1955 Chevy Road Test - Page 3

Inside the cockpit, the Chevrolet looks and feels "different." Ammeter and oil gauges have been dropped from the dashboard and replaced with red warning lights, like other competitive makes. The glove compartment has been moved to the dash center. Dash also includes a lighted quadrant for shifting the Powerglide at night. Shift mechanism on the steering post, long an eyesore in Chevrolet models, has finally been encased in one unit with the steering post. Pedals are hung in a style which was very successful for a competitor last year. The dash, itself, is a direct lift from Chevrolet's Corvette sports car but has had a wide band of chrome mesh added to it. An overhanging shelf protects the driver from chrome-glare but the painted dash shelf introduces reflections. The speedometer housing is V-shaped with a semi-circular top. At the other end of the dash, another circle-topped V shape encloses the radio loudspeaker. Acoustically, this placement could be vastly improved. The test car was equipped with the GM push-bar tuning radio which automatically searches out the strongest signal when a button is depressed. Although ideal for keeping eyes on the road, the push-bar radio tuner, unless adjusted, has the annoying habit of stopping every fraction of an inch in highly congested areas with many radio stations, stopping not at all during the night out in the country where most signals are too weak.

Instrument panel was lifted directly from the Corvette, but adds chrome mesh band. Powerglide quadrant is now at base of speedometer.

Fresh air is introduced into the passenger compartment through an exterior cowl-wide intake, fashioned after Big Brother's. Provisions have been made to keep the incoming air dry and although the test crew did some of their stints during one of those summer showers, the incoming air stayed dry, did turn cool. This will solve the long standing problem of interior cooling during thunderstorms when an open window means soaked upholstery and a closed window means slow suffocation or steamy glass areas.

Plenum chamber arching across the body at the cowl feeds air into passenger compartment. Provision is made to keep rain out.

Seats are deep, soft and comfortable and upholstery fabrics, in the more expensive models, are top quality woolens, nylons and leatherettes in many shades and colors, all designed to complement the car's exterior paint job. Optional extra for the car this year includes electric windshield wipers for those who dislike waiting for a vacuum buildup. Electrical system is twelve volt, showing an industry-wide move toward the larger capacity system.

Chevrolet for 1955, like so many of the more expensive cars, has also gone to tubeless tires. The MOTOR Life test staff found these tires completely satisfactory as compared with the conventional inner tube and tire. Although perfected to a point where they will probably never break the air seal, tubeless tires or too-low pressure seemed to be at fault for the only minor annoyances we found in the Chevrolet's handling, steering and cornering. Tubeless tires, in the main, are puncture and blow-out proof. With this guaranteed insurance, the American motorist can soon start leaving his spare tire at home. This procedure would not only add more luggage space to his car, but would decrease the car's weight by about 50 pounds—poundage which can make a difference in acceleration.

Summed up, the Chevrolet for 1955 is a gathering together of the best mechanical and design features available in the industry today. It now has a V-8, ball-joint suspension, a big car look, and even paint treatments which resemble the big cars. To Americans who have always liked GM's psychology that the Chevrolet is just a small Olds, this year's model will go a long way toward carrying that belief toward full fruition.

Whether Chevrolet's gamble on this close resemblance between its car and the Oldsmobile will help Chevy sales or harm Olds sales remains to be seen. The Chevrolet Bel Air or convertible with the "power package" plus its natural lines would seem to be a better buy for the same money than one of the older brothers in a sedan model, with more horsepower—but a lot more weight.

With their primary target a dominant first in sales again—Chevrolet enters the new model year better-equipped for out-and-out comparison than it has ever been.

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