Chevrolet built almost five million Tri-Five cars from 1955 to 1957. It offered quite a few versions of it too, including sedans, coupes, and wagons, and nearly every body style came in two- and four-door guises. Combine all that with the availability of three trims (150, 210, and Bel Air), and you get no less than 20 different iterations of the iconic nameplate.
I'm not going to list all of them here, but I can tell you that almost two million Tri-Fives left the factory in two-door coupe or sedan body styles. They were more popular than the four-door and wagon models back then and they continue to be the more desirable classics in the 21st century.
As a result, four-door variants of the Tri-Five are usually cheaper to get. And that's why many enthusiasts opt to convert them to two-door models. Dan from DD Speed Shop is one of those guys.
A huge fan of the Tri-Five, he has quite a few projects in the works, including some dragsters based on the all-popular Chevy. More recently, he got a four-door Chevy 150 from a junkyard and decided to give it the hot rod treatment by turning it into a two-door. And he documented most of the transformation on video.
Needless to say, it's an intuitive and straightforward mod if you know how to use a circular saw and a welding machine. But you do need to keep a few things in mind if you want an authentic coupe look at the end of the day.
First, you'll need a pair of proper coupe doors. These are six inches longer than four-door sedan doors, so you'll have to move the center post toward the rear too. Naturally, you'll also need to shorten the rear doors by six inches before you weld them in place as part of the rear fenders.
Second, there's a lot of cutting involved and you'll need to fill a lot of gaps and holes. Not to mention that you'll have to rebuild the rear window frames. Third, don't let the "30 minutes" tagline in the video below fool you. It will take a lot more than that, especially if you're planning to do both sides in one session.
But it's something that can be done over a couple of days. Perhaps a good reason to spend the entire weekend in the garage?
Anyway, I have a feeling that hardcore Tri-Five fans aren't very happy about these two-door conversions. And I kinda get it. But at the same time, isn't it better to save four-door models to turn them into hot rods rather than leave them to rust away in junkyards?
And yes, I know this Chevy 150 looks all butchered up at the end of the video, but that's something that can be easily adjusted with a bit of attention to detail and a repaint. Hopefully, we'll see more of this conversion soon so we can compare it to an original two-door.
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. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News