1955 was a helluva year for the American automotive industry, with prewar frumpery finally expunged from car designs and the economy bubbling over with optimism, plenty of dollars in the pockets of those millions of freshly minted GI Bill college grads, and Ike's promise of a vast new Interstate Highway System on the horizon. Car shoppers were ready to sign on the line that is dotted, and they did so in vast quantities. Naturally, most of us would feel pretty cool rolling in a '55 model year machine, but the price tags on most of the ones you can find nowadays make us think we're stuck in 1958. But if you're willing to plunge your soul into the hottest molten-sulfur-filled crater in Project Car Hell invest a little time and money into a project car, you can buy yourself a classic 1955 American car for 600 bucks or less. We've got one apiece from each of the Big Three, plus a car from one of the many doomed independents of the 1950s, so let's go shopping!

We might as start with the most expensive of the four: this 1955 Chevrolet sedan (go here if the listing disappears), for which the owner would like to receive 600 American dollars. Anyone who has been to a car show in North America during the last, oh, fifty years has seen several hundred thousand '55 Chevrolets, so there's no need to get into its storied history, the famous movie cars, or the inaugural year of the small-block Chevrolet V8. And speaking of V8s, this car comes with one! Is it the original 265, or (far more likely) a good ol' 350 yanked from Grandpa's wrecked Kingswood Estate wagon back in '82? Who can say? Who cares? You get a reasonably intact body and- maybe- a quasi-functioning suspension, plus every single interior and trim piece you could possibly need can be purchased from these guys.

The '55 Chevy is a great-looking car, no arguing with that (though I prefer the less "blocky" look of the '56), but you don't have many choices for the project that haven't already been done to death. 9-second drag racer, super-spotless show car, low rider, rat rod, whatever- 100,000 dudes got there before you. You might get a '55 Ford sedan, but even those are pretty common… but hold on a second, Henry- what about a '55 Ford wagon? What would you say if we told you we could put you in this 1955 Ford two-door wagon (go here if the listing disappears) for just $400? That's right, it's Ford's answer to the Nomad! The Ranch Wagon is just as cool as the Nomad and you can put a nice one together for about 1% of the cost of the Chevy. Check out this '57 Ranch Wagon to get a sense of just how good a mid-century Ford two-door wagon can look. This one has the standard PCH engine-sans-transmission setup, but that doesn't matter; you'll be dropping a supercharged 5.4 Modular out of an F-150 Lightning into it, anyway!

It's hard to argue with the appeal of a two-door wagon, but just imagine yourself behind the wheel of a two-door, Semi-Hemi-equipped '55 Dodge coupe, say for example this one for 500 bucks (go here if the listing disappears). It's in Michigan, which means there is might be extensive some rust, but so what? Two-tone paint job, tons of chrome, and a growling V8. Maybe you could go the rat rod route with this one, apply two shades of primer, and show those Ford and Chevy guys how it's done!

Do you really need to stay with the herd and run a V8, or do you want to go seriously old-school and pack a flathead six under your Kenosha cruiser's hood? Yes, you can buy a mostly complete proto-AMC for chicken feed, as proven by this 1955 Nash Statesman (go here if the listing disappears), which comes with a price tag of a mere 300 bucks. Three hundred dollars! The seller doesn't give us much useful information about this car, other than the extremely optimistic "super complete parts car not fixer upper" and the less encouraging "floor boards are rusted threw," but it should be a slog through Hades a walk in the park to get this classic sedan back on the road and looking good.

Of course, any one of these cars would make you an instant Legend Of LeMons, should you choose to race-ify it, though we'd prefer that you kept it street legal as well; that way you can drive it to and from the races, no trailer needed!

If only Dean had had more time, he'd have been like Paul Newman... only better! He wouldn't have messed around with boring ol' Datsuns, instead sticking with Porsches, and he'd have solved Africa's economic problems simply by stepping from his helicopter. Well, probably not, but at least we get to see this cool alternative ending to the famous Porsche-versus-Ford wreck. Thanks to the reader who sent in this tip; I'd give you a hat tip, but your identity has been washed away like the bits on my recently deceased hard drive.

