It took more than two years of work by GM stylists to perfect the exterior design of the groundbreaking 1955 Chevrolet. Let’s take a look at the earlier efforts.
When the 1955 Chevrolet was introduced on October 28, 1954, it represented an investment of $300 million by General Motors in design, development, and tooling. Along with the totally re-engineered chassis and the stunning 265 cubic-inch V8, there was an entirely new exteior as well, with more than two years of evolution behind it in the Chevrolet styling studios.
Among the areas explored was the roofline, as shown in the full-size renderings above from November of 1952 for a proposed but never produced club coupe. (See also the lead photo, showing a greenhouse similar to the ’50-’52 Bel Air.) The wheel arches of the production design are already established here, while 1954-style tail lamps grace the rear. Note the long, pronounced step in the quarter-panel line. Eventually, this would be shortened to a smart dip between the B and C pillars, a production feature from ’55 through ’57.
By mid-1953 the basic body shell was part of the package under testing at GM’s Arizona and Michigan proving grounds. However, a modified ’53 Chevy front doghouse was in place with ’53 tail lamps at the rear, presumably to serve as camouflage. According to Chevrolet, the rigorous product testing stretched out over hundreds of thousands of miles.
In this GM photo from May of 1955, the tail lamps, rear bumper, and deck lid badge are much like the eventual production car’s. However, this prototype has a prominent crease across across the deck between the lamps, a feature that would never make it to the Chevy showrooms.
By this date, the new Chevrolet’s styling was almost fully formed (above). However, the bright-metal side trim would be completely revised before production, and the remarkably ’53-like grille treatment shown here would be discarded as well. According to leading historian Michael Lamm in an interview with Chevy studio chief Clare MacKichen, that change came about when GM vice president of styling Harley Earl stopped by for an inspection. Earl said to MacKichan, ‘You know, I saw a Ferrari, and I’d like to try that kind of grille on the car.” That direction ultimately resulted in the racy, Italianate radiator opening of the production car.
Below, Chevrolet chief engineer Edward N. Cole proudly stands next to a production 1955 Bel Air Sport Coupe, complete with its narrow European grille. Thanks to the exciting new product and a boom year for the Motor City, sales at Chevrolet shot up nearly 50 percent to 1.7 million cars in 1955. Just one year later, Cole would be promoted to general manager of the division, ultimately becoming president of General Motors. And eventually, the 1955 Chevrolet would earn a place as one of the most memorable and important cars in Detroit history.
Looking at the earliest renderings of what finally became the production car, the first thought is invariably, “What were they thinking?” Yet, considering it was at least three decades before computer aided design became reality, we easily forget that the only way you’d have any idea how a possible design stream could become reality other than full sized renderings and clay models.
The examples shown really drive home just how radically different the ’55’s front end was, and how the ’56 was a half-step back (supposedly done due to dealer complaints that it wasn’t what Ford and Plymouth were doing). For once, and hardly the first time, the dealers were wrong as sales showed.
My favorite tri five is the 56. They did just enough to give it a more upscale appearance without overdoing it like the 57. Ford more or less did the same with their 56 Fairlane facelift.
I agree with you about the ’56. However, we apparently aren’t in the majority based on after-market parts availability. about a dozen years ago I restored a ’56 Nomad and kept running into the issue of “it’s available for ’55 and ’57 but not ’56”. Fenders, hood, quarter panels that were model year specific were not being reproduced and the explanation was that the demand for them didn’t support the tooling investment, alas. The good news is that over the past few years much of that has changed due to the availability of offshore stampings.
One thing I didn’t mention in the story is that early on, they were experimenting with a two-piece windshield as a cost saving. Glad they didn’t go that route. It was a step back to 1950.
Wow! I didn’t think that degree of accounting stupidly happened until the late Sixties.
I agree the best was the Thru car, you know, the ’55, Thru, ’57. They had many chances to screw it up and did a pretty good job of avoiding most of them.
I wish they would have built a ’55 coupe with radiused wheel wells like the Nomad, also the wheel wells on the Thru car Nomad.
Maybe it’s because I’m so used to how the ’55 as built looks but it’s hard to imagine that the Ferrari-like grille (which in turn inspired other Europeans ranging from the Triumph Herald to the Trabant 601) was a last-minute addition.
The only feature under consideration here that I think might’ve been an improvement is the crease and concave panel which is dated May ’53, not ’55 in which case it would’ve been under consideration for ’57. (It’d be an improvement over the production ’57 at that since it retains the ’55/56 high-set taillights.)