Commentary by Paul N.
It’s a pleasure to fill in for Patrick Bell today as tri-five Chevys are clearly my favorite domestic cars of the ’50s. I’m guessing I’m not exactly the only one. What made them so popular, then and for seemingly all time? Two really big reasons: compared to the new ’57 cars from Chrysler and Ford, the Chevys were lighter, faster, more economical, and most important of all, vastly better built. The massive quality problems with the Ford and Plymouth made tri-five Chevys hugely popular as used cars for years to come. And of course the go-fast crowd loved them from the day the ’55 V8 first hit the pavement.
This gallery isn’t all tri-fives, but there are several including this very clean ’57 Bel Air V8 2-door sedan. It’s wearing non-stock wheelcovers, and it is obviously someone’s pride and joy.
I’m also a fan of the ’49-’52 model years, especially in the fastback Fleetline body style. This one is a 1950 Fleetline DeLuxe 2-door sedan.
Another 1950, but in this case it’s the new Bel Air hardtop coupe. Aaron just had an in-depth post on that trendsetter here.
This young girl is posing sweetly in front of Dad’s ’52 convertible.
And another ’52, but a Bel Air hardtop again. This was still a stylish car for the times, even if the body was now in its fourth year. And the woman is stylish too; love those striped (or plaid) pants, so nicely color-coordinated with the roof of the Bel Air.
In 1953, the Chevy finally got some new styling, but it was still fundamentally the same body (and car) under the skin. This is a ’53, and I think I can see a bit of the side trim at the rear that indicates it would be a Bel Air 4-door sedan.
This woman exhibits pride of ownership of her ’54 Bel Air 2-door sedan. With the white walls, full wheel covers, and fender skirts, this was as tony as a new Chevy could be. She’s parked in front of a sign for Elder Ranch. The hills suggest California.
Another ’54, but is it a 2-door sedan or the club coupe? It’s a bit hard to tell, but I’m guessing the latter. Looks to be in the rolling wheat fields of Eastern Washington.
My favorite year of them all: 1955. What a clean design, with that Ferrari-style grille. This is another Bel Air hardtop coupe, quite likely sporting the new 265 V8, but it’s not possible to tell from the front. A similar vintage Buick is parked down the street.
This ’55 is a mid-level 210 2-door sedan, in two-tone paint and full wheel covers.
A ’55 210 4-door station wagon sporting a very cheerful two-tone paint job. My friend Mike’s family had one just like this, but in a blue color. it was still going strong in 1965 when I moved away from Iowa. I have happy memories of riding in it to boy scout camping trips and such.
Another ’55, this time a Bel Air convertible, and with the V8. The two small V emblems under the taillights are the tell.
The ’56 is #2 in my preference for tri-fives. Here’s an all-white Bel Air V8 coupe.
I once worked for an elderly couple that had a well-cared ’56 V8 Bel Air V8 sedan just like this in the garage, and a couple of times I was sent out for errands in it. Although it was then 17 years old, it drove beautifully, and would pick up its skirts when asked.
These sedan deliveries were not a common sight by the time I arrived in the US in 1960. This is a ’56, and a V8 at that. It would have been an attractive project car in later years. Folks have a real thing about sedan deliveries.
Someone loves their ’57 Bel Air V8 hardtop coupe, the model style that became an icon. I often see comments wondering why the ’57 Chevy became so iconic, since its styling is not really up to the level of the all-new Chrysler products and the Ford. Well, Chevy had to make do with an old body, so yes, it looks like a ’56 with a bit of gingerbread slathered on. What made the ’57 so iconic is because it was almost instantly recognized as being a better car in so many ways than the competition, especially with that hot new 283 V8. That’s why folks hung on to them, or bought them as used cars: they didn’t turn into creaky, leaky rusty piles of oversize junkers in two or three years. They were durable, and worth fixing up, forever. That’s the reason, not because their styling is so special.
Still my beating heart…a Nomad, a ’57 in this case, and a V8 of course. Did anyone actually buy a Nomad six? I was utterly infatuated with the tri-five Nomads, with the ’55 being the object of my lust. And not just for the usual reasons that I preferred the ’55s; it was the only year Nomad that had those big bold full rear wheel openings. They chickened out on those in ’56 and ’57.
A mildly customized ’58 Bel Air Impala coupe. I have mixed feelings about these; I was somewhat impressed with them, but I also came to realize they were huge, ponderous and heavy compared to the lithe tri-fives. Oh well; nothing stays the same, especially right-sized cars back in the late ’50s.
In 1958, Chevrolet went through one of its repeated cycles of giving its wagons unique names. This looks to be a Brookwood V8, which was analogous to the mid-level Biscayne sedans at the time. The top version got to use the Nomad name, even if it was now just a regular 4-door wagon. The Yeoman was the bottom trim level, analogous to the Del Ray sedans.
The fifties went out with a bang at Chevrolet. The all-new ’58 was replaced by an all-new ’59 after just one year. It now shared its basic body shell with every other GM brand, including Cadillac. The image of Chevy as a cheap smaller car was dead, and a shiny black Impala convertible like this was no longer the mark of a thrifty Chevy six buyer. Style, size, power, flash, wild wings; the ’59 Chevy had it all, and then some.
