Let’s give this relative oddity from the CC Cohort found by nifticus392 a couple of minutes of attention. It’s the familiar and legendary shape of the 1955 Chevrolet, but in a way we rarely see it anymore; a plain looking 4-door six cylinder sedan in 210 trim and white color, of all things. I’ve seen tons of 1955-1957 Chevrolets at car shows, but have I ever seen one looking this normal and plain? Don’t think so.
To each their own, if you want to fix up your old ride as you wish, by all means go ahead. And admittedly, no matter what’s done to them, 1955-1957 Chevrolets usually end up looking good, no matter what. A shape that truly lends itself to customizations, particularly in Bel Air trim.
Unlike what the usual visit to a local car show suggests, these sedans were the most common Chevrolets back in 1955, with the 210 4-door selling 317,724 units; just below the best-selling Bel Air 4-door with 345,372.
And not sure how many buyers opted for plain white (I see a color mismatch on the door), but solid colors did sell in that flashy two-tone/three-tone era. Given the very original condition of this car it’s safe to assume that it still has its 136 hp 235 cubic inch “Blue Flame” six under the hood. Those Chevy sixes were long-lasting, and where I live in Central America, a few such 1950s Chevys still have them. This being a 4-door sedan undoubtedly greatly enhanced the likelihood of it not having been turned into another tri-five hot rod.
Interior looks quite time-capsule too, with an additional temp gauge being a concession to today. And well, no way to know what that bench seat is like under that cover. Otherwise, looks pretty time-capsule, with the “airliner look” –not my words, but Chevy’s– dash in pretty good shape, and with the 2-speed Powerglide. Now, that’s living the Chevy-life 1950s style.
Dealer tags still in the car, and Dueck is still around.
Period CAA tags; original on the car? I tried to gather some info on this particular car online, but nothing came up. Perhaps one of our readers will be acquainted with it?
It took me a short while to get used to seeing this in 4-doors, with the hardtops and flashy Bel Airs being the ones I’m most familiar with. Needless to say, the 1955 Chevrolets were a major event for the Bowtie, from its styling to its new body and small-block V8; history and details all covered at CC previously (links below). Legend and iconic are overused terms, but I think we can pretty safely say both apply to the 1955-1957 models. But as is often the case with such stories, some chapters are better known than others, and it’s good to come across some of the less remembered passages from time to time.
Related CC reading:
Curbside Classic: 1955 Chevrolet — The iCar — GM’s All-Time Greatest Hit
Curbside Classic: 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air — “Nice To See You”
In Motion Classic: 1955 Chevrolet 210 – Evergreen
Curbside Classic: 1955 Chevrolet Station Wagon — Mid-Century Splendor
Car Show Classic: 1955 Chevrolet Nomad — Stealing The Thunder From The High Priced Cars
In the 60’s and 70’s, thousands of these were turned into circle track cars. Unfortunate.
I saw a ’55 four door with a healthy dose of genuine patina on the road a while back and it ignited a long-running love affair with these. I would be very happy with a six cylinder 4-door, but make mine a 3-speed with overdrive. And a 261 truck six for a bit more torque.
Healthy dose of patina, 250 6cyl, 700R4 automatic, go anywhere daily driver. Grandpa gave it to me when I was 9. I’m now 57. Love my four door!
You don’t live anywhere near Eugene by chance? Because the one I saw from a distance looked rather similar to yours.
Yes. Rumor has it there’s a 2 door the same color and patina here too. I have yet to see it.
Had two 55’s One a 2dr 210,stick 6 that I painted 2 tone as a bel air. It was seafoam green with a white roof. I left the green and repainted the roof, trunk, and quarters, india ivory. I loved that car. With a bench seat and that big back seat, 6 people rode all day easily. Great memories.
My other one was a sedan delivery hot rod. 327 4spd, Really fast and fun.
It is nice to see a nice middle of the road car. Car shows get tiresome. Every tri-five is a Belair with a souped up 383 in it and every Chevelle an SS big block. I am not sure what the breakdown for six and eight cylinder cars, but there were plenty of sixes. One has to remember that the average 40 year old new car buyer in 1955 had experienced the Great Depression head on. My own parents were Depression children and they had thrift built into them.
Interesting to note then the small-block V8 didn’t come to Australia until 1960. The tri-five Chevy was only available with the Blue Flame Six Down Under.
https://web.archive.org/web/20250126152049/https://oldcarbrochures.org/Australia/Chevrolet/Cars/1955-Chevrolet-Brochure/index.html
Yes, I was just about to say this is the usual Australian spec. Except for the Powerglide; we didn’t get that yet either! I had to look twice to check it wasn’t RHD.
