Reproduction Parts for 1916-1964 Chevrolet Passenger Cars & 1918-1987 Chevrolet & GMC Trucks


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#471348 06/25/22 11:52 PM
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Grease Monkey
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I am going with the hope there are no dumb questions if posted in this part of the forum! We lost a family member who owned a 1955 Chevy 150. We have a stack of receipts showing restoration work, believe she runs well. Currently garaged and covered.

If offering for sale, how would you begin to determine the value? None of our family knows this market. I would imagine the smallest of differences could dramatically affect the price.

Clearly she needs to go to someone that will appreciate her. But where to begin?

I would be happy to get on a phone call or video chat.

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medicjason, sorry for your loss. A good first step would be to post pictures of all sides, engine, interior, and underneath if possible. Does it run?

There should be a lot of comp sales on a 1955 so others should be along to help with that. Ebay sold cars might be a start.

Good luck

Dave

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The "value" of anything is relative. It depends on how determined the seller is to sell and how determined the buyer is to buy. Like real estate, a lot of the value is location, location, location. An old Chevy pickup is pretty reasonable in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas while much more expensive anywhere they aren't as plentiful. Having said that there are ways to give you a feel for the value. Old Cars Price Guide is one. NADA or Kelly Blue Book are another. As Dave said perusing ebay for similar cars, paying note to the actual bid level rather than the asking or reserve price. Hemmings auctions is another site to look at. One thing that's relatively inexpensive and can help or hurt your sale (depending on the condition of the car) is to obtain a pre-purchase inspection and make it available to the prospective buyer. If done by a quality inspection company it can help boost the value of a good vehicle. A friend in Tennessee does inspections for an outfit and speaks highly of them and their process. PM me for the contact info if interested. I understand the feeling of not wanting to "give away" the car. My life experience has been when I have something for sale it's worthless and when I want to buy something it's priceless. Sorry for your loss and good luck on your journey.

Last edited by Tiny; 06/26/22 07:45 AM.

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Not to sound like a "know it all" but didn't the '55 "150" have no side trim at all? CorvairEd VCCA#47508 Dade City,Fla.

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Welcome to VCCA Chat even under these circumstances.

Without more details I would say that this is not necessarily an all original car. The wheels and tires indicate that this might be a car that has an upgraded power train and other more modern features.

That makes it a little more difficult to estimate value. The unfortunate reality is that the money spent to get a car into a certain condition is not as big a factor in sell price as any of us would like. The receipts have value because they indicate what work was done and when.

Perhaps the greatest impact on price for these classic cars is whether they are drivable. It helps if the engine starts and runs. Being able to drive the car really adds value. My experience is that a non-drivable car is worth about 60% of the value if it could be driven. If it starts and runs you might get 70%. There are too many unknowns when you buy a car that cannot be driven.

Having a clean title really helps. A non-running no title car will be a hard sell. Typically they sell at about 50% of the value for similar clean title drivable vehicle.

If the car is in Colorado Springs you might want to look for some local “Cars & Coffee” groups. Go to one of the events and start talking to people who have a similar car there. If you can drive the car there that will be even better.


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Depending on what and how the modicications were done the car could be worth from $20,000 to $40,000.
Some one in your area that is into modified cars may upon seeing it give you a more accurate value.


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First, let me say a huge THANK YOU to everyone for not laughing me out of here. And thank you for being such a welcoming community! I should have said I am more a family-friend of the widow. I've been helping with probate, getting her home refinanced at a lower rate, dealing with some storm damage, etc. It has been about 18 months since her loss. The car has not run in that time, but I finally said today was the day I was going to take a look at that. It's not what I thought.

Dave39MD, I managed to get some photos which I posted on Google so y'all can see them in full resolution.

Tiny, right on. To echo your comments, just because you see something posted for sale online at a zillion dollars does not mean it actually sold. I'm going to take all your advice and run with it.

corvaired, it has taken all of my Google skills just to figure out if this car started life as a 150, 210, or something else.

Rusty 37 Master and Chev Nut, yes it is currently in Colorado Springs, CO. But this thing has to be heavily modified...

I was born in 1977 and I can sure drive a manual transmission. I pulled the dust cover off this 1955 Chevy 150 and the first thing I find is a clutch pedal... and an automatic transmission. If you can figure out what happened, y'all are smarter than me. I asked the widow and she has no idea what her husband did.

The next thing is there is some "creative" wiring under the dashboard. One of those is a button for a horn. Along with a tachometer, ammeter, etc. What looks like an AM radio is actually digital along with modern speakers in the backseat.

