From Wrecking Yard Dog to Classic Beauty

John Solomon Cheney, WA

Beginning with adding the final touches on the car's new restoration in the parking lot of the 1997 CCI Meet in Reno, Nevada, to attending the Sacramento National Meet in 2006, my '57 green on green convertible has been in 40 car shows all over the country.

The car has been trailered 55,000 miles from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to Phoenix Arizona and to special shows such as the Chicago VetteFest and Blackie's Fresno Autorama as well as the 1957 50th Anniversary celebration in Detroit. You might say it has been around the block a few times.
 
This surf green machine was first assembled in Tarrytown , New York in the third week of November, 1956 just before Thanksgiving. As a teenager I had always wanted a ’57 Chevy convertible, but was unable to afford one during those years. Almost 32 years later I found the car of my dreams in a Sheridan, Wyoming wrecking yard where it had been languishing since 1963 (I still have the 1963 Wyoming license plate it had when I bought the car.)
 
There were bullet holes in the windshield and in the trunk. The car had been repainted dark green, but the faded original green convertible top was still intact. Options included a Power Pack 283 engine, a 3-speed with overdrive, power steering, power brakes with a rare Hydrovac unit, power windows, power seat, an emergency brake warning light and a trunk light. It had been sitting in the wrecking yard all that time waiting for dispridey, repridey and recognition.
 
After I brought the car home, it didn't take long to realize the amount of hard work, long hours (days, weeks, months and years) it would take to over-restore this classic back to its purely original condition. Finding NOS parts and restoring the car to Concours specs turned out to be the biggest problem I had to overcome. The Hydrovac unit pieces alone took me more than two years to locate. I conferred with several ’57 buffs that encouraged me to do a frame-off restoration because the car was so rare. That was a lot more work than I had planned to do, but in the end it was excellent advice. Yes, my car is the proverbial “trailer queen” and although it drives great, it is a show car.
 
There are many people who were of great help throughout the car's ground up restoration. Without people like Rich Burnett, Chris Eyer, Don Chapman, Mike Domoracki of the Stainless Shoppe, Harold Louisiana, Roy Moyer, Gary Pronesti, Tom Trainor, Jay Tripp of Triple Plate Chrome, Bob Williams of Custom Coach Work and many others I've probably left out, this Surf Green dream of mine would never have been finished. My heartfelt thanks go out to them all!
 
It takes time-consuming hard work, friends, professionals, money and luck to make an old car look like new again, but the most important ingredient necessary to make it happen is love for your classic car.
 
People are sometimes not impressed when I mention the color of my car, but when they actually see it they think it’s beautiful. I hope to see you at the next car show we attend or maybe on the road sometime.