Gasser... Yes / No ( 55 Chevy Hardtop )

COOL pics. Senior Fried. That 57 is wicked!

 

and they're about 100 lbs lighter

 

please no....gassers remind me of monster trucks.

 

You could really be different and paint it turquise and white!!! Your car do what you want with it! Somebody had to hack vertually every car at some point or they would all be factory original!

 

do a badman replica now that is a cool car

 

The only thing I WOULD change is the seats

 

JMO, the only way I'd build a straight axle 55 is if I could find a salvageable body and frame and had a bunch of parts laying around that I didn't know what to do with. Not so many restorable 55's around. If you can find them they are expensive. Don't get me wrong, I've cut a few cars up for race cars back in the day. But that was back when you couldn't drive a block without finding a 55. Lippy

 

you cant be serious.....damn!

 

this is an older post. wadja end up doing?

 

Yeah, did you make a decision yet? Maybe these pics will help.

 

Chopped top and Packard taillights. Full 60's custom. Not enough of them. That last brown primered one is pretty badass though.

 

I have to vote no too. I like the car, but no more gassers. They are all looking the same anymore.

 

About the way I feel, too many have already done it.

 

I like the '55's done up as gassers but it's really overplayed. Just Sayin'.

 

Gotta say no to the idea of a '55 Chevy hardtop Gasser. They just don't look right. The sedan "post" cars just lend themselves much better to official Gasser duty. I've also gotta agree about some of the previous statements about just being "gasser'ed out" for the time being. They were the ultimate in cool just a couple of years ago, but now they are just EVERYWHERE. There's at least one at every car show or cruise night these days. Heck, that's part of the reason I got rid of mine. I'll tell you what does look neat though......when you take a car like a '55 hardtop and actually make it look close to stock with original type hubcaps, bench seats, dashes, etc, but having a killer motor, tranny, and rear axle. Think a poor man's version of Jay Leno's '66 Toronado or his mid-50's Buick with the 572. A very similar, less exotic car could be built along the same lines and be a lot of fun!

 

Eh....my vote no. Check out TommyV's for inspiration. I think the hardtops look better as a mild custom or a cruiser. I think the posts make a better gasser/street freak.

Help me out here,....but the hardtops would have been the higher end cars and would have cost more. The lower end cars were more easily available and therefore quicker to be cut up for racing.

I think this is one of the better looking 55 mild customs around right now.

 

thanks dru, if i was to build a gasser it wouldn't be a 55 chevy i would do a HERNY J you can get those cheaper than a chevy anyway

 

my favorite '55 ever!!!!.Im kinda twisted that way,,,,,,,,,,,

 

Don't ruin that hardtop!!!

 

kinda like wide whites and flat black????

 

i say no but I'm building a 1981 rabbit diesel so i may not count

gassers just look dumb when youre not at a drag strip.....

This is also my first post so feel free to discard.....

How often are you at the drag strip btw.......

 

Make a mense : Clone John Rea`s Bad to the bone 55 HT
( pic by Bob McClurg / Brandon )

Klaz

 

How about a nice mild custom treatment???
But leave the bitchin driveline!!!

 

Just do it all ready would you!

 

Well, I have a hardtop with an axle, it's your car man do what you please, I love the 55-57 gassers either way, I have seen 4-doors, hardtops and a buddy of mine is almost done with his 56 Nomad gasser, glass front end, 427 with 2 fours and the thing sits about 3 feet off the ground. I'll see if I can score you some pictures of it. To each there own, Have an OLY and a smile, JOKER JASON.

 

Heres a couple more pictures of some Hardtops, See ya, JOKER JASON.

 

considering it again.

Looking for a project

 

Sorry, this would not run Gas Class. Real Gassers were restricted to crankshaft center lines no more than 24" off the deck among other things. Early gassers had to have functioning accesories like wipers, lights, etc. And they had to have the vestiges of a legit interior with at lest two seats.

Later Gass Class cars were more pure race, but I don't tink they ever lifted the crankshaft rule. Gassers have to have std wheelbase or you're into Altered territory. Race cars are built around rules, not looks.

A street fighter is another deal altogether. There you can build whatever you think will get you a race and a win. All chrome and high roller stuff will not do that. You need to be sneaky on the street to get races you can win. Like building a "small block" that actually runs around 426.

In your case, a stroked 327 with seriously modded heads and a blower will get you some races, but not a lot. If you could hide a big motor inside a 283 block with casting numbers that code out right, that would do it. Or a real 283/301 with a blower might do it?

What era gasser are you going for? Or is it a look? I have no bones about whacking a 2 door. Might be a good looker, but the more power you put into it, they more you'll tweak the body and that will not do anything for it in the long run. Four speed and hard shifts won't help.

I think I'm leaning toward the nice street rod that runs well and looks tame Maybe take it back to the day with some paint mods, pie cut cheaters and the right wheels. Just make sure it really runs

We used to put MG & TR seats in stuff, so buckets are not all that far off.

 

my vote is no,it's to nice to screw with.

 

Man, if that was my car,i would make it a little lower,nice chrome wheels,buff the paint dress the engine,and drive it. I have a gasser.FALFA