Monday, April 15, 2013

Flint Photos: Gold-Plated 1955 Chevy


G.M. celebrated its 50 millionth car in true style. James M. Miller of The Flint Journal wrote:
The gold-colored 1955 Chevy two-door hardtop was built on Nov. 23 at the Van Slyke Road assembly plant.More than 600 pieces of trim, fasteners and other parts were plated with 24-karat gold.

As soon as the car was finished, factory whistles around the city blared in celebration. The car was loaded onto a float and taken downtown for a huge parade that included 72 new vehicles and a series of GM milestone vehicles. 
Anyone know what happened to the car?

11 comments:

  1. I doubt if it was crushed, as has happened to a number of prototypes and unadopted design experiments over the years. Probably it wasn't auctioned, either.

    It might have been given or traded to an outside museum or collector, perhaps in return for something that GM wanted more for their own collection.

    My first guess, though, is that it went straight into the GM Heritage Center...an unmarked warehouse north of the Tech Center in Warren...where about 800 GM-historical cars are stored.

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    1. I was at the GM Heritage Center a few weeks ago. There is an amazing array of cars and trucks on display, but the gold 55 was not to be found among them.

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  2. Hey, whaddaya know...here it is.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii0fNr3RjGU

    (I want one of those spark plug costumes.)

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  3. Here's some info on the car's fate. It was with a North Carolina collector, but with his death I wonder where it ended up.

    http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=663074

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  4. I was at the parade. It was a huge deal.

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    1. Pretty amazing crowd for the parade. Here's a nice shot of the parade, probably from an upper floor of the Durant.
      http://www.teardownbook.com/photos/

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  5. So what was the one with Dinah Shore waving at a ton of people.Couldn't have been this parade . I was only one. Her's I remember.....think we were upstairs in Shippicases (sp?) or Cowles Eye Glasses with my Gramma.

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    1. The parade commemorating G.M.'s 50 millionth car was in 1954 with an estimated crowd of 100,000 and featuring the gold-plated Chevy.

      In 1955 Flint celebrated its centennial with another huge parade, featuring none other than Dinah Shore and V.P. Dick Nixon with an estimated crowd of 200,000.

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    2. And in 1958, Flint had yet *another* big parade for GM's 50th Anniversary in business, with none other than Zorro as the celebrity guest.

      http://www.flintexpats.com/2010/09/zorro-photos.html

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    3. I played in the band at atwood stadium the night of the big celebration,afterward another trumpet player and i were driving down 3rd avenue towards town and dinah shore and husband were walking down the street. we stopped and asked them if they wanted a ride. they got in the car and asked if we would take them to get pizza. we went over on dort highway(can't remember the name) everyone crowded around the table and dinah and george montgomery had a great time. the owner took pics as i recall , and he didn't charge us for the pizza. what a great experience that was! if you were there, please let me know. Ken Wallace

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  6. I was in the celebration with Dinah Shore, on stage at Atwood stadium. Guy Williams was in town for the Channel 12's inception as Zorro was an ABC program of giant audience. I was in the parade and on the first broadcast as Channel 12 looked at the many facets of the Flint Community.

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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.