The Story of the 1955 Chevy Bel Air Part 1
Written by admin on May 27, 2009 – 11:29 pm -
This is the first post in a series of posts entitled, The Story of the 1955 Chevy Bel Air.
In 1955, Chevrolet rolled out a completely redesigned Bel Air, fitted with attractive new stylings and an aggressive V8 Engine. At the time, Chevy was GM’s largest and most profitable division, and they showed no hesitation introducing the new 1955 lineup of cars. The Bel Air stood out as one of the most re-vamped Chevys since the end of the war, and car enthusiasts of the day revered it as one of the most exciting models to ever sport the infamous Chevy bow tie logo.
The rest of America was also taking notice of the 1955 Chevy Bel Air. In 1983, an article in Life magazine placed the Bel Air on the “10 Best American Cars” list. This came as no surprise to the generation of drivers that this car was mesmerizing.
1955 was a high point in car sales, and the 1955 Chevy was a perfect fit for this emerging market with its radical new styling and engineering. The Bel Air helped to put Chevy at the top of the competition which accounted for approximately 1.7 Million cars out of the 7.1 million that were currently being driven in America at the time. This proved to be an industry record, and stood as a record until 1963. Nearly every Bel Air model was selling well in ‘55, primarily because each had the reputation of being “all-new”.
It was the timeless design of the ‘55 Bel Air that helped it to stand out amongst others in its class, and it was obviously a car designed with the driver in mind. While other companies were concerned with topping the sales charts, one man was there to see the Bel Air through its many stages of development, and that man’s name was Edward Cole. Cole was initially interviewed for the position as Chevy’s manufacturing manager in the early phases of the ‘55 model designs, but declined, stating that he “Didn’t think the project was exciting enough.”
It was not until they approached Cole with the idea of turning the Chevrolet image around that he decided to join the company. He accepted on the condition that the current Division Chief Engineer, Edward H. Kelley, would step aside. Kelley agreed and stepped down from his current position to become a manufacturing chief. Cole took the reigns and set up shop in the year 1952 as the new Division Chief.
Part 2 of the Chevy Bel Air Story coming soon, so be sure to bookmark the site and check back often for updates.
This early 1955 Chevy Bel Air prototype is fitted with a '53 Bel Air front on it's '55 Bel Air Body. This was done to disguise it from the public during test drives on public roads.
Tags: 1955 Chevy, 1955 Chevy Bel Air, Bel Air
Posted in 55 Chevy Bel Air | 1 Comment »
1 Trackback(s)