We pop the hood and the thing has a V8. Google turned up this article, but otherwise so far as I have found a 1955 is not supposed to have a V8. I'm told she drives fine. I didn't quite have time to get her running today. I think it's just 18-month old fuel. But simply cranking she sounds like an absolute beast.

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The pic of the under dash looks like a fire about to happen which would reduce the value for me. Then the V8 would reduce the value more so by now it is becoming a cheap project.
Tony


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Interesting. The shifter would indicate an automatic transmission so the clutch pedal is a bit of a mystery. Maybe he used it to control something other than the clutch? Maybe he just never got around to taking it off? It would be interesting to see if it's connected to anything. Chevy's first modern V8 was introduced in '55 so it's possible the car was born with a V8. It would be money well spent to have someone with automotive electrical expertise go over the wiring to sort out any potential problems. It's cheaper than replacing the car if it catches fire. Don't start or drive it without a fire extinguisher handy.

Last edited by Tiny; 06/27/22 08:20 AM.

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Other than the extreme concern with the wiring and the mysterious clutch pedal that appears to be a pretty nice “mildly rodded” ‘55.


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A couple of us know how to deal with fires. The question is did that V8 engine come from the factory in 1955? Along with a friend from Fort Carson, Colorado we are going to figure this out Saturday, July 2. Stay tuned!

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Medic-,

I think the car is a 150 and probably came with a straight six 235 in it. With full oil pressure in the engine, one of the best 6s Chevrolet ever made.

With the modifications i think hot rodders would be the most interested in it.

If rust free it may bring 15K but not much more.

Good luck with it and I hope you get much more than my prediction above.

As to value, I'm with the others who suggest going to eBay and look at "Completed items" to see what they bring,

Best,

Charlie computer

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Again, let me say thank you for being such a welcoming community with all of my dumb questions! From left-to-right are a couple friends from Fort Carson, CO. We call her SatComNinja and we call him Anaconda... and then I am the really good looking one.

With some research, the 1955 could have possibly come with a V8. This engine is from 1969-1973. Clearly she started life with a manual transmission, converted to automatic.

She runs like a beast. I wish you could all hear what she sounds like. I can't say I was looking for a vintage car, but now I totally get it.

Pretty sure red was the original color of the vehicle. It might be factory paint. Otherwise someone did a professional job. I wish I had more of the history.

I am in line with the guidance from all of you. Perhaps we start taking her to some local shows.

We celebrated Gloria's 70th birthday yesterday. The last time Gloria and her husband parked this car they had gone out for an ice cream cone. We brought a little joy to her heart today simply by getting this old girl running again today. She runs strong!

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Thanks for the update. Glad that you have caught the collector/classic car “fever”.

I agree that while the car might have come with a V8 that is not the original engine. Most likely it is a 350 which can be tuned to give great performance. The transmission could be a TurboHydramatic 350 or a 700R4 if it has overdrive. There is a chance it could be a TurboHydramatic 400 but that was not a normal swap with a small block.

I support your idea to take the car to local shows. There are lots of great people at them. Plus some of them might be able to share their ideas and knowledge about what drivetrain is in the car.

If you are going to drive it more frequently I also recommend that you flush the brake system and the cooling system. An oil change might be in order if it was sitting a long time since the last one. Keep adding fresh gasoline and add a can of Seafoam to the fuel.

Have fun!


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Sounds a lot like the 55 Sedan Delivery I just bought.


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Several have mentioned them and I second those things they have said.

Get a copy of Old Cars Price Guide and be sure to read the 6 conditions they list and be honest in where you feel it fits and then look up the values. I've owned three along the way and must admit it is one of my top favorites.

One of the things I have did over the years when buying, is to add up what the cost will be that you will definitely do to it. Example: Front bumper.
I keep adding the thinigs up and deduct from what the asking price is unless its a no brainer. This car started life as a low cost alternative to the Belair. It currently has the plain black, windshield weather stripping. The dash stripes are added, like a few other things, but there is no clock in the most pricey models and a game changer for some will be the fact it is a two door with "post". I'm not going to bad mouth the car. I think it will bring decent money if the suspension has also had some attention. (ball joints ect) and tire condition can set you back a few dollars today.
....and don't forget the cost if you want to put A/C in it. Upgrades are not cheap....and I may have missed the note....if its a beast it will need disc.

Location location.....condition condition.

Last edited by Achipmunk; 07/12/22 04:50 PM. Reason: additional info

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I'd rather walk and carry a Chevy hubcap than ride in a Ferd.

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