aa Chevrolet BelAir 1955 badge
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 2-door hardtop - badge on rear flank
aa Chevrolet BelAir 1955 Sport Coupe badgec
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 Sport Coupe - badge on bonnet
aa Chevrolet BelAir 1956 badgeb
Chevrolet BelAir 1956 2-door Sport Coupe - badge on bonnet
aa Chevrolet BelAir 1957 Coupe badgeb
Chevrolet BelAir 1957 Coupe - boot badge. The large 'V' celebrated the small-block V8 engine available in Chevrolets from 1955.
ab Chevrolet BelAir 1956 4door Sedan ornament
Chevrolet BelAir 1956 4door Sedan - 'jet fighter' ornament above the Chevrolet 'bow tie' badge and the chrome 'V' for V8.
ab Chevrolet BelAir 1957 4door Sedan ornament
Chevrolet BelAir 1957 4door Sedan. A similar hood ornament was given to the British Vauxhall FA Victor
ac Chevrolet BelAir 1955 2-door hardtop head
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 2-door hardtop. The 'egg crate' grille was part of the Carl Renner , but it wasn't liked and in 1956 the from of the BelAir more closely matched its Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac siblings. But the 4340cc small block V8 was liked, especially with fuel injection.
ac Chevrolet BelAir 1956 Sport Coupe head
Chevrolet BelAir 1956 2-door hardtop. The earlier grille had been criticised as 'Ferrari-like', so Clare MacKichan was called back from Europe to give the 1956 BelAir a more typical grille
ac Chevrolet BelAir 1957 Nomad Station Wagon head
Chevrolet BelAir 1957 Nomad Station Wagon. 1957 Chevrolets were again give new grilles, again the work of Clare MacKichan
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 2-door sedan 265 V8 front
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 2-door sedan 265 V8. This 2-door sedan has the optional 4,344cc (265) V8.
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 2-door sedan 265 V8 rear
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 2-door sedan. The 2-door sedan has a b-pillar whereas the Sport Coupe is pillarless. It was the cheapest BelAir model at $1900, compared to a Sport Coupe at $2100. But One-Fifty and Two-Ten Chevrolets used the same bodies and were even cheaper.
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 4-door Sedan front
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 4-door sedan. Nick-named 'The Hot One', the second generation Bel Air was soon given the small-block Chevy V8. The 'Ferrari-like' separate grille was not popular and gave way to a full-width grille for 1956.
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 4-door sedan side
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 4-door sedan. The most popular of all the 1955 BelAirs, 345,372 sold at $1932.
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 Sport Coupe 236 front
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 2-door hardtop. The original BelAir was launched with what was perceived to be a Ferrari-like grille (!?!), but this was altered in 1956. The 2-door hardtop was a popular choice, but there was also 2 and 4-door sedans and an estate car.
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 Sport Coupe 265 V8 front
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 Sport Coupe 265 V8. The BelAir was offered with a 3,859cc (236) 'Blue Flame' straight six, or optionally with the 4,344cc (265) V8 fitted to this example.
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 Sport Coupe 265 V8 rear
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 Sport Coupe. Chevrolet built its 1955 cars on the new 115-inch A-body which was shared with 16 Chevrolet products from the $1600 Chevrolet One-Fifty to the BelAirs which started at $1900 to the Sport Coupe at $2100 and the Nomad Wagon at £2500.
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 Sport Coupe 265 V8 side
Chevrolet BelAir 1955 Sport Coupe 265 V8. The 1955 Chevrolets were built on 115-inch (Pontiacs on 122-inch and 124-inch). Clare MacKichan designed the Sport Coupe.
Chevrolet BelAir 1956 4-door sedan 265 V8 front
Chevrolet BelAir 1956 4-door sedan 265 V8. Given a new grille for 1956 and larger windows, the 1956 BelAir also had the option of the 4,344cc (265) Turbo Fire V8
Chevrolet BelAir 1956 4-door sedan 265 V8 rear
Chevrolet BelAir 1956 4-door sedan 265 V8. For 1956 Chevrolet stayed on 115-inches, but overall length grew by 2-inches, and larger front and rear windscreens were fitted. The 4-door BelAir sedan was the largest seller with 269,798 going out in 1956 at $2200 each.
