I love it, perfectly understated ‘56 hot rod! There used to be a lot of them back when I was a kid! Thanks for posting it.
^^^^ Not every old car needs to be dragging the ground like the springs broke, especially ones that get driven daily. I think it looks just fine, especially for the period. Not the most flattering camera angle though.
Those wheels and tires look great, and would be pretty cheap to replicate. The modern smoothie style wheels try to replicate it but they just don't give the same look.
That same 56 messed me up as a kid too, its just so simple and tough with the rake and crude flames and all business steelies. It still pops into my head when i think of how many cool ways there are to build a tri 5.
That dude was on the HAMB back then. Killer car. Far more common of a style (sans flames) in my dads era of the 60s that a gasser or kustom Tri 5. I built my 54 in the same manner.
My great grandfather had purchased a new '56 four door, straight six, three on tree..black. It was still in great running condition around '70 when I came around, from the bowtie turn indicators on dash, the smell of the mohair...that neatgas filler in tailight, loved that car. Always have a soft spot for '56's. This particular one, PHR April '65, stands out as distinct to me. Wish I could scan the feature!
I also feel the same about them, but I also really like the red one with flames and remember the issue of the magazine as well. I started piecing together my pick up around that time. I wonder if those pages are still staple gunned to my parents garage walls.
Back in 1984 I paid the princely sum of $3600 for this 210 Sport Coupe. I was nineteen. The first time I went to the gas station I couldn’t find the filler. Had to use a pay phone and call the guy I bought it from. He told me he knew I would be calling him. A month later I cut two coils out of the front and installed 3” blocks in the back. I wanted to run spider caps on those rims but couldn’t find any - they didn’t make repos back then. One night my friend and I put on a set of wires with 185 radials. The car had a 235, a power glide, and power brakes. Being young, I yanked the engine and trans out one July evening in preparation for a V8 swap. Being stupid, I left a thinner soaked rag on the garage floor. Being the desert in July, the garage burnt to the ground and the car was destroyed. I only had it for 3 months but that car changed my life. I’ll never forget it.
Had one, too; IDENTICAL to ...Bob's, back in '64. (Made my ticker skip a beat when I saw it here!) Actually, we had 3 during that period; folks each had a wagon; Dads was a nifty Co. car, a 9 pass. Belair w/ P.P. mtr. He drove it 10 years. Traded mine for a '59 Impala convert. B-o-a-t, my buddies called it......but Chicks were becoming more important!
Hello, It must be a local thing. Our So Cal local drive-in hot spots for years on end were inundated with convertibles. But, they were popular in the homecoming parades around the stadium running track to showcase the school year’s newest homecoming queen. Those convertibles usually came from the families, with a few from the local auto dealers near our school. One of our friend’s dad owned an Oldsmobile dealership and there was always an Oldsmobile convertible in those homecoming parades. The thing was, convertibles were loaded with teenage girls cruising into and around the drive-in circuit. They were the big things, other than a hot rod making some big noises, while going through the parking lots. The parking lot back rows were usually the place for the hot rods and cruisers. The front row was perfect for the girls in the top down convertibles. When they used to come into the driveway and continued to the exit, there were plenty of hoots and hollers from the back row hot rod guys. The teenage rancor against convertibles was evident, but not when a car load of teenage girls we knew came in and parked for their evening snack meal. Then sometimes, the convertibles were the center of attraction, but just for a few moments. If a new hot rod rolled in while the banter was going on between the girls in the convertible and a few guys, the attention was immediately turned to the hot rod, making the scene. In the prior years of Bixby Knolls lore, there were a lot of 55-57 Chevy sedans. by the time our era was doing its thing, we had one 55 Chevy sedan, a 56 mild custom with all white tuck and roll, chrome rims and a nice silver paint, and a 1957 powerful 283 dual quad Chevy Bel Air hardtop. Plus, there were a few non Chevys in the mix. A 40 Ford Buick powered sedan, a 46 Ford two door coupe with a 283 motor and full white tuck and roll, a funky 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, a couple of Pontiac sedans (one old, one new) all made the variety happening. There was even a custom 53 Chevy Bel Air custom was distinct with a custom green paint, all white tuck and roll and chrome rims, too. It was one of those customs and not a drag racing car. In our final summer of cruising, a red 55 Nomad made the scene. But, no convertibles, except for the ones our friends borrowed from their parents. If we go back a few graduating classes, there were the historic tales of Tom McEwen’s string of a fast 55 Chevy sedan, a faster 56 Chevy two door sedan and finally his fastest 57 Chevy sedan all believed to be “stock” from the factory. Everyone laughed at that good tale. But, in this group, there was a green and white 56 Chevy Bel Air Hardtop Sedan with a big 301 motor that ruled the local highways for quite some time. So, even the older group did not have hot rod convertibles. 56 Bel Air Hardtop at Lion’s Dragstrip Jnaki Every time that cool turquoise and white 56 Bel Air hardtop came rolling onto our driveway, it was a car of a young kid’s dreams. It was fast and looked so cool. While parked in our driveway, all of the windows were rolled down and it just looked like a show car, glistening in the sun. As I got to know the 56 Bel Air Hardtop better, rumors started flying about how fast it was and seemed to be a lot faster than last month. The rumor was that since we all knew he had a 301 c.i. motor, he had been out of commission for a spell. A new Reath Automotive 352 c.i. motor was supposedly sitting in the engine compartment. What? a ½ inch Stroker Kit from Reath? We never found out to quell the rumors… There is something to be said about anyone modifying any car to be different or stand out among all of the standard two door sedans or older hot rods. That is why no two cars looked alike and we all grew up driving different versions of our own choosing. All types, except for a convertible. Perhaps it was the danger we learned in those Driver Education classes about the roll over factor and nothing above our heads to protect us. It was a long time ago for everyone.
