I purchased this 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air two-door hardtop new at Gene Jantzen Chevrolet in St. Louis, Mo., and it’s one of few — perhaps 12 — built specifically in the General Motors St. Louis plant for demonstration at dealers in the St. Louis area. I have seen three of the others. What makes this 1956 Bel Air special is its dual-quad “Corvette engine,” which was rarely installed in full-size Chevrolets that model year.
In addition to the dual carburetors, my car is equipped with a 3/4 camshaft. The carburetors are presently fitted with the small Corvette-type individual air cleaners, but I do have the original “batwing” air cleaner for it. It also has the same heads as the next year’s 1957 Chevrolet fuel injection engine with larger ports, hardened valves and dual ram’s head exhaust manifolds. My 1956 Chevrolet also has the dual-point lock spark distributor with centrifugal advance; there is no vacuum outlet plug on the intake manifold. It also has the standard three-speed manual transmission with close-ratio first and second gears and a 11-inch clutch with 3.70 gears in the rear end. The 265-cid V-8 has solid valve lifters, which appears especially uncommon. My car is further fitted with the standard radio, a heater and a padded safety dashboard. The cost of the car with the $242.25 “Corvette engine” was $3,178.92; with the added cost of financing ($375.54), I paid $3,554.54.
It has never been determined if this dual-quad “Corvette engine” was installed at the factory or by the dealer. However, I do not think it makes sense that a dealer would change an engine for just $242.25.
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