pbbell56000 found this fine old ’56 Bel Air sedan for sale somewhere in Texas, and it is really loaded. Take a look:
“with 3 Speed And Auto.” Wow; my dream V8 Chevy; I can shift it manually when I’m in the mood to step out, or engage the Powerglide when I’m feeling lazy. Or maybe both simultaneously? One could have some fun with this. And only $2,950.
Hudson did have 3-speed AND auto for a while, with a pushbutton choice.
I suppose this seller means that both trannies are included in the parts box.
My thought exactly, one transmission is behind the engine under the tunnel and the other is in the trunk.
Had me at factory air. What’s the deal with the fender mounted mirrors? The one on the right looks like it has a great view of the radio antenna. The factory mirror was door mounted, and driver’s side only.
JC Whitney mirrors? Most likely just incorrectly placed. By all appearances, an outside mirror on the driver’s door was an aftermarket accessory as per Chevrolet’s accessory guide, let alone a passenger side mirror. Plus none of the cars in the brochures have mirrors!
http://www.oldcarbrochures.org/United%20States/Chevrolet/1956-Chevrolet/1956-Chevrolet-Accessories-Brochure/index.html
For what it’s worth, my old ’62 Galaxie had no exterior mirrors and my ’63 only has one – and it’s about worthless for visibility.
In 1964, my father bought a ’61 Pontiac Laurentian with the exact same pair of side view mirrors, also front fender mounted. The car was from Winnipeg but ended up in BC. The car was probably sans-mirrors at the dealership but some provinces required them by law. Why on the fenders? This was the period where some upscale makes had them on the fenders, some on the door(s). Why two? Like exhaust pipes, aren’t two better than one? DeLuxe, no? By 1967-68, the factories had them standardized to the doors.
Sounds like one tranny is in the trunk or on the floor. Those Saginaw 3-speeds were mighty small. If the floor is solid it’s well worth $2950.
Snap it up quick. Richard Rawlings from Gas Monkey fame won’t want it as its four door, Ah!. How much are 57s going these days.
My 59 Plymouth Fury mounted its factory mirror out on the fender like that, to be viewed through the windshield. It even had a remote control cable. And a field of vision about the size of a postage stamp. Those old mirrors were pretty useless once they got more than about 18 inches from the driver’s eyes.
A lot of JDM cars had their right side mirrors way out there in that useless location. If a car had a mirror on that side, was that location mandatory?
Japan had (maybe still has, don’t know) rule that the outside mirrors were visible from a wiped part of the windshield.
Early sixties Olds, Pontiac and Buick had their manual rear view mirror on the door, which offered excellent vision to the rear. Curiously, the optional remote controlled mirror was mounted down on the fender, rendering it basically useless. Chevy and Cadillac had both versions on the door. Why the differences? Just weird. Kind of like why some GM vehicles of this era had parallel action wipers and some opposing.
I recently saw a 1951 Ford F6 for sale. Just like this car it had a rare feature in that it was advertised as having a “double clutch system”. Wow!
At the Canfield, Ohio swap meet there was always a ’56 Chevy 4 door sedan that had been converted over to a two door sedan on the drivers side.
It was nicely done and caused many a double take.
As it turns out, if you have the correct doors, and “B” pillar section it’s not too hard of a conversion.
But, it can also be done using 4 door only parts.
It’s a not too uncommon conversion, so beware if you’re purchasing a tri-five Chevy !
As 4 doors have lost their stigma as time has passed, many people are just as happy with a 4 door though.
“Factory air, V8, and automatic. Some rust”
“Ran when parked”.
Coincidentally, I had just finished re-reading Tom Halter’s entry about a fully-restored, fully-loaded 1956 Chevrolet with factory air. Anyone with 2 1/2 years and deep pockets, to restore this one?
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cold-comfort/cold-comfort-worlds-most-optioned-1956-chevrolet-bel-air/
My father’s first new car he ever bought was a ’56 BelAir, in this same aqua and white two-tone paint scheme. The Chicago winters were not kind to it. I can remember when we moved to the suburbs in 1960, the rear fenders had big rust holes all the way through. I didn’t think that was unusual at the time (I was 4 years old), but that was a lot of rust for a 4 year old car.
These and other cars of the era were terrible rusters in the snow belt. Fender eyebrows, lower fender sections, rockers, quarters, floors, trunks, everything but the roof!
While in high school I worked part time in an auto repair shop.
They had hundreds of Schott repair panels (made in Akron Ohio) in their inventory for these and every other American made car.
Schotts must have made a fortune back then!
Yes, the same in Vancouver, BC. They salted the streets relentlessly in the winters. Not many cars survived without the steel cancer. I recall in the ’70s, ’55-57 Chevies, along with other ’50s cars, with holey, rotten rocker panels and fenders. Pickup trucks from the ’60s and ’70s could barely survive 10 years.
IIRC, from a series posted here on automotive AC, these were the first Chevys to offer AC integrated in the dash.
I would’ve liked to see an interior shot to know if it’s really “factory AC”, or just a hang-on unit.
Happy Motoring, Mark
$2,850, stick some stamps on it I’ll take it that car even as a non runner is 30K all day long here and people will beat each other up getting to it, 265 manual three speed was top of the range here we only got four door the only kind thats more valuable is a RHD new Kiwis love shoeboxes.
Got a 55 Bel Air Hard top. Talk to me if your price is right.
Robert in Texas
Got a 55 Bel Air Hardtop. 265 V8 3 speed manual. Contact me if your price is right.
Robert in Texas
Most likely it is a 3 and over.
“Well it does…
I meant 3-speed heater blower”
They did offer a 3 speed with overdrive where the overdrive shifted in an out like an automatic. I have one
Gm did offer a 3 speed with overdrive where the overdrive shifted in an out like an automatic. I have one