Photo: Barrett-Jackson
It’s been a long time since we’ve started looking at rusty elements of a vehicle not with critical eyes, but with hope and dreams. That’s because rust, although the herald of metal’s impending death, has also come to symbolize for the car enthusiasts the potential of an amazing custom or restoration project.
That’s why we often feature here on autoevolution rusted, old, beat-down machines. We’re actually looking intently for such things, are happy when we stumble upon one, and rather disappointed when we learn, at times, that some of the rust we see is actually fake, and the car is no longer a wreck in need of saving, but an already-rebuilt machine ready to sell to the highest bidder.
When we first laid eyes on this here 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air, there was a part of us that hoped this would be another of those amazing barn finds. Then we remembered we found the thing on the list of cars Barrett=Jackson is selling later in October in Houston, Texas, and our enthusiasm dropped down a bit.
And that’s because these guys do not sell barn finds, but custom and restored cars. That’s exactly the case with this here Bel Air, which although retains the beat-down appearance old cars usually have, that's due not to real rust, but faux patina.
This thing is generously spread on the car’s turquoise exterior, but it’s there only for show, and not as a scream for help. The only place where the rust is the natural one is up on the white roof. Inside, distressed brown vinyl with double-diamond copper stitching on the seats and door panels are featured in a bid to match the brownish spots on the outside.
Up front, when the hood is lifted, the sight of a new Chevrolet 383ci V8 stroker engine is revealed, backed in its mission by Edelbrock bits of hardware and an automatic transmission.
The 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air with beat-down looks but modernized everything is selling with no reserve during the auction, and no mention is made of how much the owner expects to fetch for it.
When we first laid eyes on this here 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air, there was a part of us that hoped this would be another of those amazing barn finds. Then we remembered we found the thing on the list of cars Barrett=Jackson is selling later in October in Houston, Texas, and our enthusiasm dropped down a bit.
And that’s because these guys do not sell barn finds, but custom and restored cars. That’s exactly the case with this here Bel Air, which although retains the beat-down appearance old cars usually have, that's due not to real rust, but faux patina.
This thing is generously spread on the car’s turquoise exterior, but it’s there only for show, and not as a scream for help. The only place where the rust is the natural one is up on the white roof. Inside, distressed brown vinyl with double-diamond copper stitching on the seats and door panels are featured in a bid to match the brownish spots on the outside.
Up front, when the hood is lifted, the sight of a new Chevrolet 383ci V8 stroker engine is revealed, backed in its mission by Edelbrock bits of hardware and an automatic transmission.
The 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air with beat-down looks but modernized everything is selling with no reserve during the auction, and no mention is made of how much the owner expects to fetch for it.
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