Except for the Nomad sport wagon, perhaps the most desirable Tri-Five Chevrolet is the Bel Air convertible. This 1955 edition saw a production of more than 42,000 copies, yet how often do you see one on the road today? This example has been out of commission since 1978 but received a drivetrain transplant before dropping out of sight. Located in Palestine, Texas, this primer grey project is available here on eBay when the bidding has been brisk so far at $17,100.
If you were looking for one of these drop-tops to restore, this one would likely keep you busy (and require a robust bank account). Many of the parts have been removed and may or may not be inside the car or its trunk. No claim is made as to how complete this automobile is. It was an active daily driver from 1962 to 1978, and then it took up permanent residence in a garage. Efforts were made to restore the car at some point and – although the body is mostly finished in primer grey – more time massaging the sheet metal is going to need to be required.
We don’t know what source of power was under the hood of this Chevy when it was new, but a 350 cubic-inch small-block V8 is there now, supported by an automatic transmission. They were sourced from a 1973 Chevrolet van but are no longer operational. The seller provides a walkaround video of the car, which is said to be red in color under the primer, but we see white paint as well. Given the level of bidding so far, restoring this car to perfection is going to be an expensive undertaking. Who’s game?
Poor pixs, darkness and poor staging..
The usual these days
Primer cover ups to hide rust is scary.
I love 55’s and hope it gets restored 👍
Well the dash clearly indicates it was never a red car. Green and red don’t go together. Probably green and white.
Gotta say, awesome pics…
This car is a classic example of the current car collector car market. There are plenty examples of good not perfect convertibles SELLING at $60K-$70K DONE!
This car would have to be FREE to make it anyhere near “financially” feasible to restore.
For whatever reason this crazy high collector car market prices have embolden sellers of all these old project cars they have had dreams of restoring for years and now are too damnn old to restore now want to sell.
With the price of labor, parts and supplies through the roof project cars are worth FAR LESS than just one year ago.
It will take time as many of these huge projects will not sell and then maybe just maybe these sellers will have their epiphany that they were VASTLY OVERPRICED!
Lousy pics.
HOW TO MAKE A $100,000 CAR out of this mess
-locate date correct engine and trans
-buy replacement body shell
-use this as the parts car
-use a battery to spot weld the old vin to the new body
-apply 700-1,000 hours of labor
-source missing parts
YOU TOTAL THE COST
pick any number you like IT aint economic,
THEN
when you don’t finish, sell the project to the next dreamer
Looks like someone thinks this is worth $17k, and it will sell.
I’m getting to old to restore my 20 or so projects, time to put them on Ebay and rake in the riches, woo hoo.
Not these two though, I’m gonna restore them when I retire. And the 69 Bee, and the 55 MGTF, and the 72 2wd Blazer, and the 64 Ghia, of course the 61 Ventura bubbletop.
Driving you crazy yet? It’s what I do LOL, I’m a Rust Farmer.
https://www.flickr.com/people/115986104@N05/
I have a good friend who lives near Palestine, it’s been awhile since I visited him, maybe I’ll take a drive over that way and possibly take a look at this 55 drop top. He’s not a car guy, drives some cheap Nissan that get 30-40 mpg. but he has a sweet wife a nice house and is a 100% disabled Viet Nam Vet from the Navy. He worked for Mobil oil for 45 years and retired early to be with his mother who was dying of cancer, He’s definitely a good guy, just not a car guy, except he does tell stories of driving various Corvette’s he owned during his single days. So perhaps a short drive (100 miles or so) for a visit is in the near future.
God Bless America
This one smells fishy, IMHO. Zero feedback seller, very little description, lousy pics. Some bidders suspect. Good luck and happy motoring!
Cheers
GPC
I would say the car was originally Turquoise and Cream, a popular combination of the time. This will require a LARGE number to get to roll and unless you intend to keep it forever there are others with more potential than this one.