This ’59 Impala 4-door V8 sedan is sporting a roof top carrier, which looks a wee bit incongruous on such a sleek jet-age car.
Last but not least, we have a low-end ’59 Brookwood six 4-door wagon, but it is sporting a two-tone paint job. Chevy was still catering to the traditional thrifty Chevy six buyer. It could belong to either the mom or the daughter; but I’m going to guess the daughter, as these were popular with young families whose incomes were still a bit modest.
Great photos. My favorite tri-five is the 1956.
Rich, V-8 equipped ‘55’s did not have a “V” on the hood. ‘56 and ‘57’s did. V-8 equipped ‘55’s had two small V-8 badges under the tail lights.
Of course; I spaced that. The text is amended now. Thanks!
I may be a Ford guy, Paul, but this is a really enjoyable assortment to peek through today. Everything from spartan to Nomad, some fully stock, others with personal touches.
Oh, and lots of license plates to help with locations. The tall building in Jopln, MO is still there (“Walter’s Beer” wagon), and this would seem to be the Vernon, TX location—-I’ll guess at least some of the private homes disappeared off this commercial strip (US 287), but this one now holds an insurance agency (below).
Question: reading some period writeup of the ’58 Chevy (Popular Mechanics?), it said that in its grille–with the paired parking lights on both sides–only one in the pair actually lit up. Or maybe only the Impala illuminated both? I’d be happy if someone here could straighten me out.
Thanks again for nice images (the Kodachromes especially) and a great writeup.
Great find – that’s definitely the site in Vernon!
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen them in action, but if memory serves, only the outer front lamps in the grille on the 58 Chevy served as the parking lights and turn signals. The inner lamps were dummies, and this was true across all trim lines.
Great commentary, Paul! Wait a minute! That happy lady in the ’54 Bel Air Two-Door – is she sporting? Yes, she is sporting a fuel fill bright metal half surround. WOW! Love seeing all of these vehicles. Old guys remember these when they were new.
I’ve always wondered if the uniformity of GM’s 59s was their way of compensating for the addition of compacts. The compacts were being planned at that time, and starting in ’60 the different bodies were different sizes, just as the ABC had been different sizes before. Maybe the uniform big cars were meant to start in ’60 but had to start prematurely because the originally planned ’59s were going to be unsalable?
Not really a “59” fan. The black “convert” does “photo” well though.Would like to know the color of the “Nomad”.
I’m going to agree with you that the ’55 is the best of the “tri-5” designs. After that, they kept getting more garish. I’m going even further to say that among the 1955 models, I’d prefer a 150 or 210 over a Bel Air, for the same reasons.
Since I’m a wagon guy at heart, make mine a 150 Handyman 2-door wagon, with V-8 and overdrive… but I wouldn’t turn down a similarly-equipped Sedan Delivery.
My first car was a used ’54 Bel Air 4-dr. It was the best choice available in our small Idaho town, but got me through the last three years of college and beyond. Today, I certainly would not make the 1000 mile round trip through blizzards and storms on walnut-impregnated recap snow tires.
Later in life, my wife’s car was a used ’58 Bel Air. Again, not a great choice aesthetically (or is it?!), but reliable.
Me too on the ’55’s being the best looking Tri – Fives .
I’m still in love with the “Hardtop Convertible” Bel Airs , I can never -quite- decide in I’d want a ’51 or ’54…..
With 6 banger of course ! =8-) .
-Nate
Mike ;
Recaps were always a crap shoot .
I wonder if they’re still being done ? .
-Nate
Keep those photos coming Little Buddy
Cool to see these pictures 🙂 now I wonder if there some plans to show vintage snapshots of Chevrolet pick-up trucks of the 1950s from the “Advance Design” era to the “Task Force” era?
The ’55 & ’56 are my favorites, with an edge to the ’56 mainly because Dad bought a new white & gray ’56 210 4dr sedan at Park Circle Chevrolet that Spring. I was totally obsessed with the gas filler under the L taillight and played with it endlessly. I even have a picture taken by Mom with me on my first 20″ 2 wheeled bike standing at the back of the car looking at that light. To this day that dashboard with it’s 2 big “V” shapes is indelibly imprinted in my brain. That car burned oil almost from the get-go, Dad had chosen the ancient “stovebolt” 6, just like the one in his ’53, instead of Chevy’s great new V8. I think he realized the mistake pretty quickly as during the following year’s Summer he bought a used demonstrator ’57 Ford Country Sedan from a dealer in Belair MD. I clearly remember hearing that silly song “Flying Purple People Eater” while riding in that car. It ran great despite the 312 V8 eating up it’s dual exhausts on a regular basis, and he kept that wagon for 3 more years.
I have owned a 1955 2 door wagon 150 series handyman since 1967. I’m saving for my grandson it’s going to need work since it hasn’t run in 35 years. Nice job on tri five pictures
Beautiful collection of images and commentary. Hard to deliver more realism, capturing the essence of these classic Chevys. Amazing work!