Like what you see? We do, too! That’s a 1954 Chevy Bel Air perfectly restored by North Carolina’s Retro Designs’ Daniel Valjevac, complete with the finned coupe’s quintessentially fifties-era Americana aesthetic. They preserve history’s most iconic cars, bringing them “roaring back to life” with modern engineering and subtle but skillfully designed styling touches.
Source: The Block, Chevrolet. Photography by Lucas Priamo.
Valjevac, Retro Designs General Manager, explains:
“Over the Bel-Air’s twenty-five-year production run, the Chevy model had several different iterations. Retro Designs wanted to reimagine a coupe from the first generation, so our production team focused on finding and restoring this 1954 model. The Chevy Bel-Air presented an interesting challenge. We wanted to preserve the integrity of the original design and not lean into anything outlandish. Our goal was a sharp, crisp restoration of the car while subtly reengineering almost every facet of the automobile to make a hot rod suitable for today.”
Meanwhile, we’re just over here wondering what sort of badass technical vehicle you could make outta this thing. Maybe equip it with a chromed-out Hotchkiss machine gun on the passenger door?
1954 Chevy Bel Air: 640 Horses
A powerful LT4 640-horsepower engine under the unique body shape instantly gives this Retro Designs Chevrolet Bel Air hot rod status with a custom cold air intake alongside an ATI 9.17 lower pulley and balancer. Further performance is provided by a Billet Specialties front-drive system and Ultimate headers.
Valjevac engineered the finned Bel Air car to sit on a Custom Scott’s Hot Rods chassis with a special Ride Tech Air Ride Suspension for well-mannered driving.
Bel Air Nameplate / Source: The Block, Chevrolet. Photography by Lucas Priamo.
Featuring a restoration that took thousands of hours at their brand-new 28,000 square-foot Harrisburg shop, Retro Designs channeled the rear of the 1954 classic car exterior almost imperceptibly for a sharper silhouette. In addition, The Chevrolet Bel Air incorporates an 8L90 transmission with a silky smooth Lokar shifter.
For comfortable stopping, the Retro Designs Bel-Air features stout Wilwood 4-wheel disc brakes on a set of Boze custom billet wheels with specially fabricated wheel tubs. The front of the car sits on Michelin 245/35/20 Sport Cup tires, while the company included wider 345/30/20 Michelin Pilot Sport Cups on the rear for improved traction.
Source: The Block, Chevrolet. Photography by Lucas Priamo.
To provide ground clearance for the low-profile ride, Retro Designs fabricated a specially made oval ss exhaust. The 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air includes a new TANKS fuel system and features an American Autowire harness for supporting all electrical systems. Period correct Dakota Digital gauges and entertainment provided via a Rockford Fosgate controlled by a 400-watt 4-channel AMP make sure every part of the Chevrolet Bel Air remains classically inspired.
The Chevrolet Bel Air custom features a cool horizon blue two-tone paint job via Axalta. In addition, Retro Designs employed multiple artisans to restore and upgrade the cabin interior, made possible through hundreds of hours of restoration work.
The 1954 Chevy Bel Air car is priced at the allowance-challenging but reasonable amount of $350,000.
For more information on Retro Designs, please visit www.retrodesignsnc.com or call 704-721-0835.
More Pictures of The Retro Designs Chevy
Photos by Lucas Priano for various publications about Retro Designs’ Bel Air restoration project.
Close-up of the Bel Air nameplate and white trim.
Close-up of the Bel Air nameplate and white trim.
More Pictures of the Classic 1954 Chevrolet Bel Air Old Car
Photos by Lucas Priano for Chevrolet’s blog, The Block
Classic 1954 Chevy Bel Air from AJ Meadows for the Power Tour.
The unique body style of the Chevrolet Bel Air is iconic.
Even rust-covered, it’s still a sight to behold.
Here, you have a clear view of the Chevrolet crest.
So what do ya think? Obviously, it can’t be a gun truck, but would this make a good (and classy) technical vehicle for the discerning warlord?
1954 Chevy Bel Air: Additional Reading!
- Learn up on some Bel Air history.
- More gorgeous vehicles from Retro Designs.
- More from our “Technically Speaking” files
- More about AJ Meadow’s experience at car shows with his classic car
Find your next RDS or LPVO – and do it with our link, eh?
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Wow! What an awesome and amazing car!
Man that’s one fine ride! Beautiful job!
Favorite years have always been 51-54
That paint job is unreal!!!