Stunning fresh build with fewer than 200 miles. 355 Chevy, 700R4 4-speed automatic, power steering, disc brakes. Spectacular custom interior by Johnny Miller with cold A/C, Bluetooth, and more. Looks nasty, drives nice!

We fell in love with this gorgeous 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air hardtop the moment we saw it in photos. The color combination is iconic—black over red—and that stance is perfect. Add in the superior build quality, the show-quality paint and interior, and the general easy-going nature of the car that’s built to be driven, and, well, you get the best Tri-Five Chevy we’ve ever seen. Seriously. This car checks all the boxes. The great thing is that the builder took his time and got the little details right. It’s still unquestionably a ’55 Chevy, so the body modifications were minimal: some shaved emblems and that’s about it. What that does is let the incredible bodywork speak for itself and this sucker is STRAIGHT. You can’t phone it in with black paint and this car has ripple-free flanks that you could use to shave your face in the morning. There’s a huge amount of time invested in block sanding, buffing, and polishing that final finish to make it look like it does. All the chrome and stainless trim is new or restored to show standards, and it glitters against the black paint to make this car look razor-sharp. Panel gaps are exacting and you should hear the way these doors sound when you (gently) slam them. We don’t know how many hours were invested here, but it was more than most of us could spare. It’s just gorgeous.

You’ve heard us sing the praises of ace upholsterer Johnny Miller before, and his work here shows you why he’s one of the best in the business. Like the exterior, it’s still very much 1955 inside, complete with the original bench seat, but the attention to detail is outstanding. Look at those beautifully crafted door panels, the custom carpets with matching floor mats, and the beautiful headliner with chrome bows. Like stock, only better. The seat is all-day comfortable and thanks to lots of sound deadening, it’s quiet at speed with the windows up and the A/C cranking. Other neat details include the OEM-looking steering wheel that’s a little smaller than stock, the custom satin-finished steering column and dash, and the beautifully integrated A/C vents that look like they were born there. The gauges are a very trick setup from Dakota Digital which replicate the original look with a big speedometer in the middle and auxiliary gauges around the top edge. But there’s also an LCD display in the center that’s configurable and includes modern touches like a compass, temperature display, clock, and in an especially cool move, digital odometers that are animated to look like original rollover-style digits. That’s slick! There’s also a digital stereo with Bluetooth, so it integrates with your phone yet looks like an original Wonderbar AM unit. The controls for the Vintage Air heat and A/C mimic the original levers and the rest of the controls are standard 1955 Chevy, further blurring the line between resto and mod. The big trunk was finished to the same levels using matching carpets and door panels as side panels to continue the theme. Like we said, the attention to detail in this car is extremely impressive.

A lot of guys go crazy in the horsepower department, creating cars that look impressive on paper but are less so in the real world. This car takes the right approach, building a very streetable and comfortable cruiser with a street brawler look. The 355 cubic inch Chevy V8 goes the traditional route with a 4-barrel carburetor, polished ram’s horn exhaust manifolds, and finned valve covers that were painted black and then had their fins polished for a subtle look. In fact, everything was either painted gloss black or polished so the engine bay is as finely finished as the body. Power steering and power disc brakes are part of the package, so it’s easy to handle, and the big radiator up front has no problems keeping the muscular small block cool even on warm nights. And it goes without saying that everything under the hood is new and dialed-in, so this car is 100% ready to cruise.

A 700R4 4-speed automatic with overdrive is a big part of why this Chevy is so easy to live with. Shifts are crisp but not harsh and that overdrive works with 3.55 gears out back to make this a peerless highway cruiser that’ll eat up pavement effortlessly. The lowered stance looks killer but actually rides quite well, although you do have to be aware that sharp turns can cause the tires to rub—such is the price of high fashion. A stainless exhaust system features Flowmaster mufflers for a mellow tone that never gets annoying on the road and the underbody has been treated to a light dusting of undercoating for protection—remember, this car was built to cruise, not to be displayed with mirrors under it. Obviously this was never a rusty car as there are no patches or other signs of previous trauma, so they must have started with good quality base stock. Like the engine bay, everything under the car is new, including the gas tank, lines, hoses, shocks, brakes, body mounts, and, well, everything else. It just drives right and thanks to those staggered 6.70R15 front and 10.00R15 rear Diamondback Auburn radials, it has an awesome period look with a modern feel. And those simple black wheels without hubcaps were absolutely the right choice.

You can probably tell we’re in love with this car. After having several thousand cars pass through our doors, it’s REALLY hard to impress us, but this Chevy had us all gaping at its beauty and attention to detail from the moment it arrived. The blood, sweat, and tears (not to mention cubic dollars) that went into the build is apparent in every single nut and bolt, and we have rarely seen a car built to this level that’s so user-friendly. This car is ready to drive or to collect trophies, depending on how you prefer to spend your time, but the bottom line is that there are no disappointments here, just the coolest Tri-Five Chevy we’ve ever seen. Call today!

Harwood Motors always recommends and welcomes personal or professional inspections of any vehicle in our inventory prior to purchase.