GM’s Golden 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air and the Mystery Surrounding the 50-Millionth Vehicle!
Lots of misinformation surrounds GM’s golden Tri-Five, but we have the real story of these cars and the stunning tribute being sold at the Mecum Indy event!
Steven RuppWriterCourtesy GM Media ArchivesPhotographer
This is the story of a historic golden 1955 Chevy that was lost then found. Well, sort of. Like all things in life, this story is more complicated than a catchy headline. The stunning, gold-painted-and-plated 1955 Chevy Bel Air you see here was built through the monumental efforts of a few Tri-Five experts: Joe Whitaker, co-owner of Real Deal Steel in Sanford, Florida; Snodgrass Chevy Restoration in Melbourne, Florida; and Kentucky-based Steve Blades, a Tri-Five enthusiast, owner, restorer, and dedicated historian. The car is cool, but the story behind it is on a whole other level.
What Is the Golden 1955 Chevy and Why Does It Matter?
In 1954, General Motors was getting close to producing its 50-millionth car, so to celebrate, GM promoted the hell out of it. A key part of the promotion was the building of three all-gold 1955 Chevrolet Bel Airs. To put this in perspective, during the '50s, GM sold more vehicles (1,775,000 sold) than Chrysler and Ford combined. GM also decided to build 5,000 gold-painted Bel-Air four-door sedans and ship them to its top 5,000 dealers across the country. The cars were painted gold, but not the custom gold of the three golden display cars, and they had standard chromed parts, whereas the real golden Chevys had hundreds of gold-plated parts!
Used To Promote GM's Historic Production Number
These cars would travel the country to promote GM and be used in print and television ads. The third car built was the actual 50-millionth car and was completed on November 23, 1954. Car number one traveled around and pretended to be the 50-millionth car, and car number two was only used for the body-drop film and nothing else. It also didn’t have any gold parts or other aspects like the custom interior.
What Happened to the Three Golden 1955 Chevys?
Two of the cars (the second and third) simply vanished, and nobody knows where they went. It's possible they could have been crushed after they served their purposes, or maybe they are lurking in a barn someplace. The first car, which was used for the Motorama and other events, was burned in a garage fire and the parts strewn across a property in North Carolina!
We know this through a strange twist of fate and thanks to Real Deal Steel’s (RDS) Joe Whitaker. As Joe explained, “Years ago, someone mentioned that he had the gold wiper arms and blades from the 50 millionth car. I asked him if he wanted to sell them, but the price was ridiculous. He brought them over to our shop, and they were indeed the real things. I took pictures and posted them on my Facebook page.” This led to someone from the Sloan Center telling Whitaker that he knew where the original car was. Whitaker then linked up with Dave Snodgrass of Snodgrass Chevy Restoration, a regular customer of RDS, and the pair set out on their quest.
I’m Going To Rebuild It Someday!
The pair contacted the son of the owner, and they heard the all too familiar line of “It’s not for sale, we’re going to rebuild it someday!” Yeah, sure. Oh, they also found out that the golden ’55 wasn’t even a car any longer, just a collection of burned and rusted leftovers! Whitaker offered $100,000 for the remains, and the owner said “Nope.” “I offered a hundred grand for a pile of crap,” recalled Whitaker. Later, they found out that when GM was finished with the car, it went to a Detroit car lot and eventually to North Carolina where the buyer was going to slice and dice it into a racecar. That didn’t happen, and in 1996, the Chevy was toasted in a garage fire.
Two Cars Vanished and One Sort of Found!
After tons (over 3,000 hours) of archival research, the team figured out that the burned remains were from the first of the three gold 1955 Chevy produced in Flint, Michigan. This is the car that was the most seen by the public, but it wasn’t the actual 50-millionth GM vehicle.
Car Number Two Was Only Used for Assembly Film!
Car number two was produced sometime around October of 1954 and used for a GM movie and some photography before vanishing. Car two was finished but it didn’t get the gold-plated parts, fancy interior, or other bits that cars one and three received. This car has also never been found.
Related: How Did Classic Car Assembly Lines Work in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s?
The REAL 50-millionth GM vehicle!
The third golden 1955 Chevy built was the actual 50-millionth GM vehicle produced. When the golden ’55 was finished, there was a ceremony, and the car was driven onto a parade float for a big deal in Flint and put on display for a few hours. It was never really meant to be driven, and every part, hose, clamp, bracket, even the battery, was painted gold. After the Golden Carnival, it vanished never to be seen again!