Indeed so. Apparently, the Queen said we could only order them with the Drab Pac, lest we got got over-excited and chopped off her head.
Or thereabouts.
Had 5 different Chevies with a version of the straight 6. Great, reliability, lots of torque and enough horsepower to do what needs to be done.
It would take so little to make this car factory fresh!
The Old ’55 consistently surprises me in one facet: Most “clean-slate” models have sorting-out issues that end up smoothed out the following model year. I have never heard a commentary on the 1955 Chevrolet that didn’t praise it to the sky. Obviously, some lemons snuck through but they are clearly the exception. Was this an example of GM’s powers at that time, and a rare instance of not using customers as guinea pigs?
This was the case pretty consistently with new GM cars in the ’50s; they seem to have had their quality control well in hand even for new models, like the new ’48 C bodies and ’49 A bodies and the ’54 B and C Bodies. It was gM’s golden decade for more reasons than one.
My fathers ’55 handyman wagon was one of those lemons……or so he though. Bought new in December of ’54, it used oil and had a thing for breaking fuel pump arm springs (4 in all). Figuring it was a lemon, he traded in December of ’55 for a brand new Olds 88.
We last saw the old wagon in the summer of ’67. It was a rust bucket but it was still going.
My Dad’s first car, although his six-cylinder Two-Ten was a ’56 and in Two-Tone, India Ivory over Sherwood Green…
One of my sisters, schoolmate’s. mother had this car in dark/ light green. color combo. Know it was still their ride around “1966”.
The Old ’55 consistently surprises me in one facet: Most “clean-slate” models have sorting-out issues that end up smoothed out the following model year. I have never heard a commentary on the 1955 Chevrolet that didn’t praise it to the sky. Obviously, some lemons snuck through but they are clearly the exception. Was this an example of GM’s powers at that time, and a rare instance of not using customers as guinea pigs?
Lovely find. Mine was a 57. Harbor Blue, only options were manual tune radio, clock and heater. My introduction into the world of restoration some 40 years ago.
Very nice clean unmolested example. Not even Cragar wheels! It’s refreshing to see a solid color tri-five, particularly in white. We can forgive what’s under the blanket on the front seat although upholstery kits are readily available. Swap outthe automatic transmission and I could drive this every day.
Am I the weirdo who would like to hot rod the six?? As in swap something newer and fuel injected and overdrived. Im thinking a stock 2jz-ge/automatic combo out of a 90s Lexus would be hilarious. I know you can make big power with a huge turbo on that combo but then you are back into making it an unreliable hot rod that kinda sucks to cruise in.
Lovely car. Ours back in the day was similar, except it was a 2-door sedan, Skyline Blue body with an India Ivory roof, same 6-cylinder, 3-on-the-tree (no overdrive).
A curio in its homeland now, such a spec was, alas, all we got in Oz. And as Peter has pointed out, not even with the auto. Now, why get a big US car without a big engine and Lots of Stuff in it, I wondered as a ’70’s kid? God knows our local GM/Fords were STILL mostly Drab Pac spec even then.
’50’s buyers here must only have been buying for the name – and US cars till had a sterling name here then – or perhaps to show off a bit, because it was priced above the priciest local Holden or Ford. But the local 1956 Holden with a more modern 2.2 six and less weight also sat six people, and performed as well as a Chev in such spec, whilst using a good deal less petrol.
Nowadays, wealthy gen Xers have imported more baubled LHD ’55’s with V8s than America ever had on its shores, and I find this old curio quite preferable.
I recall from a prior research jag that Chevrolet’s only “white” paint in 1955 was called India Ivory, which was an almost-but-not-quite-white. It is always hard to tell in photos, but I cannot tell if this is a nicely kept original India Ivory paint job, or whether somewhere along the line the car got repainted in a more modern white. Either way, all-white cars were not all that common then, which was only a couple years after the first true white cars were offered in the US. I love the originality of this one!
Good point about all-white cars being uncommon then. More commonly as part of a two-tone paint job. But now that I think of it, my older brother’s friend drove a hand-me-down all-white stripper ’55 150 2-door sedan.
Yes, a true enthusiasts car .
To answer the above question, it’s a simple thing to install two carburetors to greatly increase power and fuel economy .
Adding the camshaft from a 261 truck i6 engine makes it even better, that’s what the ’54 Corvette did .
I think if I ever had a stocker like this I’d want to upgrade the front brakes to disc for safety’s sake .
-Nate