The Chevy Bel Air is one of the most common classics at any car meet or cruise night and it’s not hard to see why. The mid-1950s Chevy has timeless styling, very strong aftermarket support and was built in fairly large numbers, keeping the prices low and spare parts abundant.
While a stock Chevy Bel Air is most comfortable being spit-shined in a parking lot or on a low-speed Sunday drive, it can essentially be transformed into a full-fledged performance car thanks to the various performance parts available for it today. YouTube’s AutotopiaLA recently highlighted a 1956 Chevy Bel Air built by RMD Garage that is a perfect example of this, blending vintage style with modern-day performance to create a finished product that can win awards at both the car meet and the local autocross or time attack event.
This car, which was nicknamed Farmer by RMD Garage after the place where it spent most of its life, rides on a full Art Morrison chassis and is powered by a bored out GM LS3 V8 engine. The bored and cammed LS3 produces a healthy 550 horsepower and is paired with a modern GM automatic transmission. The car also has Wilwood rotors at all four corners, Wilwood six-piston calipers, modern-day bucket seats pulled from a Lexus and Classic Instruments gauges.
The eye-opping red exterior color applied to this ’56 Chevy Bel Air may look like a newer color from a modern sports car, but somewhat surprisingly, this was the same Matador Red and Ivory White color combination that the car left the factory with. It’s been repainted, of course, but Matador Red was actually a factory General Motors color at the time.
We’ve seen no shortage of Chevy Bel Air builds like this over the years, but this is truly one of the most impressive and thorough “Tri-Five” Chevys we’ve seen. Check out the AutotpiaLA video embedded below to learn more about it and see and hear it in action.
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I had a 1966 corvette engine in my 57 Chevy!
Finally, a resto Bel-Air done right.....not overdone.....but tastefully done. How much was the restoration? You get what you pay for.....
It's good and this is what keeps our hobby/industry alive.
Beautiful! I was 12 years old at the time.
my favorite look. After a couple of years, some rich kid had a pink Ford. Awesome.