The iconic shoebox Chevy is just worth too much nowadays to be a common sight on the street, even on the island. We've seen this pink '57 wagon and that's been it prior to today. It really wasn't that long ago, however, when you could get a nice four-door 55-57 Chevy for a reasonably cheap price. Back when I was in high school (early 80s) they were downright cheap; a friend of mine picked up a quasi-clean two-tone '56 Bel Air four-door (complete with 16-ton cast-iron Powerglide and slo-motion vacuum wipers) from the original owner for $600. As late as the mid-90s, you still saw rough-around-the-edges daily drivers every once in a while (in California, anyway).

Hard to believe, based on what you see at car shows, but the '55 Ford outsold its Chevrolet rival by a couple hundred thousand units. The difference in '55-Ford-versus-Chevy numbers today is probably due to the incredible small-block Chevrolet V8, which debuted in 1955 (a year later than Ford's first overhead-valve V8) and went on to become The King Of The V8 Empire.

Between the Isetta and the 1500 came BMW's 700, which still had an Isetta-style tiny motorcycle engine in the rear but was shaped more like a normal "three boxes" car. You don't see them around much, since they didn't sell in huge numbers over here (and turned into vaguely automobile-shaped reddish-brown stains on the ground after a few European winters back in the old country). Get one running and looking pretty decent and you're virtually guaranteed to have bragging rights whenever you run into some chest-thumping 2002 owners. All you need is a starting point, and we've got just the car: this '61 BMW 700 (go here if the ad disappears) for only five hundred bucks. It's located in dry southern Colorado, so maybe it's not hopelessly rusted, and- get this- it "was parked running" (how long ago it was parked isn't stated, but we suspect that Richard Nixon was still in office at the time). It needs some body work (which won't be so bad, provided you don't have to find any body parts or trim pieces) and some glass (which will might be absolutely impossible challenging, but perhaps you'll find a kindly old BMW mechanic in Germany who will sell you some of his stash of NOS glass at totally reasonable prices). And hey, you should be able to get engine parts from old BMW motorcycles!

How can you not love the concept of the Instant Junkyard when you're looking to start a Hell Project? You buy several cars at once, pick the one that's slightly less hopeless in better shape than the others, and make one nice project. Meanwhile, your neighbors will be gearing up to lock you in the trunk of one of your parts cars with several angry gila monsters, because it's a truism of Project Car Hell that neighbors are never understanding about half-gutted heaps in your driveway lowering their property values... but the best projects always require total loss of sanity a few sacrifices. And when you see this 3-fer-1 deal on 1955 Austin FX3 taxis (go here if the ad disappears), you'll be willing to make any sacrifice to get these British beauties into your life. In one of those short car-ad statements that tells a long, sad story, these cars "were to be used for a movie, but the deal fell thru," we learn that these cabs have already ruined at least one life... but that won't happen to you! No, you'll have one, two, or maybe all three of these super-rare machines driving in no time! Do they run? How complete are they? We can't tell you, but the seller says all of them roll. What more do you need? Imagine making three small-block-Chevy-powered right-hand-drive British hoonwagons!

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Everything that isn't wood, glass or chrome is coated in a smooth layer of DuPont Hot Hues Revolutionary Yellow. Yes indeed the fellas at builders JK Customs did a hell of a job on this one, and it's a fine example of just how sick a grocery getter can really be.

