FOUND:1955 Chevy gasser....

I just bought this 55 chevy gasser, and now am looking for any history on it. It had been sitting on the north side of Coopersville Mi. for the past 8-9 years. The guy I bought it from said he found it over in the Grand Rapids/Cascade area. It has fiberglass hood and fenders that were molded together and turned into a flip front. The front tilt front end is latched at the bottom of front fenders with what apears to be Mercury Marine outboard motor cover latches! It has a 1957ish cast ford F700 truck hood scoop, not on car in pictures but I do have it.
The front axle is a straight tube that has been widened 2" on each side, runs a buggy front spring mounted behind the axle with a 4 bar set up. The firewall has been cut out and replaced with an 1/8" steel one that is recessed back to the face edge of the dash! The dash panel where the gauge cluster and speaker holes are is filled with a thin tin panel. The steering wheel is approximately half way into the middle of the front doors with the seat mounted between where the original front and back seats were.
There is angle in the back seat area that would have had tin panels on it creating a deck behind the front seat to the rear package tray. The door windows and quarter windows are lexan and there are no vent windows just one piece lexan in the whole door opening. Rear axle is a 1955 unit with coil springs on top of it as well as stock leaf springs and a pair of ladder bars. There is a fuel tank/cell mounted in the trunk floor. When the guy I bought it from got it, it had magnesium wheels front and rear, but they are no longer with it.
Car was originally green from the factory but has been painted orange twice. If anyone has any info on this car, or maybe may have owned it at one time in the past, please let me know. I am looking forward to hopefully finding out some of it's past and maybe rebuilding it back for some more strip glory!! Thanks in advance, Al aka 333 Half Evil.

 

neat find, hope you find some history on it....

 

That seat certainly isn't from "Back then" it dates from the 80's at the earliest

 

Nice start to your gasser. Keep us posted.

 

Very nice find, you are going to have fun with that. Where is West Olive Mchigan?

Jon

 

Between Grand Haven and Holland

 

Hey, great find, 55's are so cool in the rough, i don't have any history for you but good luck on that, somebody out there knows and the pics will start the conversations. I'm in the middle of a 55 build with no history, a creation with period parts, hope to keep in touch!

 

Nice find my in-laws live in Grand Haven.

 

it looks like the wheels and tires are newer too.

 

is it just me, or does the front axle look bent, like the tires bow out at the bottom? Looks like a great start, good luck with it!

 

the seats were just thrown in....he was getting rid of junk at my expense. The seat that was in the car when he got it was a shortback fibreglass/plastic? chair type seat with just a thin pad cover.

 

wheels and tires are of a dirt track car, used them just so I could move the car around.

 

The front wheels are probably out of alignment because there's no engine in it.

 

the axle is not bent, there is only one rod on each side for the four bar set up therefore the axle is rotated way back, massive positive camber style!! that is why the tires look as they do. when you turn it they actually flop over like a road grader!! The other bars are in the trunk and when weather permits I'm going to get them back on to straighten things up a bit.

 

nice score..... hope u find the history.. 55,s are so bitchen!!!!!!

 

I was just out cleaning more precious junk out of the inside, and noticed there is a 1989 Nostalgia Drags Martin Michigan participant plaque on the dash. Maybe someone was there that may recognise this one? Who knows..... I also notices that there are holes on the drivers ,over halfway back, where the outside mirror was relocated to. Maybe this thing is a street freak.... anyone seen something like this lingering around the streets of West Michigan back in the day?

 

Nice find! Good luck with the build.

 

Iv got a thing for orange race cars....great find and good luck with it.

 

Reading is an amazing ability that obviously is no longer taught in american school sytems.

 

Well I was born and raised in Muskegon, but I'm too young to remember that 55 back in the day. Cool find!! I love to learn the history of old cars.

 

Remember competition orange?

 

Dave Crane was a tech inspector at Martin, and still lives in the Grand Rapids area. He's on here every now and then.
(He and his club started the track)
He'd be the best chance of finding any info on the car.
Do a member search, and use his contact info to send him an email. That's the best way to get in touch with him.

-Brad

 

At least you've got the car, I've got the history on one & know where it is & has been for 30 years but can't get the guy to sell & I've offered way to much. The car is buried & apart & I don't think the owner wants to mess with it. The thing that sucks is I've already got the the origional kinsler fuel injection,the ansen wheels,ansen bell housing, the hemi 4 speed he had hooked to the small block chevy, the drive shaft, numerous 57 olds pumpkins w/ up into 6.?? gears & the hurst super shifter. Sucks for Me. Great find, keep us posted & hope you get some info...

 

Al,

How about some more photos. Shots of the firewall, floorboards, inner fender panels, front frame section, roll bar, seats, clutch linkage, steering box, fiberglass parts, tilt arrangement and any other old fabricated stuff that might help with an I.D. Did you get a set of original homemade headers with it? You never know what might be a good clue!

 

That car has definatly been around for A LONG time! Pretty cool man

 

nice find. good luck

 

Well done, keep us posted................

 

nice find,good to see someone is from around here I am from fennville

 

I need to get the inside emptied out, then I can get more pics....definiatly the firewall/transmission tunnel is one of a kind.....at least I hope so! You will know what I mean when you see it!!! I will try and get pics sometime this coming week.

 

Don't want to hijack, but there is a 55 Chevy tudor wagon on craigslist that is screaming for the gasser treatment for $3,500. I posted a thread about it tonight and thought someone with a passion for a 55 ought to know.

I'd have it myself but I don't have the dough.