Chevrolet BelAir 1956 Sport Coupe front
Chevrolet BelAir 1956 2-door hardtop. The 2-door hardtop was a popular body choice with its pillarless window openings. But in 1956 a new Sport Sedan was offered that in effect was a pillarless 4-door hardtop. Buick, Oldsmobile and Pontiac all brought a similar model on this GM A-body
Chevrolet BelAir 1956 Sport Coupe rear
Chevrolet BelAir 1956 2-door hardtop. New rear lamps, changed size treatment were part of the 1956 revamp
Chevrolet BelAir 1957 4-door Sedan front
Chevrolet BelAir 1957 4-door Sedan. The body on this 1957 Bel Air was launched 1955 in 4-door sedan, 2-door Coupe and Convertible. A new body was launched in 1958
Chevrolet BelAir 1957 4-door Sedan rearo
Chevrolet BelAir 1957 4-door Sedan. Distinguishing feature on the 1957 BelAirs was the anodised aluminium flash across the rear flanks, and the new tail lamps below the chromed fin.
Chevrolet BelAir 1957 Nomad Estate rear
Chevrolet BelAir1957 Nomad Estate. Clare MacKichan and Carl Renner were asked by Harley J. Earl to adapt their Corvette-based Motorama 1954 estate car concept to the Chevrolet production models for 1955, and this BelAir Nomad was one of the most striking.
Chevrolet BelAir 1957 Nomad Station Wagon side
Chevrolet BelAir Nomad 1957. This unique 'hardtop' style estate car was created under the direction of Harley J. Earl after the success of the Motorama 1954 Chevrolet Nomad, and designed by Clare MacKichan.
Chevrolet BelAir 1957 Sport Coupe front
Chevrolet BelAir 1957 Sport Coupe. The 'Hot One'. had been given a 4340cc small-block V8 in 1955. For 1957 the engine was bored out to 283cu in and given optional fuel injection to return '1hp per cu.in'
Chevrolet BelAir 1957 Sport Coupe rear
Chevrolet Bel Air 1957 Coupe. The Series II Bel Air was launched in 1955 with new styling by Carl Renner . This Sports Coupe was one of 6 body styles that included 2 and 4-door saloons, an estate, a Nomad estate and a convertible.
Chevrolet BelAir 1957 Sport Coupe side
Chevrolet BelAir 1957 Coupe. The Series II Bel Air was launched in 1955 with new styling and is sometimes called the 'Hot One'. A 4340cc V8 was offered from 1955, and there were restyles in 1956 and 1957 before the Series III was announced.
Chevrolet Belair 1957 Sport Sedan frontr
Chevrolet Belair 1957 Sport Sedan. The 'Sport Sedan' was a 4-door pillarless hardtop. Powered by 4,638cc (283) V8
Chevrolet Belair 1957 Sport Sedan rearr
Chevrolet Belair 1957 Sport Sedan. The Sport Sedan was added to the Belair range in 1956, at the same time as a longer Pontiac Catalina 4-door hardtop. Chevrolet had 115-inches. Pontiac 122-inches (or 124-inches for the Star Chief)
f Chevrolet Bel Air 1957 4door Sedan fin
Chevrolet Bel Air 1957 4door Sedan - rear fin
f Chevrolet BelAir 1957 Sport Coupe fin
Chevrolet BelAir 1957 Coupe. - badge on tail fin
Buick Special 1955 Sedan rear
Buick Special 1955 Sedan. In 1954 GM's B-body cars the Buick Special and Oldsmobile 88 were given a new body which shared glass even if outer panels had brand differences. It is possible that the British Rootes group plagiarised it for what they regarded as the 'British Buick', the Humber Hawk/Humber Super Snipe.
Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday front
Oldsmobile Super 88 Holiday. The pillarless 4-door coupe 'Holiday' model was introduced in 1955 on both the 88 and Super 88 Oldsmobiles. The vertically split grille was given to all 88 and Super 88 models for 1956.
s Pontiac Chieftain Catalina 4-door hardtop 1956 side
Pontiac Chieftain Catalina 4-door hardtop 1956. There was a 2-door Catalina hardtop version of the Chieftain and in 1956 a 4-door Catalina hardtop (this model) was added and shared with the GM A-body cars such as the Buick Century Riviera Sedan, Chevrolet BelAir Sports Sedan and Oldsmobile 88 Holiday Sedan.
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