Dave Doucette
Another critical element of the build involved gold-plating more than 600 pieces of trim, handles, switches, nuts, bolts and screws. A Southern California Chevy enthusiast who also has a gold-plating operation performed the tedious work of applying the 24-karat gold.

Omar Asad said the work took him and his cousin, Nader Suliman, three weeks of 12-hour days to apply the gold, which comes in liquid form at a cost of $5,000 a gallon.

Much of the detail work on the car is subtle, but critical to creating a true representation of the original 50 Millionth GM car. For example, early-1955 production cars used a radiator support that was later changed to what is seen on almost all ’55 Chevys. Randy Irwin, a co-owner at Real Deal Steel, recreated that early version using historic photos as a guide.
The all-new Real Deal Steel body for the recreation takes shape.

Dave Doucette
During the installation of the exhaust system, the end of the tailpipe was trimmed to match the original work. And, one engine component won’t be seen but it adds to the authenticity. The early 265-cubic-inch V8s that were introduced in the 1955 Chevys had a swing-arm oil pickup that floated up and down rather than being fixed. They were soon replaced with a fixed pickup to cut costs.
“I had one so we put that in the engine,” Steve Blades says. “Even the oil pickup is correct to the date of the car.”
The tribute ’55 debuted at the Detroit Autorama in early March where it was displayed with several pieces of the original car number one as well as memorabilia surrounding the 50 millionth car celebration. The Chevy will be displayed at various automotive events throughout this year.

A Facebook group – 1955 Chevrolet 50,000,000th GM Gold Cars – has more background on this project and will promote the car’s upcoming appearances.

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