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1955 Chevy: The Chameleon. One day while I was driving my ’57 Chevy, a fellow classic Chevy enthusiast driving a ’55 asked me if I would be interested in trading cars. He sweetened the deal with a Wonderbar radio and some cash, and the deal was made.

Since then, the car has gone through a number of phases. Back in 1993 at the Winter Nationals in Orlando, the car, then with candy apple red paint, gray tweed interior, and a smooth firewall, won first place and best engine in the driven modified class.

Two weeks later the car was completely dismantled. I had a lot of ideas and changes I wanted to make. So I started at Holtz Welding with the chassis and suspension. Bill at Holtz fabricated a full cage, custom headers, rear tubs, a full racing suspension, a nine inch rear with a 4:10 Posi gear, and motor plates for a supercharged small block.

OK, we realize this story is about a Monte Carlo. Nonetheless, we thought you'd enjoy this story, because not only is it a Chevrolet, it's one heck of a ride.

Arrival of warm weather means one thing: getting ready for cruise nights and show season. Over at Chevrolet Performance, it’s no different. Program manager Gary Mulder and his team are in the middle of dropping an LS376/525 Connect & Cruise system into an ’88 Monte Carlo SS for the 2014 Hot Rod Power Tour in June. So, just like you, they’ve been hard at work under the hood of their project car.

(continued from Project Car: '55 Bel Air, 2 Door Hardtop)

Project '55 Bel Air: April 2014 Update

Project '55 Bel Air: June 2014 Update

Project '55 Bel Air: July 2014 Update

I'm using POR-15 products here. POR-15 is a system that thoroughly cleans, preps, and finishes your steel floor pans. You can find all the products I used here:

The Lonestar XXXI Classic Chevy Convention was held in San Angelo, TX on June 25, 2013. We expected about 70 cars, but unfortunately the weather was threatening and some folks stayed home – giving us 49 registered vehicles.

Even though this was a smaller show, we were pleased to see cars come from Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Angelo, San Antonio, and Waco in Texas and from as far away as San Diego, CA, and even Western Australia. Thanks to all who attended!

For most auto enthusiasts, pulling the tarp off an old unseen car is a rare delicacy, but for Dan Stafford, it’s a way of life. Stafford runs Dan’s Garage in Kennewick, Washington, which specializes in GM performance cars from the ‘40s all the way up to the ‘80s. He got a call recently from a family in Las Vegas looking to offload some of their father’s old rides. The father, from Wapato, Washington, passed away several months earlier and left behind a pair of ’68 and ’69 Camaros, a ’56 Bel Air sedan, ’61 Ford Econoline Pickup, and a burly ’77 Dodge Ramcharger with a 440ci engine.

But instead of finding the old wheels cooped up in a barn or left high and dry on blocks in the yard; these were carefully cared for and stored underneath tarps behind the family’s orchard. Stafford said it’s the kind of phone call that you dream about if you’re in the business. After the family located the original paperwork, he made the deal and the cars have found a new home in Kennewick.

Restored or original areas of the vehicle

Cars are classified based on the number of modifications in given sections of the car. These modified sections are marked on the dash card. Any sections that are unmarked are to be technically correct and subject to point loss for wrong parts, fit, finish, and cleanliness. There are a variety of printed materials available to document the proper parts and installation and the Chevy Classics Club offers technical support for club members. The technically correct portion is based on restoration standards, and there are differences based on assembly plants. We do realize there were some assembly anomalies, but be prepared to support these to avoid point loss. Our best suggestion is to restore the car to accepted standards.

Imagine awakening to find that it’s 1959! Wow, what would it be like to open your eyes to such a sight? Though such a discovery may conjure up many thoughts, the minds of most of us reading a publication like Chevy Classics drift quickly to our favorite topic…old cars. Well, I recently had just such an experience.

A near absolute ban on travel from America to Cuba has existed since 1959 and the Kennedy administration. In an attempt to ease relations, in 1999 President Clinton implemented “People-to-People,” an initiative designed to allow Americans to travel to Cuba as part of an educational exchange. Under special license, agents would be allowed to offer a fully-scheduled cultural exchange program to a limited number of travelers. However, due to various roadblocks, licenses were seldom issued and the initiative went nowhere.Recently that closed door was opened, if only just a crack. In October of 2009, an amendment to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations eased the Cuban travel requirements paving the way for license issuance, and the race to Cuba was on.

I was twelve years old when my oldest brother Walter "Speedy" bought a new black ’57 Chevy Sports Coupe. It had a 283 c.i. engine and 3-speed transmission with overdrive. I learned to drive using this car. I didn't know at that time that I would become addicted, but I couldn't escape the influence of Tri-5 Chevys. At seventeen, and a senior in high school, I bought my first ’57 Chevy. It was a four-door Bel Air sedan, painted Tropical Turquoise with a 265 engine and 3-speed transmission. It had 58,000 miles showing on the odometer. I dated my wife in that car and we traded it in on a ’64 Chevelle in 1965. In 1972 I bought my dad's black ’57 Bel Air four-door sedan and kept it a few years. In the mid ’70s, I had a craving for another ’57. I found a two-door Sports Coupe from a club member in Warner Robins, GA. It needed paint, interior and a transmission. I had this Chevy repainted Tropical Turquoise and the transmission rebuilt, and installed some ’66 Chevelle bucket seats. As a side note, the seller gave me a Classic Chevy World magazine. This was my first knowledge of the club.

(continued from Project Car: '55 Bel Air, 2 Door Hardtop)

Project '55 Bel Air: May 2014 Update

Project '55 Bel Air: June 2014 Update

Project '55 Bel Air: July 2014 Update

If you go onto the Internet Movie Cars Database to check out Tri-5s at the movies, you’ll be there all day! (We've provided a link at the bottom of this story, just in case you've got the time!)

We’ll share the 4 most memorable ones here (in our humble opinion anyways). Feel free to let us know your favs!

1973’s American Graffiti starred (among others) Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Harrison Ford and Suzanne Somers. The black ’55 Chevy in this film was a re-work of the same car used in Two-Lane Blacktop.


Two-Lane Blacktop from 1971, starring James Taylor, Dennis Wilson, Warren Oates and Laurie Bird. One tough ’55 that sports the meanest hood scoop of all time.