Car of the Week: Lost 50 Millionth GM, 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air tribute
All that glitters is gold; such is the case of this painstakingly recreated 50 Millionth GM, gold plated 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air that has been lost to history.
STORY BY DAVE DOUCETTE
In the magic land of “Tri-Five” Chevys, there exists a mystical unicorn. Unless you were alive in 1954 and lived in Flint, Mich., you never saw that unicorn, and you may not even know it existed.
But it did for one day that November when General Motors celebrated the production of its 50 millionth car—a one-of-a-kind gold ’55 Chevy Bel Air Sport Coupe (two-door hardtop). The utterly gold car—with almost everything painted a special gold paint, more than 600 pieces of it gold plated and with seats covered in a special gold-laced fabric—rolled off the assembly line and onto a float that starred in a massive parade in downtown Flint. Then it disappeared.
Of the nearly five million 1955-1957 Chevrolets produced during the “Tri-Five” era, this is the mystery that has remained unsolved in the nearly 70 years since that celebration in Flint. No one has since claimed seeing the car in all of its golden glory, nor has anyone come forward as its owner. But for a phone call several years to Joe Whitaker, co-owner of Real Deal Steel and a long-time Tri-Five Chevy specialist, that puzzle would remain unsolved.
That call generated a string of discoveries: First, the original gold car remains missing. Second, there were actually three special gold ’55s produced, not just one. And third, while cars two and three disappeared, the first gold ’55 survived, passing through several owners before ending up in burned pieces in North Carolina.
And the subject of this significant call? The caller told Joe that he had a pair of Trico gold wiper arms and blades that were produced for the gold ’55, complete with a corporate shop order that confirmed the pieces were made for the 50th Millionth GM car. The owner was willing to part with them, but at a high price that Joe wasn’t interested in paying at the time.
Joe posted a photo of the gold blades on social media, which prompted a call from someone who said he knew the location of the original car’s remains. After that call, Joe discussed this discovery with Dave Snodgrass of Snodgrass Chevy restoration in Melbourne, Fla.
“If there was ever a million-dollar Tri-Five Chevy, it would be this gold car,” Joe told Dave at the time. They agreed that pursuing the North Carolina lead was worthwhile.
Joe found the family in North Carolina that owned the car, only to learn that it had burned years before and was scattered in pieces around their property. Joe eventually bought the remnants, but there was not enough to restore.
“It’s rather a miracle, because we entered the project not thinking that we’d get anything from the original Motorama car,” Joe says. “To wind up with much of the remnants of the original car is amazing.”
By 2022, Joe became friends with Steve Blades of Kentucky, who knows as much as anyone about Tri-Five Chevys. Joe, Dave and Steve decided that, since the original car no longer existed, why not build a replica, a tribute car, using a new Real Deal Steel body?
In early 2024, that tribute car was completed. But, along the way, the story of the 50th Millionth GM car took its share of twists and turns. The big discovery—a big one—is that there were actually three gold ’55s built. The first, of which the remains were found in North Carolina, was actually produced before the actual 50 millionth car, because it was needed for promotional uses and materials and is known as the Motorama car. This car was produced with the custom paint and the hundreds of gold-plated pieces. The second car—apparently less decorated and gone without a trace—was produced to generate a film of it going down the production line. The third car—that real 50 millionth car—rolled down the line in Flint on Nov. 23, 1954—the day GM held a huge celebration throughout Flint and at its assembly plants across the country on the occasion of its 50 millionth car being built.
There is essentially no GM documentation on the three cars. Joe and Steve worked with GM archivists to find any trace of the cars, but the general consensus is that the North Carolina car is the first, the second was probably repainted and sold, and the actual 50 millionth car just evaporated.
The new car is based on the history of the actual 50 millionth car (the third car). Thanks to the efforts of Real Deal Steel, Snodgrass Chevy Restoration and a group of restoration industry suppliers, the tribute car is a spectacular finished product, recreated to a much higher quality that what could have come off a mass-production assembly line during the 1950s.
The tribute car is a mix of reproduction parts and used pieces from people such as Steve, who provided several date-coded parts from his collection, including the engine, transmission and various suspension parts. He was even able to locate a set of NOS AC spark plugs correct for the ’55 Chevy (a different plug was used in succeeding years).
Golden Star Classic Auto Parts supplied the sheet metal components that were assembled by Real Deal Steel. Shafer’s Classic Reproductions provided brake lines, fuel lines, exhaust and other engine compartment pieces. American Autowire supplied the wiring system. Auto City Classic provided all the glass, as well as the chrome metal frames. Gene Smith Parts provided the grille, grille surround and other chrome items.
The original gold ‘55s used a one-off fabric insert on the seats. Ciadella Interiors was able to source NOS vinyl and fabric to completely upholster the interior of the tribute car.
All of these components were expertly assembled by the team at Snodgrass Chevy Restoration, which spent at least 1,800 hours creating the tribute Bel Air. As part of that process, the car was assembled, checked for fit and disassembled multiple times during the body-prep work.
“You have to fit every piece,” Dave Snodgrass says. “You can’t take anything and expect it to fit the way you want it to fit.”
The gold paint on the original car was a custom blend, not a standard GM production color. The recreation team tested various shades of gold (good quality color images from 1954 are rare) before settling on the correct shade. Once the body was ready for paint, five coats of basecoat were applied, followed by four coats of clear. Then, of course, hours of wet sanding and buffing.
Axalta paint was used – five-and-a-half gallons of gold – at a cost of $350 a quart. Add the costs of primer, sealer, clear, etc., plus the labor, and you have an idea of the cost of this type of paint job.
Another critical element of the build involved gold-plating more than 600 pieces of trim, handles, switches, nuts, bolts and screws. A Southern California Chevy enthusiast who also has a gold-plating operation performed the tedious work of applying the 24-karat gold.
Omar Asad said the work took him and his cousin, Nader Suliman, three weeks of 12-hour days to apply the gold, which comes in liquid form at a cost of $5,000 a gallon.
Much of the detail work on the car is subtle, but critical to creating a true representation of the original 50 Millionth GM car. For example, early-1955 production cars used a radiator support that was later changed to what is seen on almost all ’55 Chevys. Randy Irwin, a co-owner at Real Deal Steel, recreated that early version using historic photos as a guide.
During the installation of the exhaust system, the end of the tailpipe was trimmed to match the original work. And, one engine component won’t be seen but it adds to the authenticity. The early 265-cubic-inch V8s that were introduced in the 1955 Chevys had a swing-arm oil pickup that floated up and down rather than being fixed. They were soon replaced with a fixed pickup to cut costs.
“I had one so we put that in the engine,” Steve Blades says. “Even the oil pickup is correct to the date of the car.”
The tribute ’55 debuted at the Detroit Autorama in early March where it was displayed with several pieces of the original car number one as well as memorabilia surrounding the 50 millionth car celebration. The Chevy will be displayed at various automotive events throughout this year.
A Facebook group – 1955 Chevrolet 50,000,000th GM Gold Cars – has more background on this project and will promote the car’s upcoming appearances.
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