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Tri-Five Beauty! 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air

More than 65 years later, the 1955-57 Chevrolets are still perhaps the most iconic cars the company ever built. The ’56 editions were minimally changed in appearance over the ’55s and would be the second best seller of the three years. This Bel Air was purchased by the seller’s father a couple of years ago. Perhaps he had one like it back in the 1950s or he had always wanted a “Tri-Five” Chevy. Unfortunately, he has since passed away and the car is ready to move on. Located in Callahan, Florida, this beautiful Bel Air is available here on Barn Finds Classifieds for $20,000.

This gorgeous Chevy has all the earmarks of a newer restoration and – while the vehicle overall appears to be original – the seller mentions it has disc brakes, something not available that far back. It appears to be wearing nicely applied Sherwood Green/Pinecrest Green two-tone paint. It would have been one of 282,476 Bel Air 4-door sedans built that year out of 1,623,376 overall Chevy cars. We don’t know whether this one has the 235 cubic-inch “Blue Flame” Six or the new 265 “Turbo-Fire” V8.

The body, chrome, and glass all look great on this Bel Air and the interior is also tidy, although it looks as though someone cut holes in the door for speakers. This means the car likely has some form of aftermarket stereo system in place. We’re guessing this automobile was the seller’s father’s pride-and-joy as he is a part of most of the photos. Hopefully, this Chevy will end up in a home that will also enjoy it as a showpiece of how cars were once built.

Comments

  1. Rex Kahrs Rex Kahrs Member

    Wow, that’s amazing that Chevy built over 1.6 million cars in 1956. Not to mention all their other divisions.

    And then there was that Chevy van a day or so back, of which they probably sold a zillion units over the thirty year span of that model. So…why did GM need a bailout back around 2008?

    It seems to me that with their voluminous sales over the period from ’55 onward, they should have been plenty flush with cash, and assuming they knew how to manage their money, why did us taxpayers have to bail these jokers out??

    Like 14
    • Gary James Lehman 8197384

      Us taxpayers got paid back in full, early and with interest. What’s your beef?
      Look around–Sears and tons of large, successful companies are out of business or running dry.

      Like 6
  2. On and On On and On Member

    Doesn’t the V emblem on the hood and trunk denote a V8 engine, at least when new that is…….

    Like 13
  3. HoA Howard A Member

    I’ve been told I’m too emotional ( thanks, mom), but I enjoy the “human interest” aspect of this site almost as much as the vehicles themselves. I look at this guy, as a young man, just starting his life as a family man, probably had a Chevy like this, and to put things into perspective, you didn’t walk into a dealer and with a signature, drive home in a new SUV. Buying a new car in 1956 was BIG deal. Financing wasn’t what it is today, and many people, like my grandfather, paid cash for their cars. Cash they saved for years, and at an average $100/week pay, that didn’t happen overnight. It’s creepy this guy, for some reason, was destined to relive that era finding and enjoying a car like he had, a year before he died. Call it what you will, I think that’s pretty cool.

    Like 19
    • Billyray

      I agree. But it makes me sad that he only had it for a year. :(

      Like 9
  4. Hal Booth

    We had a ’55 Chev – when I was six, and just becoming aware that cars were different [aka styling] – then one of my dad’s colleagues drove up in his new ’56. Yowzah! It was SO different, and I noted every one of those differences. Then there was that gas-filler door . . .

    Like 6
  5. Steve Clinton

    I’m sorry but the first thing that came to mind when viewing the first photo was “Hurry up and take the picture, I gotta pee, consarn it!”

    Like 3
  6. Frank

    I had one of these with a 327 Corvette engine and transmission with a Hurst shifter. The car had a rotted out floor and every time I shifted the front seat would lift up because the floor was partially gone. Fun times even if it was a rust bucket.

    Like 1
    • Dana Franklin

      I was 17, not a lot of money. Bought a ’56 Bel Air 2 dr, 265, Power glide for $100. Drove it 2 days and the transmission went out. When I picked it up a few days later, the T – Shop owner asked how long I had been stuffing bananas in it and how many might there have been.
      Scrounged up a Carter AFB 4-bbl, 283 ram horn exhaust manifolds, new plugs wires & points and the car ran pretty good. The passenger side seat back broke and I propped it up with a length of 1×4 slid between the rear seat and wall. Driving along with a friend, he asked how the car was running. To show him, I mashed the gas, the rebuilt tranny kicked into passing gear, the 4 barrel gulped massive quantities of Sunoco 260 and my passenger fell into the back seat as the 1×4 went through the rusted out wheel well it had been resting on and hit the tire, catapulting it through the roof. Later, another friend jumped up to sit on the front fender and broke it. Yes, the car had some rust issues, but; wow, did that thing run good.

      Like 0
  7. Gary Rhodes

    Nice car, high price for a four door sedan. A Sport Sedan would bring that

    Like 0
  8. george mattar

    This car is from the year I was born, when America wasn’t overrun with criminals, better known as illegals running into Texas. I realize politics is not permitted here, but 1956 was a far better year than 2021. Everybody today is out to get over on everybody and the American car industry is a joke. The media has plenty to do with that by bashing American cars and telling everyone to buy from Korea, etc. My father fought those scumbags and you tell me I should buy imports. Not on my watch. My newest AMERICAN car is 19 years old and runs just fine thank you. Show me a 65 year old Korean car and if it still running. I would say NO. Yes, it is sad this man died after having the car only a year. My dad had a new 57 Chevy. It was green.

    Like 3
    • HoA Howard A Member

      Hi george, AMEN, BROTHER, now calm down. I was born in ’55, so I don’t remember the 50’s much, but I’ve heard enough to know, the mid-50’s to early 60’s were just the best of times. That colossal blunder, Korea was over, and before that OTHER blunder, Vietnam, things in America were hummin’. There were plenty of jobs, we made and bought our own goods, in Milwaukee, it was Ramblers, Harley Davidsons and Briggs and Stratton motors. Didn’t get any better, and never will again.
      I’m with you, I drive a 44 year old AMERICAN pickup and a 30 year old Jeep. My dad fought in the Big One, Dubja, Dubja 2, der,( Archie Bunker) and wouldn’t let an Asian, German or Italian car in his driveway, and passed that onto me and my brother. We’ll never buy a car from the “Axis Powers”.
      Look at it this way, driving older vehicles. It’s our little way of giving a giant middle finger to the auto industry today, and I actually feel smarter, perhaps almost envied driving them.

      Like 0
  9. Patricia Wolf

    Hi
    This was my father’s car. Since posting I did find out it does have a V8 engine. The disc breaks we’re put on for him because of his age. He was so happy to have this vehicle.

    Like 0
  10. Jimmy Novak

    Oh, look.

    Another mid-’50s Chevrolet.

    Like 0

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