1955 marked the beginning of what some Chevrolet enthusiasts consider the golden age of GM’s bowtie division with the first year of the “Tri-Five” era. This one-owner ’55 Bel Air post sedan is for sale here on craigslist in Knoxville, Tennessee for $8,500.
That year also marked the introduction of Chevrolet’s new 265 cubic inch small block overhead valve V8 engine. This incredibly long-lived design would go on to power GM cars for the next 48 years in various iterations. Of course, Chevy’s tried and true Blue Flame six remained the base engine offering in the ‘55s.
The first of the Tri-Five Chevys was a part of Detroit’s move to longer, lower, wider designs and it was a real departure from the early post war designs. Gone were raised hoodlines and pronounced fenders in favor of slab sides and low hoods and trunklids. Some even refer to the ’55 as Chevy’s “Shoebox”.
The seller of this 1955 Bel Air is the grandson of the original owner. He states that the car was parked indoors in 1987 and was started recently for the first time since then. It’s a 6 cylinder, three speed car with a claimed 107,000 miles on the clock which he seller states is a, “Very solid and complete car.”
The interior appears to be original but it needs a good cleaning. A surprising amount of cracked glass is shown, but that all-important barn dust is present and accounted for.
At $8,500 for a run-of –the-mill four door post sedan, any kind of restoration would be a losing proposition. But if it was cleaned up and made roadworthy, it might make an interesting preserved driver.
Hey Rodney, David Frank beat you to this write up by a few months!
https://barnfinds.com/parked-in-1987-1955-chevrolet-bel-air/
Jack M, David was so correct about the price back then. I still would love to just clean it up and drive it. for about $4,000.
I love when people who can’t be bothered to wash a car say chirpy things like “great for a full body-off restoration!” as they ask top dollar for their abandoned artifacts.
You are right, one or two before pictures is one thing but an entire ads worth with is another, especially if the car remains parked in its dark and dirty hiding place. They are asking more than top dollar in the this cars case. You would almost expect the seller to have researched prices over the last few months.
Steve R
Yeah, except it was priced at 15k. So either his MD lowered the dose of his prescription meds. Or no one came to look. 1000 dollar car as it sits. Drag it out. Throw a battery in it with a secondary gas tank get it running. Air up the tires and wash the crud off. Ain’t nobody buying 41 years of your broken dreams. Protip use comet on all that laquer crack to get rid of the brown spots. Yes it will scuff up the patina but you can buff it back cracks and all. Sevice the brakes and make it drivable. Clean the interior and glass too. 8500? The meth is strong there.
“Ain’t nobody buying 41 years of your broken dreams.”
Damn, that is spot on.
Don’t understand why you guys comment negatively about this iconic ride, it’s a 55 and for the price, only a fool with the cash would walk away from it
Already posted here few months ago
Time to call my old man! He has one in somewhat better condition than this one. Bought new by is uncle, the owned by his dad, now him.
What this dreamer does not understand is that (a) nobody wants four doors or six cylinders, and (b) the peak market for the most desirable Tri-5’s (which this is not) has long past. People want they cars they couldn’t afford in high school, and the boomers who drove the values up on these are aging out and dying off, and while you and I might logically think the kids would be excited to get grandpa’s cool car, they are not. They don’t care, and they aren’t even that excited about cars or driving period. The excitement in the old car market these days is from investors, who are the antithesis of what the hobby is about.
This car’s “value” isn’t going to go down much, but it will never, ever increase. People who don’t recognize a three-on-the tree are not interested in its operation, and even those who fondly remember manual steering don’t want to deal with it in their 60s and 70s.
The most likely future for this car is a rockabilly guy / girl to buy it cheap, add some signature touches, and just enjoy knocking around town. That, or it rots in the garage for another 30 years. Reality TV has made people quite unrealistic.
You are spot on. Investors have ruined the hobby, though because of them we do have some decent places to buy new parts, so maybe they are not all bad. Us Boomers are dropping like flies near the electric barn cleaner. ZAP! Another one bites the dust! When we are gone, this money madness fades away, and maybe the few “regular” people who appreciate fine old machinery will be able to have them…as it should be. It warms my heart to go to an old steam show to see young men in thier 20s and 30s driving 100 year old Case steam engines. The kind of things that were old when my 90 year old Father was young. Someday if I am a good man, I hope to stop playing my harp on the cloud and look down to see just that, an old four door 55 Chevy driven by a smiling young person of humble means but pure of heart.
That is the most concise appraisal of the present state of the hobby I’ve read in a while.
Chebby, good points! Kids now days don’t want anything to do with cars like this 55. They want relatively recent or new cars. Too busy playing on the cell phones, games, x-boxes, whatever! Go to a car show and you rarely see teenagers there unless they have been drug there by their parents or grandparents. Then, if they are present, they are on the phones! Then guys in their 30s show up at a car show, driving the latest Mustang, Camaro, Mopar, or an Asian car, thinking they have something hot and cool! NOT! What is really irritating, they sometimes win best of show, when all they did was dust of the car….
