Chevrolet made the One-Fifty in two generations from 1953 until 1957, with the update coming in 1955. It sat on the lower end of the Chevy lineup during its brief run, and was marketed heavily for fleet use, like as a police vehicle or taxicab. Chevy built more than 100,000 One-Fifties in each of the 1955, 1956, and 1957 model years, although it was nowhere nearly as popular as the Bel Air during that stretch. It shared the stereotypically ’50s design with its more expensive brother, though, and this easy identification with the era made the One-Fifty a Hollywood star. Three One-Fifties were featured in “American Graffiti,” including one that was the chosen ride of Harrison Ford’s Bob Falfa. Falfa wrecks his car in a dramatic street race against John Milner (Paul LeMat), but there were actually three identical cars used in the film.
All three One-Fifties were originally used in the 1971 film “Two-Lane Blacktop,” which starred folk-rock star James Taylor and Beach Boy Dennis Wilson. For “American Graffiti,” one car was restored for Falfa to drive throughout the film, another was towed for the crash scene above, and a third car was rescued from a salvage yard to be burned after the crash.
