Vehicle Description
Gateway Classic Cars Houston showroom is excited to offer this
awesome 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air. This Bel Air hardtop is one of the
most well-engineered of the "Tri-Five" family that we've had the
pleasure of listing. Of course, the first thing one notices is the
beautiful Cadillac White Diamond over Sunburst Orange Metallic
paint scheme, the super shiny brightwork, and the uniform shut
lines on the doors, hood, and trunk. However, the fun part is
what's underneath the pretty part! The foundation begins with a
powder coated Newman Car Creations custom '56 Chevy 2 door hardtop
frame and suspension package, with a complete Corvette front and
rear suspension ('85-'87 components); including aluminum control
arms, new Bilstein shocks, new bump stop rubbers, steel brake lines
and stainless steel brake hoses; Baer Racing multi-piston front
calipers and Corvette rear calipers, 13" coated slotted and drilled
rotors up front, and standard sized rear rotors (also
coated/slotted/drilled); Hydratech Hydro Boost brake package,
Emergency/parking brake interface, Corvette LS engine mounts, Steel
Fabricated Engine Mount Brackets, custom Newman Car Creations
Differential with 3.54:1 gears and limited slip ("Posi"). The gear
ratio provides great highway cruising, but also allows for good
launches and grin-inducing, wheel-spinning downshifts at highway
speeds. Since you'll want to drive this Bel Air everywhere, a
custom extra-large stainless steel fuel tank (with its submerged
high-volume LS fuel pump) has plenty of capacity for either long
trips or those "lots of hammer down time" trips around town. All
that works together to set the stage for the potent drivetrain to
really make the fun start. Under the hood lurks a GM Performance
Parts 6.2L LS3 engine (which is painted to match the lower body and
engine bay) and the built 700R4 4-speed automatic transmission
backing the potent V8. A custom set of coated headers feed into the
dual exhaust system, which sounds awesome when you're lead-footing
it, but is properly subdued during "regular driving". A mammoth
BeCool aluminum radiator, with twin electric cooling fans keeps
engine temps under control. It's hard not to notice the custom
mandrel bent hardlines for the HVAC, and if you look closely,
you'll also see that most of the other hoses (transmission/power
steering; are also braided steel with AN fittings: no silly "hose
sleeves with hose clamps hiding under the dress-up kit" used here!
As you can no doubt tell, this is a very well thought out and
engineered build. However, a great chassis/suspension/power train
is best enjoyed from inside the cabin, and this '56 Bel Air
continues its design excellence inside. A complete custom leather
interior provides both handsome looks, and that wonderful aroma
that good hides do; so, you'll find both visual and olfactory
delights in here! A vintage-style Bluetooth head unit (with
satellite radio capability) supplies the audio to the custom
speakers hiding behind the front kick panels and rear deck, and
provides concert quality sound, regardless of your music tastes.
The driver will appreciate the vintage style gauges, the custom
tilt steering column, the custom center console with leather shift
boot and cupholders, and also having the master control panel for
all 4 power windows at hand; but everyone in the cabin will
appreciate the tunes from the sound system and the cold air
conditioning coming from the nicely integrated custom vent system.
Getting the picture yet? This '56 Bel Air is a "best of both
worlds" approach - vintage style, with modern performance and
comforts. The Nitto performance radials on the polished American
Racing mags, combined with the Corvette suspension, will have you
scaring your friends' Camaros, Mustangs, and Challengers out on the
twisty back roads when you want to push it (or scaring your
passengers if you prefer). Don't miss out on getting this
one-of-a-kind topflight Tri-Five!
