The 1955 Chevrolet is a 2-door coupé / 2-door hardtop / 4-door sedan / 2-door convertible / 2-door Station wagon / 4-door Station wagon / 2-door sedan delivery from GM (General Motors), built from 1954 to 1955, at the height of the post-war boom. Bill Mitchell drew it.
The background
The 1955 Chevrolet (sometimes referred to as the '55 Chevy) is an automobile which was introduced by Chevrolet in Autumn 1954 for the 1955 model year. It is considered a huge turning point for the manufacturer and a major success. It was available in three models: the 150, 210, and Bel Air. The 1955 Chevrolet was the first successful Chevrolet with an optional V8 engine. Chevrolet had produced an earlier car with a V8 in 1918 (Chevrolet Series D), which used a 36-horsepower overhead valve 288-cubic-inch V8, but it remained in production for only a year. In 1955, Chevrolet decided to fit its new car with an overhead valve V8 engine design, which was similar to the 1949 Oldsmobile "Rocket 88" V8 engine, which was an earlier GM success.
Chevrolet's new 265-cubic-inch overhead valve V8 was designed to be smaller and lighter than previous V8s in the automobile industry, and would come to be known as the "Chevy small block". However, the new small block engine in the 1955 Chevrolet had some early teething issues. There were problems with cracked pistons, and there was no integrated oil filter, so an external bypass filter was offered as a factory or dealer option. Those who did not order the engine with the "oil filter option" dealt with a high frequency of oil changes. Even with the oil filter option, only part of the oil was actually filtered (the oil going through the thermostat). This issue was corrected for the next year when a full flow oil filter system was added to the engine. Additionally, to keep performance and mileage levels high, it required spark plugs and ignition
Under the skin
The record carries the shape — a 2-door coupé / 2-door hardtop / 4-door sedan / 2-door convertible / 2-door Station wagon / 4-door Station wagon / 2-door sedan delivery. The engine, output and weight have not yet reached the open record, and MotorJury does not guess at them.
Where it sits
Its family tree is legible: its successor was the 1956 Chevrolet; assembly was at United States. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the Chevrolet Corvette — show what else the money bought that year. Its GM (General Motors) stablemates include the 1957 Chevrolet and the 1985–1988 Cadillac Fleetwood.
What it costs now
There is no federal ownership record for the 1955 Chevrolet — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.