lot of money someday.
A pile of junk!
A few years back the seat frames weren’t reproduced. Several people I knew were looking for a two door HT front seat, they were finding used prices around $700 plus shipping. I found both of them a seat locally for $200 each, but that was luck on my part (or theirs).
The good news is there are now reproductions out there. The bad news is the missing back seat frame will set you back close to $1200 with shipping. Compared to the rest of this one’s needs, that’s peanuts.
I need the front and rear seats for my 56. If you could point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it. Thank you.
Paying $25K for this bucket of bolts should have the payer committed to an institution as being a danger to themselves.
Jeff Bridges drove one of these in only slightly better condition in the Jane Fonda/Raul Julia mystery thriller “The Morning After”.
Ha hah ha ha ha ha!!!
Yes Sir, it’s all there, somewhere, maybe
I came home from the hospital in ’59 in a coral and charcoal 55 Chevy convertible! I like it. 25K is a lot though.
Will be a beautiful car when restored, there’s lots of people out there that have the knowledge and experience to put this classic back together, the price to buy is too high, but all depends who really wants it bad enough , being rust free will save thousands. Best of luck to seller and buyer, I’m a huge fan of the ‘55, restore them all.
Dude, I think your price has misplaced the
decimal point.
Take the tax write-off – if there is one – and donate the parts to Cuba.
I sold a 1955 Chevy convertible parts car, similar to this except more rust, 45 years ago !!!! It seems no one wants to put in the work effort to restore a car like this anymore. If it is ALL there, and you are willing to WORK, these cars can bring $50+K !! Maybe $15K can buy this and you could make it work.
E Pacificar, you can get seat frames from Year One or Classic Industries. Their prices seem to be around $700. Sorry, but I found the last two cheap ones available in Western PA for my friends a few years ago.
I don’t know if the reproductions are good quality or not. A LOT of stuff that should fit doesn’t because of quality problems. Year One used to grade the quality of the parts they sold. If it was a cheap reproduction they would tell you up front. These days most of what’s out there is likely marginal, so they may have quit and just let you assume that it’s cheap junk.
In the 1980 and 1990’s I used to talk to Year One regularly. But my building is full, so car restorations can’t happen until I build more storage space. And I’m old enough that taking care of what I have now hurts, so there won’t be any more cars.
djhuff, thanks for the tip. I’ll check them out. I’ve looked everywhere and can’t find the seats. It seems the front seat is easier to find than the back seat. I was beginning to think I would have to buy another car to get the seats.
Hi E: Try FaceBook Marketplace. input 1955 seat or 1956 chevy or 57. I think I saw one yesterday,
Thank you RWDrifter
Barrett Jackson syndrome.