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In 2004, at a small, local swap meet, Ed New’s father found a mysterious gem that would change both his and his son’s lives forever. That gem was this 1955 Chevy Bel Air. As time rolled on, clues began to surface, hinting that the car had a cool history. It was once a race car, with special parts like extra springs and the telltale remnants of a roll bar.
Ed recounts trading with his father to get the keys to the car around 2007 and says he enjoyed driving it and being a “stoplight hooligan.” But, life caught up with him. He sold the car back to his father to keep a roof over his family. His father always told him, “You can pay me now and take the car back, or wait until I die to get it!” Sadly, Ed’s father passed away in 2020, after 73 years on this earth. Needless to say, we’re certain Ed would trade the car in a hot minute to have him back. Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works.
Today, this 1955 Chevy Bel Air two-door sedan is painted in bright colors of Pure Red and Pepsi White, making it stand out wherever it goes. Under the hood, the car has a powerful 350 cubic-inch small-block engine with a pair of roller rocker-equipped Bowtie heads. It also has an Edelbrock single-plane intake and a Holley 750 cfm carburetor. The car uses a Lokar-shifted TH350 transmission, a shift kit, and a 3000-stall converter to send power to the GM 10-bolt rear end.
1955 was the first year for Chevrolet's Gen-I small-block V8 and Ed's '55 Chevy is now powered by a healthy 350 cubic-inch offspring. Ed reports that one of the other clues that the car had racing lineage was the presence of a metal panel between the interior compartment and the trunk area. Originally, cardboard was the only barrier when these cars left the factory. 
Every time Ed gets behind the wheel to go for a drive, he feels a connection with his dad; he goes back to their passion for cars and the long hours spent repairing them. This 1955 Chevy Bel Air is not just another car. To Ed, it symbolizes an important part of his father’s love for cars and is a tangible connection he had with the man he so greatly admired and loved. What started as a mystery, eventually became a symbol of the love between a father and son.
As Ed drives this car, he imagines his father sitting by him. This 1955 Chevy Bel Air becomes a time machine and takes him back to those wonderful moments, reminding him that the spirit of his father resides in every turn of the wheel.
