Since Discovery’s Velocity Channel has come on the scene, there’s a lot more high-quality automotive programming available. Velocity posted a video clip from one of their broadcasts featuring a car that was never supposed to be seen beyond a limited audience yet turned out to be a real game changer for General Motors in their future styling and performance.

This 1955 Chevrolet Biscayne concept car is truly a one-of-a-kind. It’s been called the grandfather of the classic Corvette however many other later cars take styling cues from this exceptional vehicle. As you can see in the video, the look of Chevrolet’s Corvair, Impala, and Buick’s Riviera have all been influenced by this car as well as the Corvette.

Concept cars were routinely destroyed after they made the rounds at the auto shows and the intended fate of this one was no exception! Fortunately however the executive in charge of this Biscayne’s demise didn’t follow through with his assigned task and the car was spared from the crusher by the owner of the wrecking yard. The pieces were then stashed and virtually forgotten for many years. After its rediscovery, the Biscayne came into the hands of acclaimed concept car collector Joe Bortz who restored it to the fantastic condition it is in today.

It’s debatable to say that the collection of design features on this vehicle is actually complementary to each other as an individual vehicle. In some people’s eyes, the strong styling cues might seem to be trying to overpower each other. However there is no denying that many individual design elements from this Biscayne went on to become instantly recognizable on models in the future!