This looks like a photo from the early sixty's.. This is one of the most perfect examples of how a 50s car looked back in those times..
I began my interest in cars by swapping DeSoto hemis into Henry Js and mid-'50s Fords. in the early '60s. Following 1st tour of duty (USMC), I discovered '55 Chevy business coupes and that was my thing until I reenlisted 8 years later (Navy that time). Built 4 of them and swapped everything from small block and big block Chevy engines to a 413 Dodge police interceptor into them. The one below began life as a 210 2dr sedan. I converted it to business coupe spec with solid mounted rear quarter windows. The '55 body had been wrecked and I set it onto a '56 station wagon frame and replaced drivers door and most of the front sheet metal (yes, 1 side of the A-frame I hung my come-along onto was an oak tree)...... I bought a '65 GTO ragtop and drove that when we were in port. After about 18 months, my goat was totalled in the base parking lot by some idiots smoking dope in a '66 Mustang. So I pulled the low mileage later model 400 Pontiac engine and Muncie 4-speed and a few other parts. Junked what was left of the goat and stored the parts in the Auto Hobby Shop on base. When we were in port, I put 3" X 5" cards on the windshield of anything in the parking lot I thought I might be able to swap the Poncho mill into. After a few months, a guy who was getting short told me he had a car stored long term behind the Auto Hobby Shop and we went to look at it. It was a black '56 Chevy. Registration indicated it had last run 12 years before. Body was straight and rust free. Original black paint, blown up 327 with rod hanging out the side of the block and intake/carb long gone. B&M hydro in unknown condition. '56 rearend had twisted right-hand axleshaft and that wheel wobbled. So we worked out a deal and I gave him $175 bucks for it. Over the following 9 months, built up the '74 400 engine ('68 428 cop car heads and intake initially and a Sig Erson cam) and swapped it into the Chevy. Had it running in 1978 and by 1979, had built a Holley tri-power using a '66 GTO iron intake, added a huge crossflow desert cooler radiator and shrouding, rebuilt the Muncie 4-speed and swapped in a '69 Camaro SS396 12-bolt rearend. Rebuilt brakes and added radial tuned shocks and G-60 15 radials on optional Chevelle chrome wheels I found at the swap meet in San Diego. Also adapted a 1-1/4" TransAm Firebird front anti-sway bar and a '79 Cordoba rear bar. Handled really well. Here are a few pics of the '56. Never painted it and kept the body stock. Just did what I could afford to make it run better...... Love the '56s...... Harry
Number one, the shiny silver hubcaps seemed to visually lighten the Matador Red color of the car, emphasizing the “orange”. I didn’t like that. Then I had one come off while driving. They were repro hubcaps (I couldn’t afford good real ones). They were very hard to install on my wheels without damaging the outer surface of the hubcaps. I’ve always liked the idea of adding a little Corvette flavor to a hot rod of the early 60s like valve covers, steering wheel, hubcaps. Found a picture…..
Hello, For all of the time I have known this 56 Chevy and its owner, there were facts and innuendos about the build. He was a friend of my brother and I heard all of the rumors about the 56 Chevy. The stock 265 was bored over to a 283, then a new 283 bored to a 301, and finally, the 283 block was stroked to 352, etc. All rumors, as the Chevy did disappear for a couple of weeks between the rumors. It was faster than most Chevy 265/283 stick shift sedans. (It was during the era just past Tom McEwen's run of his 55, 56, 57 Chevy Sedans in Bixby Knolls. ) Then when it was a 283, it was very fast. But the 301 version was almost too fast. Nothing came close to beating this green and white 56 Bel Air sedan. My brother’s thoughts were that it was definitely a 301, but, the build, if there was one, was very secretive. Jnaki When it was rumored that it now had a Reath Automotive crank to make it into a 352, everyone was impressed. But the owner, just smiled and left others behind. So, all of these years later, the older owner still proclaims… "we will just have to see." But, in looking at the film that I took, I have been trying to get a read on the white shoe polish designation on the rear driver’s side window. Does it say a number on the top with a slash and … C/Gas or C/Stock? The 283 was not stock, but could have been in C/Gas. The 301 definitely not stock, but the tech committee would not know unless there was a protest. So, it could have run in C/Stock and no one would know. But, knowing that truth sounds good, competitive C/Gas sounds better for a 301 C.I. 56 Chevy sedan. So, where would a 352 c.i. Chevy motor in this cool 56 Chevy Bel Air fall as per designated class? Besides on Cherry Avenue in Bixby Knolls? 1956 Bel Air Sedan
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