Understated Elegance - 1954 Chevrolet 210

The expression "wallflower" was more common in 1954 than it is today in our somewhat more sensitive era. It referred to girls at dances who wound up sitting along the wall of the ballroom all evening while their flashier, more popular friends danced the night away. But it was my experience that-often as not-the nicest and prettiest girls were the wallflowers. It was only that they sometimes didn't have the more outgoing, confident personalities of the girls whose dance cards were filled.

Before the Tri-Five dam broke, this was the face and values of Chevrolet: Conservative styling, utilitarian value, and not a lot of pretension. That would soon change greatly.

That old term came to mind again the other day when I first saw our featured Horizon Blue and India Ivory 1954 Chevrolet 210 sedan sitting toward the back of a local car show in Paramount, California. It would have been easy to walk right by the car had it not been so impeccably restored, and had it not been for the fact that the 1954 Chevy was an especially attractive car in a quiet sort of way. It just didn't stand out in the lineup because Chevrolet's offerings of that year were understated, unlike later, flashier creations such as the 1957 through '59 models. I soon located its owner and convinced him to let us do a driveReport on the car.

We began our test on a beautiful summer morning. The opened driver's door reveals a lovely, understated dash panel with a full complement of gauges integrated into an elongated oval housing. I slip into the large front seat and turn the key. The engine starts instantly and settles into a virtually silent purr. We set the push-button AM radio to a nostalgia station, with the volume down low, and pull the column-mounted shift lever into reverse. The car rolls into the street with only the suggestion of a bounce.

I pull the Powerglide into Drive and we are away, though at a dignified pace. Then, at about 25 miles an hour, the transmission eases into high range. Steering is fairly light even without the power steering option, available for the first time in 1954 along with power seats and windows. Only the front windows were powered that year, though. Those in the back were still hand cranked. Our 210 doesn't sport any of these power options, but it does have the two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission which was an extra-cost option, along with its deluxe radio, deluxe heater and whitewall tires.

Smooth, quiet and subtle describe everything about this car. It wouldn't win many stoplight races, but it is not a slug either. The brakes are adequate, and require only light pressure. There are no rattles, and bumps are heard rather than felt. The front seat is as roomy and cushy as a living room sofa. In fact, the car is impressively comfortable and quiet. Just the kind of vehicle in which you would have wanted to take a date to the drive-in movies back in 1954.

You could have gone to see Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" starring Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly, or "On the Waterfront" with Marlon Brando, or even "The Caine Mutiny" with Humphrey Bogart. And you could have taken another couple with you in complete comfort because the back seat of our lovely 210 has plenty of leg and head room and is wide enough to seat three comfortably. All in all, the 1954 Chevrolet is a very nicely designed car. But that's because it had to be.

The salad days of post-war auto sales were over, 1954 was a recession year, and a shake-out in the industry was in full swing by the time our 210 hit the assembly lines. Kaiser was on its last legs, and soon-to-be-gone Hudson was merging with Nash Kelvinator to create American Motors. Then Packard bought Studebaker in 1954-a move that would lead to the last true Packard being built just two years later, though Studebaker soldiered on for another 10 years.

Even Chevrolet-the brand that accounted for 25 percent of General Motors revenues-was losing ground in sales that year. In fact, if it hadn't been for the debut of the company's 265-cu.in. small-block V-8 in the fall of 1954, Chevy's fortunes would have, no doubt, continued to decline, and they might even have lost their by-then minuscule sales advantage over Ford.

It's not that their stalwart Blue Flame straight-six used in all the 1954 Chevrolets was a bad engine. Quite the contrary. It was rugged, smooth, dependable and economical, and had been developed over 30 years. It could hold its own with Ford's and Plymouth's offerings, too. And with a little performance tuning - as was done for the 1953-54 Corvettes - it could produce an honest 150 to 155 horsepower and plenty of torque.

It's just that the new high-compression V-8s from Cadillac, Oldsmobile, Chrysler and, finally, Ford in 1954 had taken the industry by storm, and everybody wanted them. Inline engines, whether six- or eight-cylinder, were seen as outmoded. That's why Chevrolet, in late 1954, debuted one of the finest V-8s ever designed, and offered it as an option for the first time in their now classic 1955 models. But even then, Chevrolet's venerable 235-cubic-inch straight-six continued to be produced through 1962. And, in fact, it powered 40 percent of the Chevys built in the late Fifties. However, it too became a wallflower when compared with its sexier sisters, the 265- and, later, 283-cu.in. V-8s.

The 125hp, 235.5-cu.in. six in our 1954 210 was the last and best manifestation of the old Stovebolt line, so-called because the company's 1930s and '40s-era engines used common hardware store stovebolts to attach the side cover and pan. However, by 1954, gone were the cast-iron pistons, splash lubrication and poured babbitt bearing connecting rods of the previous 216.5-cu.in. engine, replaced by aluminum pistons, thin shell bearings and full-pressure lubrication. The Powerglide-equipped engines also came with hydraulic lifters, eliminating the typical Chevrolet tappet noise and the frequent valve adjustments required by the earlier engines with mechanical lifters.

The Blue Flame in our test car had proven itself bulletproof by 1954, smoother than any V-8, and providing plenty of bottom-end torque. The Powerglide automatic transmission-the first automatic offered by the low-priced three when it came out in 1950-is very dependable and smooth, though it only has two speeds or driving ranges. In fact, the old cast-iron Powerglides are so strong that drag racers modified them and used them in competition for many years.

