Re: 1955 Carribean hardtop

Posted by BH On 2011/10/18 22:06:13

Since production for the 5587 model was 7,206, the 7000 range merely indicates that the subject vehicle was built late in the production run.

I doubt that this is a case where the factory took the last of the run of 5587s and experimented with a hardtop version of the Caribbean. More likely, management noticed the success that dealers had with conversion and decided to get a piece of the action with a factory-built hardtop - for customers who wanted a Caribbean, but preferred a closed car.

Any 1955 Caribbean hardtop is a conversion, but we can't be sure who did the work without bona fide documentation for each case. However, I've never seen anything that shows the factory did so. As others have noted, it wouldn't be hard for a dealer with body shop facilities to do the work, but the devil is in the details.

Yet, based on our experience with some other documented special builds from 1956, the blank paint and trim codes on the VN plate for the car owned by Dale Lyons hints at a special request of production.

If only the production records from '55 were available...