I don't have a photo of it but a buddy of mine in high school in 1964 had what was the typical build of a 55 for my area.It was a 2 door post.Painted Honduras Maroon,283 with 2x4s,4 speed,black roll and pleat interior,chrome wheels,blackwalls.Truck mufflers and cut front coils,but just barely,the California rake wasn't that popular in the Southeast at that time.A lot of local cars had a lowered rear back then.I had a Ford at that time,I had rear lowering blocks on it and I put bucket seats in it out of a 62 Falcon Futura.
I set mine up to look like a mid-60s street machine. Vintage/restored aluminum TTs with Silvertowns in front and Hurst cheaters in back. Chrome steel wheels or Cragars would work well too, both in 15-inch size.
Here's my high school ride in 1966. 210 series hardtop, 265 w/factory 4bbl and mild hydraulic cam. Still had a powerglide when this picture was taken. Changed to 3-speed later on. The narrow whites, black rims and small caps were what you ran when chrome reverse rims were to expensive.
A '56 in '66: and a '55 in '63: and a '57 in '66 with Cragar G/Ts up front and what appear to be chromed-reversed in back: and a '57 Fuelie in '63: and one more, a '56 in '63:
Imagine that pic taken inside an auditorium at a car show. The wheel was removed from the car, the jack lowered the car on to a 2 x 4. Then the wheel is just placed in the wheel well for looks.
I graduated in 1965. The local cars around here were pretty much stock with the exception of a few changes. If you were broke, you had stock wheels painted black with narrow white walls. Sometimes the front bumper was removed. Inside, you would find aftermarket headrests, rear speaker with a reverb unit. If you had money, your car had chrome reversed wheels with no baby moons and blackwall tires. Inside you had a tuck and roll interior (heat pressed pleats). Of course the afore mentioned audio equipment. Paint for the "rich" guys generally was Honduras maroon or black. If you genuinely had money, the paint was lacquer and you might have Crager S/S's or even Raidars. Probably, though, you would have had a GTO or Vette.
It took me a while but I finally found this pic for this thread. I think there were many styles in the era mentioned. I think the styles for that era were different depending on what part of the US you lived in and how rich or poor you were (as zzford mentioned previously). For the high end cars, there is an Andy Southard's book, that featured his photos of cars from the sixties. It's a good reference. On the other end of the spectrum, there were the average joe cars that one saw running around. This was typical for my neighborhood. Stock height, blackwall tires with white painted steel rims. Same size tires all around. I believe it came from an attempt to emulate the looks of the serious money drag cars of that time.
July 0f 1965, This is the one that got me going way back when I was 5 years old. & that's why I made mine this way. Once you get BIT, your Bit.
Being in high school from '61 to '65 I remember them like thisone: no front bumper, traction-masters, oem wheels painted or chromed, some with Crager SS's which were becoming the thing. As for paint, most had original with primer spots, or were all primer. Some had a new Earl Scheib job. Most had modified engines. If you had a Powerglide you were a wimp. Most guys didn't have the bucks for a really nice car, so you put your money into the engine.
Thanks for the kind words brothers.....hard to believe I've been driving my 55 since the mid 1970's with that little 292.....lol. Great thread .....love those 55 Chev's......great pictures!
Would love to bolt those tires & wheels on my new '55. Been thinking I missed the mark with my current wheels. Oh well, maybe this winter. And SWEET '55 also CUT '55
Here's my '55 when I ran E/G & D/MP at Hawaii Raceway Park in '65. These were the days where we spent every penny on the car for a lousy trophy, bragging rights & 5.13 gears on the street... I won the two classes the night before - notice the chicken shit trophies. Ahh, the days when we had more time than money and sense! Also attached are pix of Gene Moody and Storming Bull (Ferd Napfel) on their tour to Hawaii. Da good ol' days.... aloha!
Thanks, here's another shot at Puyallup in July: Plus two pics of a racer from the '60s that still exists. Pretty sure the first pic is Fontana:
CUT55 AND FAST E. your going to make hard for me to sleep tonite.those 55's are bad ass........ cragers or torq's would look good....
I wasnt around in 65/68 but heres some ideas of what could have been. I wouldnt think that bright yellow would have been common, but could have been around. (It looks like the 73 corvette yellow I wanted to paint my first 55 when I was 13 in 83) anyway heres a few of the pics I have saved. I want mine to look like a faded leftover/surviver from that time,(or early 70s)which it is but I am having to help bring it back to life (Its the last Pic.)
Wow! What memories! I graduated high school in '65 and my first car looked exactly like this one! Had a 283 in it. This is dead-nuts-1965-Woodward-Avenue-runnin'-red-lights-and-chasin'-women period perfect from my perspective! Too cool!!!
Rusty 1's car was more indicative of the 55's in my area in the mid 60s...It took several months of saving for me to get my used chrome reversed whels for my 55 and the tires were RECAPPED Goodyear polyglass GTs because I couldn't afford those expensive new white letter tires....and the fronts were some used obscure bias-plys with white stick-on letters saying "Goodyear polyglas GT"...font was different and they peeled off when you touched a curb but.............
There are some outstanding shots posted on this thread. Check out my fotki link and go to the tri five gasser section for about 6,000 more ideas on what you could do to your car if you decide not to go the "custom" route.