When you’ve got a winner, how do you top it? Well, Chevrolet’s ad agency figured out a way. “The Hot One,” as the 1955 V-8 had been dubbed, “is even hotter.” So read the ads for 1956. This was referring to the high-compression, four-barrel, dual-exhaust Power Pack option, which now developed 205 bhp, courtesy of higher compression, or 225 with two carburetors. The original “Hot One” managed only 180. But even the basic V-8 in 1956 had been up-rated, now giving 170 bhp with Powerglide.

The 1956 Chevrolets were mildly restyled, largely in response to dealer complaints that the ’55s had looked a bit bland. Harley Earl obliged, and gave the new models a healthy helping of chrome. Some esthetes thought it was overdone, but the proof came in the sales figures: Chevy’s market share improved from 16 to 28 percent.

This handsome 1956 Bel Air convertible is powered by the Power Pack version of Chevy’s legendary small-block V-8. Displacing 265 cu. in., its four-barrel carburetor and dual exhausts boost bhp to the advertised 205, driving through a Powerglide automatic transmission. It is equipped with power steering and power brakes. Other features include rear fender skirts, stone guards, bumper over-rider, chrome wire wheels, tilt steering wheel, driver’s side spotlight, and a continental kit at the rear. Convenience options include radio and heater.

We understand that the car, completely restored and showing slightly fewer than 95,000 miles, runs and drives as new. The only convertible in Chevrolet’s 1956 catalogue, Bel Air soft top production barely reached 41,000 cars, making it among the most coveted of the Even Hotter Chevys.