SOLD-SOLD-SOLD. THIS GORGEOUS CHEVY SOLD TO HOBE SOUND / PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL

1956 CHEVROLET BEL AIR "RETRO-MOD" 2-DOOR SEDAN

WE ORIGINALLY FOUND THIS CAR UNDER ACQUISITION ORDER FROM A REGULAR 2X CUSTOMER AND HAD THE CAHNCE TO BUY IT BACK ON TRADE FOR A MID-YEAR VETTE. SO, IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A RETRO-MOD, YOU'LL LOOK LONG AND HARD TO FIND ONE THIS NICE. IT HAS TO BE ONE OF THE BEST OUT THERE ON THE MARKET.    FOR STARTERS; CHEVROLET BUILT 1,574,740 CHEVROLETS IN 1956 BUT, ONLY 104,849 'BEL AIR' TWO-DOOR SEDANS SO, YOUR'E TALKING LESS THAN 10% OF PRODUCTION. THEN TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION IT IS 55 YEARS OLD AND YOU REALIZE WHAT A PRIZE SHE IS!   IT IS FINISHED IN IT'S ORIGINAL " INDIGO WHITE" OVER "PINECREST GREEN" WITH TWO-TONE INTERIOR IN GREEN & WHITE CLOTH & ULTRA-LEATHER. IT IS THE MOST ANAL BUILT RETRO MOD 's WE'VE COME ACROSS IN MONTHS OF SEARCHING. INCREDIBLE DETAIL WAS SPENT ON EVERY DETAIL INCLUDING NOT ONLY SIGNIFICANT MECHANICAL PARTS BUT, DOWN TO REPLACING THE SMALLEST RUBBER PIECES, EVEN SMALL BADGES WITH NEW-OLD-STOCK, PERFECT 'SHOW' CHROME, STAINLESS, GLASS, AND EVEN ENGINE BAY 'LED' LIGHTS. IT CARRIES A VORTECH 350 V8 "BUILT' WITH HEADERS , ROLLER ROCKERS AND CAM, MALLORY IGNITION, 600CFM CARB AND MUCH MORE. ....PLUS, A NEW 700R 4-SPEED CORVETTE TRANSMISSION  WHICH WAS JUST ADDED, IT CARRIES A 3:55 REAR LIKE A CHAMP. INSIDE ALL NEW CUSTOM INTERIOR WITH THE ORIGINAL MINT '56 CHEVY STEERING WHEEL, CUSTOM "CLASSIC" GUAGES AND "IDIDIT" CHROME TILT STEERING COLUMN. 17 X 8" CHROME WHEELS ARE BY AMERICAN RACING. AIR CONDITIONING WAS DONE BY THE HIGHLY RESPECTED VINTAGE A.C. IN TAMPA.  THE CAR IS BURSTING WITH EXTRA'S LIKE , MALLORY IGNITION, FULL WINDOW TINT, 10K TACH, FULL NEW WIRING HARNESS W/ FUSE BOX, DOOR HANDLE GUARDS, CUSTOM BLUE DOT TAIL LIGHTS, '1st CABIN' BASE COAT / CLEAR COAT PAINT W/ ALL NEW RUBBER KIT, ALL POLISHED STAINLESS, FULL BILLET ENGINE BAY, POWER ASSIST FRONT DISC BRAKES AND DRUM REAR. THE UNDERCARRIAGE IS CONCOURS CONDITON -FULLY REFINISHED WITH NEW SWAY BARS ADDED FRONT & REAR. THE RESTORATION HAS SEEN ONLY 8,532 MILES WHILE THE ENGINE ITSELF ONLY CARRIES 4,102 MILES. A MAGNET TEST OF THE ENTIRE BODY GAVE THE CAR A GREEN PASS  WITH ONLY ONE TINY 2"SECTION OF FILLER DETECTED TESTIFYING TO ANOTHER GREAT TENNESSEE CAR.  MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL AND QUALITY OF THIS RESTORATION PLACES THIS CAR IN THE TOP OF IT'S GAME. A $58,000 'STEAL' + ADDED POWER STEERING, NEW ALUMINUM RADIATOR, 74" SEATBELTS AND RE-ENGINEERED THE ENGINE MOUNTS!!

THE STORY:

1956 was a Great Year to be reaching maturity. Elvis Presley was just starting his career. Little Richard 'wowed' them in Concert and Jerry Lee Lewis would soon follow with "Great Balls of Fire". Who could ever forget Elvis crooning "Don't Be Cruel" or the 45 r.p.m. B-side "Hound Dog". By the time he signed with RCA and released "Heartbreak Hotel" he would score TEN Top 20 Hits by the end of this year. Not since Frank Sinatra would an artist cause such hysteria with females and males alike . 'Silver hairs' spoke of him as "talentless and obscene" but, teenagers (and more than a few older gals) were glued to his every hip-swinging move. Almost lost in the mix were 'the other' artists and their hits like Carl Perkins "Blue Suede Shoes", Andy Williams "Canadian Sunset" and Kay Starr's "Rock n' Roll Waltz". The Top Television Shows would be "I Love Lucy", "Disneyland", "The Jack Benny Show" and "The $64,000 Question". . If you had a "movie date" there was a good chance it was at a Drive-In Movie Theatre as over 4,000 opened that year alone in the USA. Convinced lavish Big Screen spectaculars would bring big-time box office receipts Hollywood set out to release a string of "Epic" Hit's like "Around The World In 80 Days", "The King & I" , "The Ten Commandments" and "Giant". 'Chrome Dome': Yul Brynner would win Best Actor for his role in "King and I", and Michael Anderson would take "Best Film"  for "Around The World...". Marilyn Monroe took time off and cavorted around in a 1956 Thunderbird & Buick Woodie romancing soon-to-be husband  Playwright Arthur Miller..... only to be upstaged by Jayne Mansfield displaying her ample assets. 20th-Century Fox would sign her up immediately. 'Segregation' would be addressed in the Supreme Court, while over 1 million new homes would be built this year in America. Rural populations were declining by 2% per year while folks abandoned their farms and moved to the Big City. Incomprehensively, Six Million Cars and One Million Trucks were built this year. In fact, 1 out of every 8 cars sold was a Station Wagon. California entrepreneur, Milton Levine, would invent a transparent, plastic box filled with ants and sand marketing them as "The Ant Farm" for youngsters. A fascination short-lived when they fell off the table or broke open on the bed and opened your home up to "uninvited guests". Yet Levine continued with record sales selling them for $1.98.... selling more than 12 million in the next two decades (LOVED to have seen THAT factory). Philadelphia's "Bandstand" would be renamed "American Bandstand" on the NBC Network TV and young Dee-Jay Dick Clark would become the Nation's Most Influential (young person's) Music Program ever. Teenagers tuned in, to not only HEAR the latest music but, WITNESS live performances by the original artists, and LEARN the latest dances : "The Stroll", " The Twist", "The Monkey", "Bop", "Calypso", "Hustle" and "The Locomotion". They would also SEE the latest fashion trends, like "Poodle Skirts". Today Dick Clark, despite a debilitating stroke,  still produces some of TV's Best Award Shows and, of course, 'The Big Ball Drop'- N.Y.'s Madison Square New Years Eve Celebration. By the end of 1956,  the average American Teenager had more pocket money than ever before. All this despite the fact- the minimum hourly wage was $1.00 !!