A Clean Roomy Trunk

Tri-Five Chevys look great from the rear (see photo). That’s just one of the reasons why 1955-56-57 Chevrolets are popular collector cars. Their tushes may be a bit flat by Miss America standards (or when compared to the curvy rear end shown in the photo below of a 1951 model), but the design is clean and functional. It makes for easy loading/unloading, and that was important for many families in the 1950’s.

The previous owner of my car outfitted it with the widest steel-belted radial tires he could find. It’s on my list to replace them someday due to their age, but when you only drive 500 miles per year, buying 40,000-mile tires is a low priority. Although the spare that came with the car was one size narrower, it still didn’t fit in the trunk’s spare tire well. It seemed to take up most of the trunk and gave it a cluttered look (see photo).

This week I replaced the spare with a used radial tire from Quality Tires in Belfair, dropping down one more width to 205-75R-15. This one fits in the spare tire well and makes the trunk interior look somewhat like the car’s designers intended (see photo). That’s if you ignore the fact that back then cars rode on narrow bias-ply tires. For 1955 passenger cars like mine, Chevy specified a tire size of 6.70×15.

When I do get new tires, I plan to match the size of the new spare all the way around. I like the narrower look even if it means possibly having to get the speedometer recalibrated. It’s not a good idea to have a spare that’s two sizes off from the rest of the tires, but this one will do until then.

My dad doesn’t read the Mud Bay blog, but if he did he might appreciate the amount of usable space the trunk has now. When I was growing up, our family of six took a lot of road trips in our 1956 Buick and later our 1958 Cadillac. Both cars had sizable trunks especially the Caddy. We were able to exploit them fully because no one could pack a trunk better than he did.

When it was time to get going, we would haul everything out to the car—suitcases, beach gear, toys, packages, coats, cooler, etc. Dad would look everything over, solve the three-dimensional puzzle in his head, and then start packing. He always made things fit. Nothing went in the car except for books, games, and lunch when it was time to eat. We never needed a luggage rack.

Families probably travel with just as much stuff these days although the vehicles are different. Minivans and SUVs have replaced sedans and station wagons. Dad’s packing skills would transfer to the newer vehicles, but I think he would still prefer to load everything into a trunk.