History 1955 Chevrolet Biscayne

In that side profile, I see a lot of early Corvair ...

 

Staggering difference from a 6 year old 1949 Chevy for example. Only Stude & Ford had anything close at that time. Beautiful car!

 

For sure. Especially the windshield and rear end treatment. From having been around a number of GM concept cars, I am always amazed to pick out certain styling aspects that were 3-5 years ahead of their time, and how those ideas eventually worked their way into production models.

 

I've always liked this car, but I think I'd like it even more if the headlights were hidden behind the front fender pods like a '65 Riviera. Obviously I'd never modify the original. But if I were building a clone, I think I might at least make 2 hoods. Everything else, I really like as-is.

 

Amazing the amount of detail that was incorporated into this very cool, concept car.
I love everything about this particular design.
Even the radical, combination, jumping spider/bug eyed sprite/veg-o-matic/friendly Frankenstine front grille work, is very appealing!
The longer you look at it, the more beautiful it is!
What a shame, that GM didn't put this concept, into production!

 

So much stuff seems to come off this car over the next decade or was at least inspired by it.

The side coves for the upcoming Corvette refresh (although flipped), the tail foreshadows the Corvair, the windshield is what was coming in 1959. The bucket seats are like what we would see in Impala's in 62. The dash has lot of cues what will come in 58.

Just shows though how far ahead design is with ideas compared to where actual production is.

 

There is so much early Corvair in there. It's what I assume the Corvair might have been if Ed Cole decided to make it a luxury car instead of an economy car.

I have never seen this one before, so thanks for sharing it. It is a beautiful concept car!

 

Opinions are like...everyone has their own opinion and to me this ones buttugly! I much prefer the '55 Chrysler Ghia Falcon and the GM Futureliner bus. I actually met Joe at one of his night clubs in Illinois back in the mid-'80's when I lived there. Unfortunately I really didn't get to know him but I do remember the disc jockey spinning records from the front of a '55 Chevy and he also had couches made from the rear ends of a'57 Chevy and a '60 Caddy with the huge tail fins. I still have the satin baseball jacket he gave me with the '57 on the back and the list of the half dozen Blue Suede Shoes clubs he had. Those were the days!

 

After several minutes of viewing the side coves are still making me think the car's front is the rear.

Maybe just because I've been looking at Corvettes and Studebaker Hawks and Lincolns for decades.

I wonder how I'll feel about the Biscayne in 2064.

 

I like it. Some incredible talent back then. I thought the faded hood ornament/plaque looked out of place, being faded/dull. Looking more closely, I noticed some fleur-de-lis. What’s the significance of the fleur-de-lis on the Chevrolet plaque?

 

The back looks more like a 61-67 Vette than any other car, eh?

 

I wonder if they had an early 1950s Jensen floating around when they designed that.

 

Back in the nineties, I heard some old GM concept cars were found at Warhoop’s Auto Parts. The yard is/was located about seven miles north of the GM Tech Center. The story goes someone sent them to Warhoop’s for scrapping, but the owner stashed them in the yard somewhere out of the public view.

 

https://www.motortrend.com/news/photos-of-gm-concept-cars-in-scrapyard-134492/

 

Beautiful car. Lots of styling details used in later GM stuff. Did any other idea car from GM have rear suicide doors?

All that good stuff, then they used the name on the cheapest car line Chevy offered in later years!

 

Had to Google him. Had no idea. Seems even the origins of the Chevrolet symbol is somewhat lost to history.

 

Louis Chevrolet was born in Switzerland.
The fleur-de-lis emblems on Chevrolets is a representation for GM of Canada division... According to literature on Chevrolet history.

 

Interesting that now, in my mind “Biscayne” is synonymous with the plain Jane simple Susie model that it eventually became in the Chevrolet lineup.

 

I just love to watch and listen to the video. The music, the models, the voice is so 50's really cool as I remember this. My dad always took us to the Chicago Auto Show each year to see the new cars. It was very formal in those days you can see everyone is dressed up. I grew up in South Bend In. so only 96 miles to Chi Town. The lady across the street from us was the secretary to the President of Studebaker so she sometimes drove new models home and to work. My neighbor two door east was President of Mercedes North America. He came home one day with a silver, red leather Gull Wing SL that had been Clark Gables "Free CAR" until he passed away. Cool memories from days gone by.
Woody

 

Here is the car at Warhoops:

 

We're talking about a time I loved,mid 1950s,**> Just a few blocks down the street from my home,a short bike ride for us car crazy teens.., Coconut Grove Florida was the big Dinner Key Auditorium,,This giant place,had been not long before,a huge seaplane base.
In the mid 50s in became for two years, in a row>" General Motors' Motorama show at Dinner Key Auditorium"

We had 14 teen car crazy guys,all lived with in a 5 block great neighborhood ,and groups of us got together nearly every day to go to the big show the hole time it was open both years. To us it was max fun,an free.
It was a little updated the next year,with extra cool stuff added.

GM did not have the show there a 3rd time,but there were big car shows done every year after anyway by promotors. About 2 to 3 a year,one would be for all the new car models*{ All the Miami Car Dealers*,and other shows for rod and customs. By 59 I had my hotrod in my first show,then 1960,I had my own full custom "J" in it's first show there.
Yes,Dinner Key was a very big deal in deed.

 

LOVE the car but agree on the butterface. It's as if Ed Cole & Co. took care of the design work from the cowl-aft and brought in Nash/Healy designers to do the front end 'frog face' with Buick teeth.

• Are their alternate design drawings with a different front end?
• A 2door version?
• I wonder how GM felt about Warhoops 'breach of contract' (even though the GM rep signed off on the cars' destruction) when the cars surfaced and were sold to Bortz? (i'm elated to see the cars' survive!
• Dig the 3/4 rearview. I have to think it may have inspired the wheel well/quarter/taillight work on his Mystery Ford, 51 Victoria Custom...

 

Damn! I recognize those taillights of the car underneath it. Can’t remember much of yesterday, but knew instantly what it was.

 

Many years back I read about how the (Chevrolet) bowtie originated, don't quote me but goes something like............
Louis was staying in a hotel somewhere and there was a torn piece of wallpaper hanging loose on the wall in his room, seems he had been struggling to come up with a logo for his company and when he saw the shape of that piece of wallpaper, he had a "lightbulb moment", maybe I dreamt it!