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Turkish 55 Chevrolet taxis made in the 60's

14K views 34 replies 22 participants last post by  johnonetrillion  
#1 ·
I have a good friend named Rolf who is German. Sometime in the early nineties, he visited the nation of Turkey, and saw some 55 four doors that the locals explained had actually been built a few years after 1955, maybe in the 60's. They were exactly like American 55's, but the story goes that GM had shipped the production to the middle east to build the 4 door sedan only, and they may have been exclusively sold as taxis. Does anyone have any knowledge of these cars. A couple of web searches I did in the past did find a couple of pictures from Istanbul, Turkey that showed a 55 four door that may have been a taxi.

I always found the story interesting, and wonder how many we're built, and in what years. Mike
 
#3 ·
Foreign 5-6-7's have always interested me. I know a guy that bought a RHD 55 150 2 door from South Africa. Great body, but someone had put an aftermarket slide-in pickup box in place of the trunk. Really ugly, but you could tell it was made to fit a 55 Chevy.
 
#8 ·
I know a guy that bought a RHD 55 150 2 door from South Africa. Great body, but someone had put an aftermarket slide-in pickup box in place of the trunk. Really ugly, but you could tell it was made to fit a 55 Chevy.
GM SA did a good bit of 'factory' modification to suit local needs – like tradesmen and agricultural use: Some pretty ordinary looking utes etc. There were pics posted a while back.
 
#5 ·
So I did a fresh search on Istanbul rather than just Turkey, and found this:

http://bvw-photos.com/TURKEY/AUTOMOBILES/auto_gallery.html

Pay close attention to the two tone green 56 Bel Air. Clearly a modified roof design. Maybe a factory built rig? It looks like someone just stretched the roof, but if you think about it, that would be pretty hard to do due to the curves involved. Either way, it sure is ugly. Looks like the back seat is over the rear end.

The same site shows many photos of 1950's GM cars. Maybe they just sold them to the general public there.
 
#6 ·
Pay close attention to the two tone green 56 Bel Air. Clearly a modified roof design. Maybe a factory built rig? It looks like someone just stretched the roof, but if you think about it, that would be pretty hard to do due to the curves involved. Either way, it sure is ugly. Looks like the back seat is over the rear end.
Image
 
#10 ·
It looks like they used the rear doors from a four door wagon and added the last two feet of the sedan roof. It's not clear whether there is a full height "C" pillar. The rear door might just close against the larger glass quarter which has been added. For a taxi, it would make sense to have more legroom in the rear. Giving up room in the trunk for the rear seat wouldn't be a problem but the seat would be a lot narrower to fit between the wheelwells so you'd be reducing passenger load.
 
#7 ·
I was in Turkey about 10 years ago on a cruise of the Greek Isles. I spent the entire day checking out the taxis that were late 50's and early 60's Chevys and Pontiacs. This annoyed my wife to no end who told me we could have gone to a cruise night and saved about $5K if all I was gonna do was check out the old cars! Oh well....some things never change!:sign0020:

Don
 
#15 ·
I noticed the 55 with the extended wheelbase - can clearly see the extra length between the door and the wheelarch on the 55. But the 56 pictured does not seem to be extended in the same place. The doors seem to be a combination of sedan lower doors (with the dip) and wagon upper frames and glass.

We were in Turkey earlier this year. Did not see any tri5's around, and the only old car we saw was a 60 Impala coupe. The Istanbul taxi drivers are crazy so I doubt if any of these survived.

Cheers, Des
 
#26 · (Edited)
Thanks Turgay



These are great pictures. It is nice to know that there are 55-57 Chevy fans in most any part of the world.

I do have a question for you though. Where were the Turkish Chevrolets built? Also, was your 1956 Bel Air two door delivered new in Turkey? Most all the others I found on the Internet are all four doors.

Thanks.
 
#19 ·
Do I need a FaceBook a/c to see these?

Am not finding the pics via the first link, and the second looks broken or locked.

Very interested to check this out. Good on you, friends in Turkey!
 
#25 ·
I have some friends from Turkey who say they may be able to get some picks for me
If he comes through i will post up for you.
Regs David
 
#35 ·
From Tarrytown too.

And most were exported as kits (CKD) for assembly in GM plants in various cities.