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1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Looks Like a Barn Find, But It's a 7-Second Drag Monster

Drag-prepped Chevrolet Tri-Five coupes are nothing unusual nowadays. Ever since the gasser craze hit the U.S. in the 1960s, people have been turning Bel Airs, 210s, and 150s into sub-10-second dragsters. But while most of them are shiny, pro-looking racers, I really like the unassuming Chevy dragsters. The ones that look like a barn find on the outside. Like this blue Tri-Five that showed up at Byron Dragway recently.
1955 Chevrolet Tri-Five dragster 6 photos
Photo: Race Your Ride/YouTube
1955 Chevrolet Tri-Five dragster1955 Chevrolet Tri-Five dragster1955 Chevrolet Tri-Five dragster1955 Chevrolet Tri-Five dragster1955 Chevrolet Tri-Five dragster
Built by Dennis Taylor for the 2021 Hot Rod Drag Week, this Bel Air (or is it a 210?) looks like it was just dragged out of the barn. Ignore the drag-spec wheels and the rear spoiler and you're basically looking at a rusty, forgotten Tri-Five. But things are radically different under the shell.

This two-door coupe sports a race-spec interior with bucket seats and carbon-fiber door panels and, more importantly, it hides a beefed-up mill under the hood.

All that noise you're hearing comes from a massive, 509-cubic-inch (8.3-liter) V8 strapped to a pair of 88mm Precision turbochargers. Needless to say, the engine bay is a bit crowded, but everything looks sparkling clean. A perfect build!

So how powerful is the monstrous V8? We don't have specific figures, but it's potent enough to send the Tri-Five down the quarter-mile in less than eight seconds.

Driven by Dennis' 23-year-old daughter Alex, the Chevy runs a 7.63-second sprint in the video below. To go with a trap speed of 185 mph (298 kph).

But that's not the fastest benchmark for Alex and her derelict Bel Air. Soon after she took third place in the Unlimited class at Byron, she went on to compete in the Rocky Mountain Race Week, where she ran her best quarter-mile yet at 7.4 seconds and 190 mph (306 kph). She also won the 2.0 Unlimited class in the process.

If you're into drag-spec Tri-Fives, this '55 is the coolest you'll see today. Hit play to watch it charge like mad while flexing a turbocharged V8.

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About the author: Ciprian Florea
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Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer.
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