A replica of the gold Chevrolet Bel Air, which General Motors used to celebrate 50 million cars produced in the 1950s, will be sold in America. The original was lost even then because it was full of real gold.
In the 1950s, the American automobile industry began to take off again at full speed. In the post-war era, American models began to feature iconic fork eight-cylinder engines, popular automatic transmissions and comfort equipment such as air conditioning or electric windows. At the time, Czechoslovaks could only dream about all this. And one of the largest American car manufacturers celebrated a significant milestone in that decade.
In 1954, the General Motors automobile concern from Detroit produced the fiftieth millionth jubilee car. The story of this unique feat is also interesting due to the fact that it was lost forever shortly after leaving the production line. It was a Chevrolet Bel Air, one of the greatest automotive icons of its era, in a unique specification that seemed to attract a persistent thief. And if the car was indeed stolen, no doubt someone dismantled it and sold it off to make a fortune.
The 50 millionth car produced by General Motors was an all-gold Chevrolet Bel Air of the 1955 model year, which today only resembles an authentic replica. The original original was shown only once during the celebrations in Michigan, USA, and since then no one has seen it again.
At the same time, it is not difficult to understand why someone might want to steal it – the jubilee Bel Air carried a lot of parts plated with real gold. This, by the way, is shown by a replica of the golden one-of-a-kind, built by Chevrolet specialists from Real Deal Steel and Snodgrass Chevy Restoration for this year’s 71st Detroit Autorama. And right now they want to sell it.
The commemoration of the 50 millionth Chevrolet produced was based on surviving vintage photographs, and the painters spent countless hours studying and testing samples before achieving the appropriate golden shade of paint. But the most interesting part is the fact that the replica carries over 600 parts covered in real 24-carat gold, just like the original of the time. And that includes small things like screws and nuts.
The creation of the unique Chevrolet Bel Air took over 1,800 hours of work and it will be sold on May 18 at the Indy 2024 auction of the Mecum Actions auction house. Under the hood, it has a traditional V8 engine with a two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission.
Tags: Celebrating million cars Chevy Bel Air stolen gold replica commemorates
