The 1956 Chevrolet was the middle child in the Tri-Five family.
Tri Five Chevys were built from 1955 until 1957 and represented a major change from earlier Chevy models in terms of style and powertrain advancements.
Jim Sutherland
Chevrolet introduced a sleek new design and V-8 power with the dawn of the Tri-Five era because these two features rocketed the famous GM brand into the Space Age during the 1950s. The Tri-Fives never lost altitude in the car hobby and are still rock stars with their loyal legion of fans.
MyStarCollectorCar spotted a 1956 Chevy Bel Air at a car show and noticed its stock appearance. These days, Tri-Five Chevys are not always restored back to factory specs by their owners because they choose to upgrade them with modern components to improve their performance.
In fact, there are many aftermarket suppliers who sell compatible products for any Tri-Five owner who chooses the resto mod path.
The ’56 Chevy Bel Air we encountered at the show is owned by Phil Owen, a car guy typically involved with rod and custom builds over the years. Phil is an old school car guy who has built some classic hot rods while he immersed himself in the culture, so a 1956 Chevy Bel Air restored to stock was an unusual path for him.
The car in question had a 265-cubic inch small block engine. Most car guys already know the 265 was the anchor engine in a long line of General Motors small blocks that included the 283, 327 and 350 engines in a series of famous Chevy power legends.
The vintage ‘56 Chevy’s small bock was coupled to a three-on-the-tree manual transmission with overdrive, a rare combination that was easier on the engine at highway speeds because it dropped the RPMs in a significant way.
The car was originally built in a California factory and eventually underwent a major restoration in which “every nut and bolt was touched”, in Phil’s words. The process made the car better than factory and undoubtedly cost plenty of time and money to hit the finish line because Phil’s ’56 Chevy is perfect in every detail.
Phil told MyStarCollectorCar the ’56 Chevy had “no patches-it’s a new car” and was highly impressed with the quality of workmanship behind its restoration. The car had been driven very little before Phil became its owner in late 2024. In fact, it was purchased by its last owner and showed only 1764 miles since its restoration over 30 years ago, but now it has about 3100 miles, 600 of them already racked up by Phil during his short tenure as owner.
The reason is simple: Phil told MyStarCollectorCar he’s “not one for having them sit in a garage”. His classic Tri-Five can easily keep up with modern traffic and he added front discs just in case he needs to brake in modern traffic.
Phil kept the factory brake components but wanted the bolt-on upgrade because he intends to drive his ’56 Chevy and wanted to prevent any harm from poor braking to all that shiny metal on it.
Phil’s a true car guy.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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