Proof of the Pluses: A 1956 Chevrolet Film

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The 1956 Chevrolet is pitted one-on-one against the 1956 Ford in this original General Motors dealer training film.

 

 

Among car enthusiasts, Chevrolet’s ground-breaking 1955 through 1957 models are known collectively as the Tri-Five Chevrolets, and we all tend to have our favorites among the three. The ’55 came first, of course, while the ’57 featured Rochester fuel injection and those world-famous tail fins. The middle year, 1956, has its fans as well. There were numerous detail improvements in the second year, and many will say that the styling on the ’56 is the cleanest of the three—though your mileage may vary, of course. (Just for the record, ’55 was the best-selling year of the three at more than 1.7 million units.)

In this fine old General Motors dealer film, the Chevrolets are pitted not against each other, but rather the ’56 Chevrolet is compared head-to-head against its chief competitor, the ’56 Ford. (“Confidential — For Chevrolet personnel only!”) The competitive teardown format allowed the producers to include a tremendous amount of detail in the story. Indeed, here is more than you ever wanted to know about the ’56 Chevrolets, perhaps, from brake shoes to seat springs, but you will be entertained. The announcer is actor John Forsythe (Dynasty and Charley’s Angels) who did a number of Chevrolet voice-over gigs back in the Tri-Five years. Enjoy the movie.

 

6 thoughts on “Proof of the Pluses: A 1956 Chevrolet Film”

  1. Kind of nit-picky if you ask me. My dad ran a pretty even race of Chrysler and GM cars. He did have a ’56 Ford Fairlane which he really liked. I asked him what his all time favorite car was and he told me that it was a toss-up between the ’56 Ford and the ’57 Olds. The Olds won out because it had factory A-C. But Dad also said that the Ford was the best starting car he ever had. In the coldest of weather, if the Ford could turn over it would start. He said he had others that weren’t quite so easy…

    • I am a Tri-Five fan myself, but my ’56 Fairlane was one of my favorite cars. Just a nice driving car.

  2. Of the 3 Tri-Five cars the 56 always my least favorite. Seemed like a big pull back from the bold styling of the 55. My mod had a 56 Ford Victoria 4 door hardtop with 312 4 barrel she got as a college graduation present and I spend many hours riding in the back seat in the early 60’s! They were nice looking cars.

  3. Interesting how they thought that seat belts and padded dash were less important than a strong body shell. Sure, you were bouncing around loose in the car in an accident but the body was solid. My how times have changed. There are still some who think that the best thing that can happen to you in an accident it to be “thrown free”.

  4. Having at various times driven both cars [at over 50 years old for the Chev] my thoughts are the Ford drives nicer and the engine is smoother. Both auto 2 barrels [I think] But not my cars so drove them carefully.
    Both quite good cars as we all know.
    Here in Oz we did not get the cars sold in the US. Our Chevs were 6 cyl base models. Why? Never made sense but sold a lot of Cussos [they were Customlines here] as they had more bling and V8s. As did the Chrysler Royal in around 58. They had both flathead 6 and V8. Dodges and Plymouth in 56 were sidevalve 6 but again more bling.
    As a standard car the Y block was nice and as we all know for performance capabilities the Chev would win hands down.

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