Thanks, all!!
You are lucky, aladyblond. I rode in '55 when I was a tot, and used to play in it after it was parked (my mother got into an accident, and the right rear side was smashed. I was in the car when it happened. I fell on the floorboard) in the yard. My father bought it used, of course, in '66. It was three-on-a-tree column shift, but the reverse did not work.
But my father had a brand new '55 and and brand new 57 before I was born. He wrecked the 55, and messed up the transmission trying to get unstuck from the mud in his '57.
I've always loved the speedometer style and dashboard of the '55.
Here is a picture of my father with his '57
Here is my mom and cousin in front of it:
(she was pregnant with my older brother)
