My 3-year-old grandson would think I was the coolest pappy in the West if I brought home this vintage Chevy fire chief’s car. The Pick of the Day is the real thing, a 1955 Chevrolet 210 4-door sedan that spent most of its life hanging around the fire house, according to the Saint Louis, Missouri, dealer advertising the car on ClassicCars.com.
“This 1955 Chevy 210 is a mildly restored Fire Chief fleet vehicle that is believed to have less than 30k original miles,” the seller says in the ad. “With working lights and a siren, you are not likely going to have much more fun than you do while driving this car.”
This is a basic, unadorned ’55 Chevy powered by a Blue Flame 6 with automatic transmission. Nothing fancy, but what sets it apart is the fire-chief regalia.
“As with most fire and rescue vehicles, they spend most of their time garaged, so the body is in good condition with great fit and finish, and good driver-quality paint,” the seller adds.
The sedan wears on its doors the fire-department insignia of Cedar Rapids, Iowa (est. 1869) that looks just about right. There’s no word in the ad as to any restoration history or updates, but it appears to be essentially original.
The photos with the ad show a no-nonsense emergency vehicle that was ready for action, driven by the chief to scenes of conflagration to lead and command the fire crew. Hanging from below the dashboard is what looks like a period-correct radio communicator, adding to the Chevy’s authenticity. That, and a long, spring-loaded whip antennae.
Of course, the fire chief wouldn’t need many creature comforts, so this Chevy is a basic no-frills example. So no radio or air conditioning, and just the most simple of interiors.
Total mileage on the 5-digit odometer is 27,495, so maybe this vehicle didn’t see too many emergencies, at least not those that added mileage. Really, how big was Cedar Rapids in the 1950s?
Sixty-six years later, this fire chief Chevy would be mostly about having fun.
“This is the perfect Chevy to add to your collection, an excellent parade vehicle, or just cruise it and make more friends than you will know what to do with,” the seller says.
The asking price is $29,900, maybe not a smoking deal but it could ignite a new passion.
To view this vehicle on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.
The elusive ’55. One of the few cars I have NEVER owned. With a substantial car collection and the ‘hunt’ fever in the 90’s, I collected over 110 cars. These I housed in my museum-like buildings for no other reason than I could. As I ran out of room in a building, I would commission another to be built and ended up with 4 or 5 in the end. I always wanted to purchase a ’55 but never found ‘just the right one’. Normally when there was an ad in ‘the paper’, I was the first to respond and make the purchase. I did not always have enough money so I would put a down payment and make payments on cars that people felt they would accept. There were times a person would have 7 ’57 Chev’s and they would not sell unless I bought all 7. So I did, including the ’65 Buick convertible. At one time during the 90’s, I was making payments on 20 or 30 cars at once. These were not expensive cars but normally 500-2500 units of the time. The only 1955 I ever owned, I owned twice. I had a ’55 Studebaker with a 331 Hemi in it and a 36 Ford straight axle. It looked like a frog and took 4 lanes to make a circle. Lots of chrome and stainless but with the Power-flite transmission and the Ford rear end gearing, it would lug the engine below 70 in high gear. Unfortunately, a ’36 Ford front end tends to be a bit squirrely at those speeds and I became a ‘mystery lane-changer’. The State police would pull me over and tell me to take it back home or else. It had Thrush exhaust and I had painted the driveline like a candy cane so the visuals, though not seen by me, must have been an eyeful. I called it ‘The Frog’ and bought a magnetic frog for the dash only to find out the dash was fiberglass out of a Silver or Golden Hawk? The body had all the deluxe stainless and factory tinted windows. I used black alligator vinyl on the ’66 Dodge hard back buckets from a Coronet. It looked strange, sounded good with the Crane cam and the best thing was to park at ‘Burgerville’ in Gladstone and with the hood up the safest place was out of the car.
The best thing about this Chiefs car is the power plant! As a retired Fire Captain, don’t want the Chief showing up at calls. At least the straight Six delays his/her arrival to mug for the camera😂
I couldn’t seem to get away from 55 Chevys,had more than I’d care to count. Every time I’d sell one, I’d come across a smokin deal on another. Great cars, but I always wanted a 57, never came across one when I could afford it!
Very interested in Chief ‘55
Still available ?
Yes. Contact the seller: https://classiccars.com/listings/view/1475410/1955-chevrolet-210-for-sale-in-saint-louis-missouri-63144