History

The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Chevrolet Bel Air page on 3 August 2016, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

The 1956 Bel Air received a face-lift with a more conventional full-width grille, pleasing those customers who didn't favor the Ferrari-inspired '55 front end. Distinctive two-tone bodyside treatments and graceful front and rear wheel openings completed the "speedline" restyling. Single housings incorporated the taillight, stoplight, and backup light, and the left one held the gas filler - an idea popularized on Cadillacs. Among the seven Bel Air models was a new Sport Sedan, a pillarless four-door hardtop that looked handsome with all the windows rolled down and allowed easy entry into the back seat. Production exceeded 103,000, compared to 128,000 two-door hardtops. Shapely two-door Nomad wagons topped the price chart at $2,608, but now carried the same interior and rear-wheel sheetmetal as other Bel Airs, lacking the original's unique trim. Only 7,886 were built. The least costly Bel Air, at $2,025, was the two-door sedan. Seatbelts, shoulder harnesses, and a padded dashboard were available, and full-size cars could even get the hot Corvette 225-horsepower engine. In 1956 sales material there was an optional rain-sensing automatic top, which was first seen on the 1951 LaSabre concept car. However, it is believed that it was never installed on a car. Popular Mechanics reported only 7.4% of owners in their survey ordered seat belts.

From 1955 to 1957, production of the two-door Nomad station wagon was assigned to the Bel Air series, although its body and trim were unique to that model. Prior to becoming a regular production model, the Nomad first appeared as a Corvette-based concept vehicle in 1954. Chevrolet has since unveiled two concept cars bearing the Nomad name, most recently in 1999. The 1955–1957 Chevrolets are commonly referred to as Tri Fives.

The 1955-1957s were made in right-hand drive and shipped from Oshawa, Canada, for local assembly in Australia (CKD), New Zealand (SKD), and South Africa. All three model years had a reversed version of the '55 LHD dashboard and did not get the LHD models' 1957 redesign.

Photographs

	Subject:  1995 Newberg Old Fashioned Festival Artist:  Ken Eberts Car:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Event:  Newberg Old Fashioned Festival Source:   View 1995 Newberg Old Fashioned Festival Poster - 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 88KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2013 Woodstock High School Car Show View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 4.4MB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2013 Woodstock High School Car Show View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 3.8MB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2,536KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2,767KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 638KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2,993KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2,199KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2,349KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2,543KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2,078KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2,701KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2,830KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2,411KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 1,874KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 1,788KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 1,654KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2,262KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2,221KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 1,924KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2,230KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Peggy S. Simoni View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2,281KB
	Subject:  Modified 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2017 Woodstock on the Square Benefit Car Show View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2.9MB
	Subject:  Modified 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2017 Woodstock on the Square Benefit Car Show View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2.8MB
	Subject:  Modified 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2017 Woodstock on the Square Benefit Car Show View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2.7MB
	Subject:  Modified 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2017 Woodstock on the Square Benefit Car Show View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2.3MB
	Subject:  Modified 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  2017 Woodstock on the Square Benefit Car Show View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2.5MB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  WCS & NGMC Spring All Make & Model Carshow View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 3,485KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  WCS & NGMC Spring All Make & Model Carshow View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 3,644KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  WCS & NGMC Spring All Make & Model Carshow View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 4,137KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  WCS & NGMC Spring All Make & Model Carshow View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 4,129KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  WCS & NGMC Spring All Make & Model Carshow View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 2,951KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  WCS & NGMC Spring All Make & Model Carshow View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 3,050KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  WCS & NGMC Spring All Make & Model Carshow View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 3,481KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  WCS & NGMC Spring All Make & Model Carshow View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 3,523KB
	Subject:  1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  WCS & NGMC Spring All Make & Model Carshow View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 4,008KB
	Subject:  Custom 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  Fatboyz Cafe Cruise Night: 2 August 2008 View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 3,981KB
	Subject:  Custom 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  Fatboyz Cafe Cruise Night: 2 August 2008 View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 3,653KB
	Subject:  Custom 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  Fatboyz Cafe Cruise Night: 2 August 2008 View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 3,562KB
	Subject:  Custom 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  Fatboyz Cafe Cruise Night: 2 August 2008 View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 3,869KB
	Subject:  Custom 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Photographer:  Bill Crittenden Event:  Fatboyz Cafe Cruise Night: 2 August 2008 View photo of 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air - 3,234KB