In the styling competition, Ford surprised everybody by coming out with a completely restyled line in 1952, making Chevrolet and Plymouth look stodgy. Chevrolet retaliated with redesigned sheetmetal in 1953, though underneath, the cars were virtually identical to the 1949-52 models. The 1954 models were subtly restyled from those of 1953, though the brightwork on the '54s was much improved.

That's because, by 1954, hostilities in Korea had ended and triple chrome plating became available again. During the Korean conflict, the second, or nickel-plating stage of the process was dropped. The brightwork looked just fine when the 1953 models left the factory, but it soon turned black and looked awful. Of course, much of the brightwork on the 1953 and '54 models is actually stainless steel anyway, so only such things as hood ornaments and door handles suffered from the malady.

By 1954, though, much of Chevrolet's energy was being devoted to the all-new 1955 models that would become what most people these days think of as the first "classic" Chevys. The new 1955s were a complete departure from the past. They were so revolutionary that they set the entire industry on its ear. And they featured an optional modern, overhead-valve V-8 second to none in the industry, though it had a few teething problems that first year.

Our test drive ends after a relaxing trip through a local nature preserve. The 1954 Chevrolet 210 is a delight to drive and offers no drama at even highway speeds. The quiet, subdued 1954 Chevrolets were the result of gradual evolution and refinement, and were among the most dependable, trouble-free cars Chevy ever built. Handsome, comfortable and stylish in an understated way, they are among the fairest wallflowers of them all for collectors today, because they are still affordable, and are such a pleasure to drive. Given a chance, I'd take this sweet wallflower out for a drive any time.

Owner's View

Dick Dennis of Lakewood, California, saw this 1954 210 way back in 1975. "A friend of mine restored it and was interested in showing the car, so I got him signed up with the Vintage Chevrolet Club of America."

In 1988, his friend needed to sell the car. "He asked me if I was interested. I found out that Chevrolet made over 240,000 of this model, and for that reason, I didn't offer him a lot of money for it, but he took it anyway. I bought the car on Christmas Eve 1988," Dick remembers. "Since then, we've put about 23,000 miles on it. It's a very sturdy car, and it's just so reliable. It's a true pleasure to drive."

While the car is essentially as new, Dick has made one improvement: "When we bought it, it had bias-ply tires. After driving the car on a long trip, you felt like your arms were going to fall off. Several years ago, we drove the car from our home in California to Rapid City, South Dakota, for a VCCA meet, and I installed radial tires for the trip. I knew I'd get hit for points in judging, but the improvement in driving pleasure was well worth the cost."

- Craig Fitzgerald

Specifications

Base Price: $1,771

Options on dR car:

Powerglide automatic transmission

Deluxe radio

Heater

Whitewall tires

Engine

Type: OHV straight-six, cast-iron block and cylinder head

Displacement: 235.5 cubic inches

Bore x Stroke: 3.9/16 x 3.15/16 inches

Compression Ratio: 7.50:1

Horsepower @ rpm: 125 @ 4,000

Torque @ rpm: 204 @ 2,000

Valvetrain: Valve in head

Valve Lifters: Hydraulic

Main Bearings: 4

Fuel System: Rochester Model B one-barrel downdraft carburetor

Lubrication System: Full pressure

Cooling System: Centrifugal pump

Electrical System: 6-volt

Exhaust System: Single

Transmission

Type: Powerglide two-speed automatic

Ratios: 1st 1.82:1 (planetary gear ratio)

2nd 3.82:1 (overall ratio)

Differential

Type: Hypoid, non-floating

Ratio: 3.70:1

Steering

Type: Worm and ball bearing roller

Ratio: 19.4:1

Turns lock-to-lock: 4.53

Turning Circle: 38 feet

Brakes

Type: Hydraulic, manual

Front: 11-inch drums

Rear: 11-inch drums

Total swept area: 158 square inches

Chassis & Body

Construction: Steel body on boxed girder frame

Body Style: Four-door sedan

Layout: Front engine, rear-wheel drive

Suspension

Front: Independent, unequal length A-frames, coil springs, tube shocks

Rear: Solid axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs, tube shocks

Wheels & Tires

Wheels: Pressed steel

Front: 5 x 15 inches

Rear: 5 x 15 inches

Tires: U.S. Rubber 4-ply whitewalls

Front: 6.70-15

Rear: 6.70-15

Weights & Measures

Wheelbase: 115 inches

Overall Length: 196.5 inches

Overall Width: 75 inches

Overall Height: 64.8 inches

Front Track: 56.7 inches

Rear Track: 58.8 inches

Shipping Weight: 3,340 pounds

Capacities

Crankcase: 5 quarts

Cooling system: 16 quarts

Fuel Tank: 16 gallons

Calculated Data

Bhp per c.i.d.: 0.530

Weight per bhp: 26.720 lbs

Weight per c.i.d.: 14.183 lbs

Performance

0-60 mph: 18.9 seconds

Top Speed: 93 mph

Production

210 four-door sedans: 235,146

What To Pay

Low: $2,000

Avg: $4,000

High: $7,000

Pros

o Quite good-looking

o Roomy and comfortable interior

o Very dependable, and parts are easy to find

Cons

o Stolid performance

o Not very likely to appreciate greatly

o Upstaged by classic Tri-Five models

Club Scene

Vintage Chevrolet Club of America

626-963-2438

www.vcca.org

Dues: $30/year; Membership: 8,000