Chevrolet 1955-1957

There was an era  when Chevrolets were nothing but plain vanilla cars with nothing much to recommend them but price and reliability.It’s hard to imagine now, but such was the case in the Twenties, Thirties, Forties, and early Fifties. Chevrolet offered good value, and Chevies weren’t likely to leave you stranded by the road in the pouring rain, but if you were a driving aficonado you shopped elsewhere.

At least, that was until 1955.

Because 1955 was a watershed time. Not only did Chevrolet break out of its plane-jane mold, but it did so just as rock-n-roll was starting to get attention from the nation’s youth. Because of that, rock-n-roll music and the 1955-57 Chevrolets will be inextricably linked, like cookies and milk, or Evers, Tinker, and Chance.

U.S. factories at the ready

The mid-Fifties were halcyon years for the American car  industry. World War II had left much of the world’s industrial powers–notably Italy, Germany,  and Japan–in ruins, and it had left all of eastern Europe enslaved.  However, the war hadn’t just left American industry unscathed, it had,  in fact, strengthened it. Factories designed to provide America’s war machine stood ready to serve instead the consumption revolution.

With the revolution in consumption, though, came unfettered rivalry. As America churned into the second half of the Twentieth Century, its car manufacturers were tripping over one another trying to assist a fickle public. These days, the Big Three auto manufacturers are the only American auto manufacturers (if you discount the foreigners who own American factories), but in the mid-Fifties, Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler competed with the likes of Packard, Studebaker,  and the Nash-Hudson American Motors combine. The intensity of the competition had already squeezed out Kaiser, Tucker,  Willys and, of course, Madman Muntz.

Cole steps in to Chevrolet

In this bubbling maw of sales pressure stepped Ed Cole, who assumed the position  of Chevrolet chief engineer in 1952. Cole had participated in the victorious design of the late-Forties Cadillac V-8, so he knew first hand what an engine change could do to re-vitalize a car line. When he got the Chevrolet assignment , he quickly set out to make history repeat itself.

What he and his engineering team built  an engine far more enduring than the Cadillac V-8 or even the popular Ford flat-head V-8. The “small-block” Chevy, as it has come to be known, was definitely one of the 10 best engines of all time and, very likely, the best ever. It had just about every feature one could ask for in an automotive powerplant: it was reasonably light and very compact;  relatively inexpensive to manufacture, dead-on reliable; adaptable to performance upgrades; smooth-running; powerful;  and decently fuel efficient. Simply put, there was more than one good reason why the small-block Chevy remained  in production more than 40 years.

Chevy engine set to rock

Chevrolet engineers certainly went to school on the earlier overhead-valve V-8 engines from Cadillac and Oldsmobile . Their Chevy design used a wedge-shaped combustion chamber and displaced only 265 cubic inches, not much more than Chevy’s in-line six, but the real key to its victory was its so-called “over-square” design, meaning its bore at 3 inches was larger than its 3-inch stroke. This allowed Chevrolet engineers to design in far-larger-than-normal intake and exhaust valves, which permitted the engine to breathe, one of the keys to its exceptional efficiency. And that breathing was helped by large exhaust ports. It was an engine that seemed designed from the factory to accept dual exhaust, tubular headers,  and other go-fast equipment.

Not that the ’55 Chevrolet required hot-rodding. In its mildest form, the “Turbo-Fire” V-8 supplied 162 horsepower, significantly more than 150 horsepower from the heavily breathed-on “Blue-Flame” version of the popular stovebolt six that was the standard powerplant in the 1954 Corvette. And that was simply the tip of the performance iceberg.

From its launch in the fall of 1954, the 1955 Chevrolet was also blessed with the availability of a “Plus Power Package,” which automotive slang has converted into simply “power pack.” This $55 option gave buyers the added benefits of a freer-flowing intake manifold with larger ports,  a four-barrel carburetor (instead of the standard two-barrel), and dual exhaust. Equipped in this manner, the tiny block produced 180 peak horsepower, not bad for toting cookies to the Sunday School bake sale.

Fresh body suited the engine

To add whipped cream to the sundae, the all-new 1955 Chevrolet had a chassis and body  that complemented the V-8 engine beautifully. The new chassis was both stiffer and lighter  than the frame it replaced, and from it hung much improved front and rear suspension designs. A contemporary ball-joint individual front suspension with coil springs replaced the antiquated 1954 set-up (which was the norm in the Corvette until 1963.) The rear suspension still used leaf springs to locate the solid rear axle, but their greater length and more advantageous positioning resulted in  considerably better handling.

Atop this chassis sat one of the sweetest bodies of the period. The Fifties, of course,  were known for their excess, but there was nothing excessive about the 1955 Chevrolet. If, as many designers say, a good automotive front end has likeness to a human face, then the ’55 Chevy had the classic fine  looks of a William Holden. The two headlights (the eyes) were lidded with subdued brows, while the Chevrolet insignia and crest (the nose) rested just above one of the most elegantly simple grilles the automotive world has ever seen. An egg crate surrounded by a delicate chrome rim, the grille is perpetually smiling.

The rear end was correspondingly simple and well-proportioned. The rear fenders  provided  just the tiniest hint of a fin, culminating in a handsomely shaped taillights. The greenhouse  highlighted  wrap-around front and rear windscreens and a arcing roof with a narrow C-pillar. Another delicate arc carried from the brow over the headlight to a subtle “hitch” just behind the rear edge of the front door. That character line was emphasized  by a chrome piece that curved in a barely definable “S” shape to a horizontal chrome spear. Another, even more tapered piece of chrome ran from the “eyebrow” back to the middle of the front door.

Powerful, classy,  and successful

The ’55 Chevrolet was a design that simply out-classed just about every car, domestic or foreign, that was its contemporary, an amazing piece of work that was an incredible sales success as well. Riding on a 115-inch wheelbase, the 3,400-pound ’55 Chevy was a fast, maneuverable package that people loved. Total Chevrolet production for the year was an astounding 1.8 million vehicles.

Over the course of the next 2 years, Chevrolet styling grew a bit more adventuresome, though still understated by Fifties standards, while power from the V-8 engine increased markedly. As early as mid-1955, Chevrolet offered the 195-horsepower engine that had formerly graced just the Corvette. In 1956,  a 225-horsepower dual four-barrel model joined the mix, and the piece de resistance came in 1957–with the small block now bored to 283 cubic inches of displacement, the engine was installed  with the specifically designed Rochester fuel injection to deliver 283 horsepower.

One horsepower per one cubic inch in a family sedan. It was perfectly an American dream come true.

—© Studio One Networks—

Tagged with: Chevrolet • General Motors

Filed under: Top Classic Cars