The previous two issues of Old Cars covered the development of the 1955 Chevrolet chassis and small-block V-8. Part three concludes with the design story of the iconic car.
An all-new body design was in the works concurrently with the Chevrolet’s new engine and chassis. Three years were expended in the 1955 Chevrolet design, and it was a major achievement in automotive history owing to all the features included in what was classed as a low-priced car. The introduction to the 1955 Chevrolet “Fingertip Facts” informational book for dealers said of the new car, “It’s a completely new concept of low-cost motoring — without parallel in automotive history. Starting with a clean slate, Chevrolet first found out, through exhaustive research, exactly what people want in a car of lowest cost; then developed—in one compact design —values that exceeded people’s greatest expectations of a car of Chevrolet’s
