At Least It Wasn't the General's Car

C O L L E C T I O N — Just scanned this the other night from a slide. My dad was in charge of the Motorpool at the Stuttgart Army base in Germany in the mid-late '50s. I guess it was his job to research and document crashes that involved base cars. This is a then-new '55 Chevy sedan in poverty-spec 150 trim. The windshield molding is black rubber, and there is no trim on the rear quarter panels, signaling this was the 150. 210s and Bel Airs had considerably more chrome trim. I'm sure government fleet models were overwhelmingly bottom-of-the-line as well. This Olive Drab sedan, being a Military Police issue, was most likely equipped with the brand-new-but-destined-for-greatness, small block V8. On the other hand, i can't imagine there were many high-speed chases on Army bases,so it may have been delivered with the also-classic Stovebolt inline six, making around 105hp with ample torque (it would have been nice to have the '53-'54 Corvette Blue Flame version of this 6, with triple carbs and 150hp). Unfortunately, this is one Tri-Five that probably won't be showing up at any local Cruise Night.