Heavily Modified 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air Has Pure Magic Under the Hood

The Bel Air is one of the most highly-regarded products to ever roll out from the assembly lines of the bowtie carmaker. Launched back in 1949 as a full-size vehicle that looked simply glorious and performed as best it could for that era, it soldiered on for three decades or so, before being discontinued in the 1980s.

It never really went away, though. The Bel Air kin is still around today as one of the preferred platforms on which various American custom shops exercise their magic by throwing fortunes and countless work hours into insane projects.

We've seen tons of revived, customized, or otherwise modernized Bel Air come and go, as they are still highly sought after by collectors (and that is, in part, what keeps custom shops busy making them). I have to say, though, few of these Bel Airs looked as glorious as the one here.

The car was originally produced in 1956, making it a representative of the second generation. In some respects (meaning, first and foremost, the overall lines and stance), it still looks a lot like it did, but in others it is a far cry from what Chevy produced all those decades ago.

The reshaped and re-engineered Bel Air is the work of several custom builders, and you may be familiar with it, as it's been featured in the media several times before. It now gets another shot at stardom as it is getting ready to sell during the Barrett-Jackson auction scheduled for January in Scottsdale, Arizona.

The Bel Air immediately strikes you as something special. That is owed first and foremost to the combination of Satin Pear and Terracotta paints used on the all-steel bodywork. Imagined by a crew called Dusold Designs, the paint job is spread over a black basecoat that effectively covers a great part of the body, giving the Bel Air its distinguished look.

There are only a handful of changes made to the body in terms of its physical appearance, and that includes the fitting of a custom hood and pinched bumpers (with the one at the rear leaving room for the exhaust system). Making the connection to the ground are Schott Accelerator wheels shod in Mickey Thompson Sportsman S/R tires.

Once you open the doors, you are treated to the sight of one of the most spectacular Bel Air cabins I've ever seen. Using pretty much the same colors for the materials fitted in there as on the outside (black and Terracotta), the builders managed to create the perfect habitat for whoever will get to drive the car.

The Corbeau seats, like other surfaces seen in there, including the 1962 Cadillac door panels, are covered in custom-dyed leather imagined by Compton Custom Interiors, but other materials, like stainless steel and black wool, have been used as well.

In front of the seats there is a 15-inch steering wheel that screams Bel Air, while the center console that separates them has been hand-made in aluminum, and shaped in such a way as to give out 1950s jet vibes.

I said earlier that this ride could appear like magic to people from the past who don't expect to come across it, but that is not owed to its refined looks and luxury-like interior. It is actually under the hood where all the magic happens.

I have no idea what engine this car used to have on when it left the factory, but I do know that now, in the carefully crafted and insanely beautiful engine bay, there is a chunk of incredible engineering: a 468ci V8 equipped with a Weiand 8-71 supercharger and a blower case with a Holley Dominator EFI ECU.

A setup that, when properly used, is capable of generating 800 horsepower! All that punch is controlled through a 4-speed automatic transmission and sent to the ground by means of a Ford 9-inch rear end with 3.90 gears and a limited-slip differential.

And there are traces of magic on the underside as well. The suspension system of the Bel Air is no longer the original one, as it's been replaced by a Pro-Street setup that comprises tubular control arms and JRi coilovers at the front and a 4-link system with JRi coilovers at the rear. As far as brakes are concerned, stopping power is supplied by disc brakes on all corners.

The Bel Air in this form looks stunning, but also expensive. We have no info on what it took, moneywise, to put it together, and we also can't make an estimate of how much it is going to fetch when it sells, for the simple reason it is listed with no reserve. We will keep an eye on it, though, and report back when the hammer falls.