1965 was the first year for the LTD — a higher trim level of the Galaxie 500 that competed with the also-new Chevy Caprice (a higher-trimmed Impala) — offered in a two door or four door hardtop only. Ford sold about 68,000 of the four-doors, at a base list price of $3300 — $700 more than the equivalent Galaxie 500. This one is an original black-plate California car that started out in Banning.
The LTD model designation gets its own emblem on the C-pillar. Note the bold type font and classy crown detail.
Since the LTD didn't become a stand-alone model until 1967, this car also carries Galaxie 500 nameplates. It also has the optional factory wire wheel covers similar to the ones you could get on the Mustang (though this one is missing one of its spinner "ears.")
It's a big-block car with the optional 390 V8, available that year with either 300 or 330 horsepower. The 289 200-horse small block was the standard engine but it would have felt anemic in a car this size (though at 3500 pounds it's only about the same weight as today's Mustang GT). The new fender engine emblem for 1965 combines Thunderbird and racing cues, as did the 1962-64 emblems.
Except for the faded paint, this car is in great shape for a 42 year old vehicle. It even has factory air and a cool deck-mounted radio antenna.
Overall, a classy survivor.

I believe GM called this type of swimming-pool blue hue "Hawaiian Blue" back in the day; not sure what Ford called it, but it's very much of its time.


And take a look at the three-dimensionality of this trim! Good thing cars don't rust here, because this protuberance looks like prime rust territory.


This taillight and surrounding area are beautifully intricate. That's why you bought the Mercury instead of its Ford sibling back then- all the little extra decorative touches. You still got those touches 18 years later on the '73 Monterey, but with more bean-counter restrictions on the opulence.

Most Americans think of the shoebox Chevy, or maybe the Thunderbird, when they think of cars from 1955. But Chrysler was making some interesting cars that year, too, though you don't see quite so many of them around these days.


The Savoy was Plymouth's mid-priced car for '55; the name was put on several different types of Plymouth until finally being discontinued after 1965.


Other than some seriously bent-up rear sheetmetal, this Savoy is in pretty solid condition.


It's not clear to me what this hood ornament is supposed to represent. A boat? Any ideas, Mopar fans?


The standard engine for the '55 Savoy was a 230-cube flathead six, which is most likely what's in this no-frills example. If you wanted eight cylinders and heads-full-o-valves, you could opt for the (non-Hemi) 241 or 260 V8s, which produced 157 and 177 horsepower, respectively.


A car with fins like this really needs a 392, preferably with a really lumpy cam and multiple carburetors.


Of course, you'd want to retrofit the in-dash phonograph option from 1956 into this car, so you could play scratchy 45s while driving.


The unadorned lines on this car look pretty good, though maybe some color other than Swimming Pool Blue might improve the appearance. Hey, no rust!

Sad to think that Plymouth has joined Oldsmobile in the Recently Defunct Marque Graveyard.

First we have this creampuff of a 1950 DeSoto Deluxe sedan. Sure, it's missing the grille and the engine looks like it hasn't turned over since LBJ was president, but are you going to let that stop you from taking on a project with such huge potential payoff? Look at how beautiful it is, and it's just waiting for your healing hands (and wallet) to get it back on the road again! One nice thing about this car is that it shares a lot of components with other not-impossible-to-find Chrysler products of the era. Only $975 or best offer for a shrewd wheeler-dealer such as yourself, and the seller might even throw in the tow chain for free! The seller doesn't waste our time with description, letting the photos tell the whole story.

But when you get right down to it, you deserve better than a car with a 112-horse flathead six-banger. Why not spend the extra 25 bucks and score yourself a car with a 374-cube OHV V8 rated at 290 horsepower? Well, maybe a few of the horses have escaped this car's engine over the decades, but it's still a Packard! In fact, it's a Packard Patrician, a name that just radiates dignity and authority. Does it run? Sure! It just needs, er, "a couple of things." We're guessing they're fairly expensive things. But don't worry, because you can save a few bucks by trading the seller your gun safe, or maybe your '83 Bronco lift kit; come on, ya cheapskate- the seller has already marked this car 50% off!

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"In me is power. Churning power, turning power, burning power, in eight busy breathing cylinders! I am Chevrolet's new Turbo-Fire V8, an engine that keeps car wheels rolling!" Judging by the scenery-chewing hyperdramatic delivery of the narrator (coupled with war-movie background music) in this ad for Chevy's new-for-1955 overhead-valve 265, you'd think that GM felt their new engine design would turn out to be somewhat successful for them in the long run. – Murilee Martin

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