What’s “Hot and Cool” depends upon how OLD you are!
Hi there, I must be your hope for the future then, I’m 18, and building hotrods for a living, in the shop now is 55’ f250, 29 A with a hopped up 327, a 27 T with a built galaxie motor, and a 63 Chevy c10, we don’t all suck, and I know plenty of teenagers who want to build an old car, but the investor headcases are making that hard
Two doors too many and too high a price for what’ there.
Looks solid but being a four door just wash it and drive it. With purchase price and restoration too much investment. Fairly rare being a four door, six cylinder, radio delete and being the top of the line in 55.
Wish Chevrolet would go back to the logo on this one’s hood and trunk, so much more classy than the bow tie by itself.
I have a nice 283 CID V8 with a 2 speed powerglide that would make this old car hum.
Had a 55 Bel Air in high school (67-68). Bought off the lot of the local Chevrolet dealer for about $125 if I remember correctly. Six with 3 on the tree, two door white top and trunk area, lower and most of interior was green.
Funny part: my friends and I stripped the paint and replaced the two front fenders (rust above the headlights) and my Dad agreed to pay for the paint job. Picked a nice shade of green to match with the existing green interior but picked a special order Cadillac color! Body shop never said a word about the cost, but Dad blew a gasket when presented with the bill. He complained about that paint job till he passed away nearly 30 years later.
You bring something to mind; today, a 12 or 13 year old car at a new car dealership is hard to find, unless it’s in excellent condition.
Thing is, it’s a nice old bus. The sort of old nail you’d buy and go to gigs with your mates – or your band – in. My version of that was an Austin Cambridge. Isnae worth that much money tho’…
Solid , original , barn find. But a 4 door. It would be a fun spit and shine, tune up and brakes and cruise around town. For less money.
Crazy $ for a more door.
We are a breed that will not be around forever, crazy prices.. Worked in a body shop in the early 70’s.. bought my ’55 tudor for $50.00 off the original owner and he bought it in Seattle, (Westlake). It turned into a show car for not a lot of money.Clark Marshall’s show in the coliseum.. won my class…all on a kids pay.. NOT TODAY THO…I don’t make that kind of money to fix a hobby car anymore..good luck.
Check it out!
A 2 Door with EXTRA doors!
The seller is awfully optimistic in their asking price.
Thank you Billy 007. The price is too high and the Hobby has been ruined by Speculation, Greed, and other character flaws. We’re in the Hobby to enjoy the ride.
Wow what’s this guy smoking…
All this guy sees is $$$$$$$, He clearly doesn’t care one bit that this was his G’mas car. For the money he is asking the car should be driveable and all the stuff be workin. Don’t have to be pretty but it needs to function as a car.
With a good paint job and the interior tightend up, all the running gear working the max your gonna get outta this car is 12k I think. To bad you can’t get it that nice for 3500 more than he is asking. Well if ya did everything yourself you could. But if you were going to employ that many man hours you might as well do it on something more desirable.
This guy needs a shot of reality.
Hey skibum2,
Is that thing 4WD? Just kidding. Love the look, although my 55 is a bit lower. What’s really cool is that you did that as a young man. Kudos to you. Those flames ROCK!!
Top dollar and the seller can’t be bothered to clean it up and get it out on the road with new tires and cleaned fuel tank and go over all of it to make sure it’s a dependable runner. He’s down to $1500 like it is.
So many cool styling and sculpture touches on these tri-five Chevys.
Growing up my Grandmother drove a used ’56 Belair 4 door black & white like this; except it had a V-8, powerglide, PS, PB, R&H. She drove it from ~1960 to summer of ’67. Probably sold it for ~$200. [Don’t know because I wanted to save this, and my Aunt’s Chevy, and my Father’s convertible; so my parents would quickly dispose of them. I was 12.]
Her cloth windlacing looked bad back in the 60s, obviously this windlace has been replaced with a modern vinyl material.
It could be fun to cleanup and modify the Blue-Flame with early Corvette performance parts. 150+ Horsepower with an improved syncro transmission in this light car would be plenty of fun and surprises! OMG, Brakes! I recall the brakes made the car rock more than the ten-cent rocking horse in front of the drug store! Build it as a period hot-rod six, but save those cool wheel-covers [and I dislike most wheel-covers].
That’s quite the story, really enjoyed reading it.
That Bel Air is only slightly more expensive than the 210 more-door I bought off a buddy in 1972. It cost me $15 and a Holley Bug Spray.
Chebby is 100% correct in his assessment.
Wait a few more months, and the price will be cut in half again! There is a 59 Ford Retractable for sale locally for $9000 which is in about the same condition, but a much more desireable car, that would need a total restoration. It’s been for sale for a long time. Gee…wonder why? These two sellers might be related?
Rodney or Wikipedia:
I have never heard of 55 Chevrolets being referred to as “shoebox” Chevies. 49-51 Fords, yes.
Move on, nothing to see here. It’s a four door and a six banger.
nothing wrong with a crew cab …