Franklin Mint 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe- 50 Millionth GM Car- Nbr Ltd Ed of 9900

In November of 1954, when GM wanted to commemorate the 50 millionth car to come off their assembly line, they chose "The Hot One," a '55 Chevy Bel Air Sport Coupe. It was done in gold paint, with 716(!) pieces of gold-plated brightwork-bumpers and all. Today, according to a Special Interest Autos August 1991 article, the car surprisingly passed into private hands. The owner, "Bill," wished to remain anonymous until the car was fully restored. Ironically, the 25 millionth, 1940 Chevy resides in the GM Special Services warehouse.

When I saw this image in a brochure, I wasn't taken with the gold concept. I guess, having seen so many inexpensive gold-plated die cast cars in the stores, I was put of by the garish look of the plating. Then I saw the FM image at the gallery store-and was hooked! The pictures in the brochures don't do it justice. First, the paint is meticulously applied. I'm not certain, but the paint looks a lot like the Aztec Gold of the 1998 Corvette Convertible LE, done for the D4C (actually, the 1:1 car was a specially mixed color-paint code #689). The big difference here is that it has a clear coat that makes the gold finish look a foot deep. Why doesn't FM do this with all its metallic finishes I wonder? Then, all the chromed parts are done in 24kt. gold-plating. Wow! Even the seats, interior paint, and carpets (trunk too!) are accented in gold colors. The result is one sweet-looking image. It comes with a black wooden base, with GM plaque, on which to display the car. With all of the above going for it, you will hardly notice that this image is one of FM's oldies, with few of the features we now expect.

To pick a nit or two, the 1:1 car, according to the promotional brochure, didn't have a continental kit-nor did it have the small, dress-up bars on the bumper corners, or the bar between the bumper guards (these were probably copied from the special run of 4-door Bel Airs GM also produced). It also had a/c and power windows. FM, usually meticulous about these things, missed the mark a bit on this one. Nevertheless, whoever thought of doing this image in gold deserves kudos for taking the venerable '55 Chevy mold and producing a golden work of art. It makes me wonder what kind of an impact the actual 1:1 car must have made proudly rolling off the assembly line at GM. The issue price is $155. (08/31/2000)

-Tom Pine