We Love It When a Plan Comes Together!
It was now 2022, and GM historian and Tri-Five fanatic Steve Blades entered the picture. Whitaker told Blades about the wiper arms, which Blades eventually bought. Since the owner of the burned-up parts wouldn’t sell anything, the Tri-Five experts decided to build a replica car—but not just any replica. Their plan was for a no-expense-spared build using as many correctly date-coded parts as possible. The tribute is based on the third golden Tri-Five.
Burned-Up Parts Listed for Sale?
One of the sons in North Carolina was offering original Tri-Five parts for sale, and upon inspection, Whitaker bought them for a reasonable sum. It turns out they were the parts from the golden ’55 they had seen years before! Even better, Whitaker was able to find more parts scattered around the property in North Carolina, some still showing signs of gold plating! None of these parts were used on tribute car, but they were used in the car’s show display during the build.
The Project Begins!
This golden tribute '55 Chevy uses a new reproduction body and frame assembled by Real Deal Steel and many original parts supplied by Blades, and the entire car was assembled by Snodgrass Chevy Restorations with the aim of creating a car that was as close to the original as possible.
It’s All About the Date Code!
The '55 uses a 162-hp 265 V-8 engine dated September 1954, a cast-iron 1955 two-speed Powerglide transmission, a radiator dated September 1954, a voltage regulator dated November 1954, Delco front spiral shocks dated October 1954, and a fuel filler neck, one-piece door striker plates, steering wheel, horn ring, heater control, trunkfloor wiring tabs, 12-volt headlights, and the two-piece battery tray that are all specific to October and November 1954 production cars. Even small pieces such as the distributor cap, rotor, and points are NOS.
Details, Details, Details!
No detail was too small to address. For example, the early V-8s had a different oil system, and the golden ’55 would have run this. “Early 265s had a swing-arm oil pump. Instead of the pickup arm being fixed, it floated up and down,” Blades recalled. “They changed it because they were too expensive. I had one, so we put that in the engine. Even the oil pickup is correct to the date of that car.”
Gold, Lots of Gold!
The chassis, running gear, suspension, steering, and body were all painted with 5.5 gallons of Axalta custom-mix Tribute Gold paint, at $350 a quart, while the interior and exterior stainless and chrome parts were plated in 24K gold. Around 150–200 parts were gold-plated for the project!
Special Parts for a Special Car
The interior design was reproduced using NOS materials, and the dashboard, steering column and steering wheel all hail from one of the 5,000 original 1955 Bel Air four-door sedans Chevrolet built to commemorate the 50-million milestone.
And It’s a Winner!
The car publicly debuted at the 71st Annual Detroit Autorama, and the following weekend it competed for the first time at the 61st Annual Chicago World of Wheels, where it won Best in Class Restored, Top Twenty, Outstanding Display, and Best Restored Overall.
Up for Grabs at the 2024 Mecum Auction in Indianapolis, Indiana!
This stunning tribute to GM’s 50-millionth vehicle is being offered for sale (LOT S243) at the 2024 Mecum auction in Indianapolis, Indiana. If you want to see more stunning photos, be sure to visit Mecum’s website.
1955 Golden Chevy Tribute Fast Facts
- October 1954-dated Delco front spiral shocks
- Original front coil springs and rear leaf springs
- Original rear spiral shocks
- Five original riveted 15x5-inch steel wheels
- Five Coker U.S. Royal 6.70-15 tires
- Optional deluxe heater
- Optional electric windshield wiper motor
- Accessory license plate frame
- Accessory under-dash courtesy lights
- Accessory inside day/night mirror
- September 1954-dated radiator
- November 1954-dated voltage regulator
- The fuel filler neck, one-piece door striker plates, steering wheel, horn ring, heater control, trunk floor wiring tabs, 12-volt headlights, and two-piece battery tray are all specific to October/November 1954 production cars
- Most of the interior/exterior stainless pieces are original GM parts
- Electrical switches are early NOS Delco parts
- The dashboard, steering column, and steering wheel are original parts from one of the 5,000 gold 1955 Bel Air four-door sedans built by Chevrolet to commemorate the 50-million milestone
- Titled as 2024 ASPT
Additional photos provided by Joe Whitaker and Steve Blades
How To Watch Mecum Auctions Indianapolis 2024
- Watch live coverage on MotorTrend or stream on MAX / May 15–18 from 12-6 p.m. ET
- Live coverage will simulcast on Discovery / May 18 from 12-2 p.m. ET
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