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Comment by Pamela Hirschhorn on December 27, 2013 at 7:04pm

Bruce Kit

Performance Consultant at Kit Ent

The Chevrolet Bel Air two-door hardtop including its chassis was painted Anniversary Gold and had a reported 716 trim parts plated with 24-carat gold (though another report gave the number as “more than 600”) along with a duplicate set of replacement parts for repairs if necessary. The interior was color-keyed to the exterior and had the 50-millionth commemorative medallion made for the event attached to each door panel. Chevrolet also offered the Anniversary Gold paint color as a limited option (reportedly just 5,000) for four-door models only. The 50-millionth car not only appeared at the “Golden CARnival” parade in Flint, but also at the GM Motorama. General Motors even painted one of their diesel locomotives in Anniversary Gold with the special 50-millionth car logo as part of the celebration.

Comment by Pamela Hirschhorn on December 27, 2013 at 6:59pm

The unique Anniversary Gold Bel Air two-door hardtop became privately owned at some point after its days of generating publicity for GM came to an end and this owner (who prefers his privacy so he will be called “Mr. Gold”) owned a different 1955 hardtop he was planning to restore. Mr. Gold learned of some garage owners who were building another 1955 hardtop into a race car so he went there to see it. Extensive modifications were nearly underway when Mr. Gold’s inspection of it showed it to be in better condition than the car he originally planned to restore. Since this car was about to get major modifications Mr. Gold suggested swapping it for his car. The offer was accepted.
After getting the car home and beginning the dismantling process, Mr. Gold noticed lots of gold plating and gold paint inside the car. He also found a special plate on the firewall, so he called Tom Trainor who worked for GM for 30 years and was a Chevy hobbyist (and is since deceased). Tom found that the VIN on Mr. Gold’s Bel Air matched that of the 50-millionth GM car. As of the last report, it was still in the process of being restored.Hopefully, upon completion of the restoration of this historic Bel Air the car’s owner will share it with Chevy enthusiasts by showing it at car shows and special events.

Comment by Pamela Hirschhorn on December 27, 2013 at 6:54pm

The guy that owned it is Bill Edney, of Columbus, N.C. 
Just found out Bill died Nov.5 2011.Founding member of the Carolina Nomad Club. I guess the car may be up for grabs now. Bill saw the car going to the scrapyard . The previous owner was going to make a race car out of , but never did , so off to the scrapyard. This was before they were worth the money they are now. What caught Bill's eye was the gold side trim still on it. The rest of the trim parts were inside the trunk. The gold hood bird was still on it and all the inside trim was gold anodized or plated. The car was Black & white then. Was offered for sale for 400 dollars. It had factory A/C and power everything. It was later that we learned that there was only one sport coupe done and its the one in the parade and in the promo movies. But Bill started getting the chrome redone gold, buying nice NOS to do it with. 
Here is Bills funeral notice. 
.http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...&GRid=80044818

Comment by Pamela Hirschhorn on December 27, 2013 at 6:54pm

The golden anniversary 55 hardtop was sitting in a barn/garage in North Carolina . It is in pretty sad condition and you wouldn't recognize it as for what it is until you see the numbers. According to the owner (who wanted to remain unknown) GM offered in 2002 to restore the car for him if they could use it for promo for the 2005 anniversary but he was afraid that he would not get it back. So it was still sitting and awaiting restoration.
As a side note, an original license plate that was on the car was on ebay a couple years ago. It had 50 000 000 in raised numbers and there were some penciled notations on the back of the plate. The provenance and plate itself looked genuine. I think it sold for over $700