Bel Air of the Byways

When Dinah Shore first warbled the inviting strains of See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet, the low-priced General Motors division offered only a slightly updated iteration of its pre-World-War-II product, powered by sensible inline-six engines and sporting high, rounded styling that looked comfortable, but hardly thrilling.

The “Motoramic” redesign for 1955 changed all that, however. In keeping with Harley Earl’s commandments, the ’55 models were longer, lower, and wider than their predecessors. The egg-crate grille, cribbed from Pinin Farina designs, was an instant classic, and Americans took to the car in droves, snapping up $2,206 Bel Air hardtops like this to the tune of 185,562 built. General Motors must have known it had a winner in the 1955