1955 Chevrolet - Pictures from the "Archives"

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#5
General Motors built its 50-Millionth car on November 23, 1954.  It was entirely fitting that it should be an all-gold 1955 Bel Air 2 Door Hardtop.  In addition to a celebration ceremony at the assembly plant (Pic #1), civic luncheons were held in 65 cities from coast to coast and GM Plants across the country held open house to more than a million people.

At $2,578.00, the Nomad was the priciest model in 55's line-up and this was probably why it was the lowest in production.  The photo dated March 11, 1954 (Pic #2) shows that except for the trim, the Nomad was production-ready.

The photo (Pic #3) shows that in early 1955 the Chevy Designers were still tinkering with roof lines and wheel openings.

Some of the lines of the production '55 model can be seen in this styling study entitled "The Grand-Prix" (Pic #4).

Designers experimented with many different window treatments for the 55 Chevrolet.  As shown in Pic #5, the "Flight-Sweep" wraparound windshield was already decided upon, but the rear window/C-post arrangement was still being worked on.
         
1955 Chevrolet Old Car Ads
                   
 
1955 Model Production in the USA

In 1955, Chevrolet's goal was to capture the "young, working family generation" market.  And that is exactly what they did.  With record production figures that year, over one-third of the car sales were of two models only - the 4 Door Sedans.  The 1955 B/A 4 Door Sedan took first place with an astounding 366,293 of them being produced.  The 1955 210 4 Door Sedan came in a close second at 340,222. 

The price difference between the B/A 4 Door Sedan and the B/A Convertible, which came in 9th place in production out of the 16 models available, was only $274.00. Today this seems like very little, but back in 1955 it was a fair amount.  The 150 Handyman Wagon retailed for only $176.00 less than the Convertible and the B/A Beauville 4 Door Wagon actually retailed for $56.00 more than the Convertible.

1955 B/A 4 Door Sedan

#1 in Production - 366,293

1955 210 4 Door Sedan

#2 in Production - 340,222

1955 210 2 Door Sedan

#3 in Production - 250,000

1955 B/A 2 Door Hardtop

#4 in Production - 189,269

1955 B/A 2 Door Sedan

#5 in Production - 168,826

1955 210 Delray 2 Door Sedan

#6 in Production - 116,406

1955 150 2 Door Sedan

#7 in Production - 66,833

1955 210 Townsman 4 Door Wagon

#8 in Production - 84,239

1955 B/A Convertible

#9 in Production - 42,278

1955 150 4 Door Sedan

#10 in Production - 34,906

1955 210 Handyman 2 Door Wagon

#11 in Production - 29,419

1955 B/A Beauville 4 Door Wagon

#12 in Production - 25,772

1955 150 Handyman 2 Door Wagon

#13 in Production - 18,496

1955 210 2 Door Hardtop

#14 in Production - 11,685

1955 150 Utility Sedan

#15 in Production - 12,139

 

 

1955 B/A Nomad

#16 in Production - 8,530

 
 
1955 Chevrolet Engines
 

"The Little Engine

That Started It All!"

The new 265 cubic inch small block "Turbo-Fire V8" was an engineering landmark that transformed Chevrolet's image overnight!

Rated 162 hp with the 2 barrel carburetor and 180 hp with the 4 barrel carburetor.

"Blue Flame 136" 6 Cylinder Engine

Engineered and built specifically for automatic driving with the Powerglide transmission.

"Blue Flame 123" 6 Cylinder Engine

Developed for thriftiest driving with a standard or overdrive transmission.
1955 Chevrolet Transmissions
1955 Chevrolet Specifications & Pricing