- Not a simple remodel makeover
- New Styling, Engineering and Image
- The V8 was top of the performance charts
Changed the car's stodgy image
1955 was a very important model year for Chevrolet, as it changed the car's stodgy image with the public, thanks to the completely new and dramatic look. During the development of the all-new 1955 Chevrolet, the styling dictum used in the studio was:
“Go all the way and then back off.” Harley J. Earl, oversaw the development of the car’s styling, it took thousands of preliminary drawings to get it “just right,” and the finished product was an astounding success!
Structural and mechanical changes were done throughout. An all-new frame was stiffened for increased strength, and updated suspension and ball joints up front, longer, outrigger leafs on the rear were incorporated in a new chassis layout. Included as a modern Hotchkiss drive with Salisbury-type axle, and for stopping power improved 11-inch brakes came with the package. The 1955 Chevy was 18 percent lighter that the vehicle it replaced, and buyers that ordered the new V8 engine received some 30-percent more power over the 1954 6-cylinder model.
Besides all-new outward appearance, a revolutionary new 265-cid Chevrolet V8 powerplant was made available, and this new engine left little doubt that the new 1955 Chevrolet was one hot player. And Chevy needed a V8 powerplant to compete with rival Ford. Mechanix Illustrated’s “Uncle” Tom McCahill, the popular automotive writer of the time, tested the new ’55 Chevrolet and said the car was “a junior sized Olds with Buick doors and a Cadillac rear, the most glamorous looking and hottest performing Chevy to come down the pike.”
The Power Pack is an important option and most automotive historians agree that this higher-horsepower variant was the initial “first shot fired” from the factories to which what would later become known as the “muscle car.” With a four-barrel 228 1S Carter carburetor and dual exhausts, it raised the horsepower figure of the 265-cid mill from 162 to 180. In all, 65,080 1955 Chevrolets were ordered with this $95.00 speed package. A total of 740,652 V8-equipped Chevrolets rolled off the assembly lines for the 1955 model year run.
Our California hot rodder always loved the classic lines and clean styling of the '55 Chevy, and when it came time for him to build one of his own, he took a few subtle liberties in deviating from stock.
