Over 600 different components of this 1955 Bel Air Sport Coupe were manufactured electrolytic gold plated to create an exact replica of a long-lost piece of General Motors lore. Back in 1955To commemorate General Motors’ 50 millionth car built, Chevrolet released an all-gold ’55 and paraded it through the streets of Flint, Michigan. After the parade, the car disappeared and was never seen again. Decades later, this car Was carefully crafted as a tribute to the long lost piece of Chevy history.
Starting with a brand new body and some spare parts left over from the original car, the car shown here was built as a low-cost replica and was finally completed in January this year. This tribute is a mix of reproductions and original pieces, right down to a set of new, old original AC spark plugs from 1955. It is likely built to a much higher standard than anything that would have rolled off a Chevrolet assembly line at the time. The seller states that over 1,800 hours went into building this machine.
General Motors actually built three different gold ’55 models for this momentous occasion. Two were used to promote the event in advance, and the third was actually the 50 millionth General Motors car to roll off the assembly line (or close enough to be tampered with, who knows, like keeping records in the what Cadillac looked like in the early days?). The first car was repainted and sold, the second car burned down (although some parts of that car were salvaged for this build), and the fifty millionth car simply vanished into thin air. This carefully crafted show car commemorates the event in a way not seen since 1955. It’s as close to an exact replica as you can get. I don’t really understand it, but I respect it deeply.
The car was built to win awards, and at the recent Chicago World Of Wheels show it was awarded plaque after plaque. Now that the builders have achieved their goal, it’s time to move on and the car is up for sale. It will be auctioned off at the Mecum Indy auction on Saturday, May 18th. There is no telling what price it will sell for if two interested parties with too much money come into the same room. There’s nothing like it, that’s for sure.
As Goldmember once said in his iconic 2002 Mike Meyers title film, “I love Goooooooooold!” Maybe he’ll be the winner.