’56 Chevy 210

’56 Chevy 210 - My Dream Car
Owner: David Walker
Kuttawa, KY

My sister said, "Brother, you're not going to buy that piece of junk, are you?"

Highlights:

• Scored a Platinum Certificate and 979 show points

• Completely rebuilt 283 small-block

• Original California car

Customer quote: “Over a two year period I replaced the rocker panels, lower rear quarters, lower fender panels, all floor pans, trunk floor, a door skin, and headlight bezels.”

My love for Chevys started back in high school when in 1984 I purchased my first Chevy, a 1955 two-door sedan. Although I loved all Tri-5 Chevys back then, my real love was for the ’56s. I liked the changes in the grille, taillights, and rear wheel styling. My budget just would not allow me to own one!


That first ’55 is long gone– I ended up doing a full restoration on that sedan. In the early ’60s I was a mechanic at a Chevy dealership so I did all the mechanical work myself. The body work was done by a classic body shop. When I retired, I set out to fulfill my childhood dream of owning a ’56 Chevrolet. After months of searching, I located this car online at an antique shop in Wichita, Kansas. The pictures on the computer looked pretty rough, so I took a trip to Wichita. I stayed with my sister, Jan Ames, in Tulsa, Oklahoma and together we went to see the car.


The ’56 was a California car, assembled in Oakland. Judging by the oil change stickers on the door jamb this car had been all over the country. The car was pretty rough to say the least. The floor pans and trunk area were gone, the rocker panels were rusted, fenders dented and rusted, not to mention the hole in the roof! My sister said, "Brother, you're not going to buy that piece of junk, are you?" After crawling underneath and seeing the frame etc., in good original shape, I said, "Sure!" The ’56 was all original; it had never been worked on, and because of its bad condition was being parted out for junk. In September of 2007 I trailered it home for restoration.

The first thing I had to do was learn to weld. I enrolled in a night welding class and got the basics down before purchasing a Mig welder. The next step was to get a rotisserie. After getting the body on the rotisserie, I went to work. Since I’m retired, I had no time frame. I started on the floor pans until my welding improved. Over a two year period I replaced both inner and outer rockers, lower rear quarters, lower fender panels, all floor pans, trunk floor, a door skin, and headlight caps. There were many fabricated patches in the rear wheel wells, lower windshield comers, as well as that hole in the roof. New springs and spring bushings, tie rods, A-frame bushings, and a fine paint job completed the undercarriage. The 283 engine, not original, was rebuilt and coupled to a three speed transmission and a column shift. My dream was to have a basic,sporty, no frills 1956 210 Chevrolet.

After painting the interior trim, dash and under hood panels myself, it was off to Defews Body Shop in Draffenville, Kentucky for the exterior paint. Seven coats of three stage Tempting Turquoise Candy and three clear coats finished the job! The interior was fabricated by Linda and Ron Comwell of Kentucky Kustoms in Morganfield, KY. They did a beautiful job!

The car was completed in the spring of 2011. One of the first shows I attended was the Meguiar’s Wal-Mart Show in Oak Grove, KY. The ’56 won Best of Show out of about 150 vehicles. Also got to meet and shake hands with Barry Meguiar. Since then,


I have attended many shows and have won numerous Best of Show awards here in western Kentucky.

At the Music City Chevy Classics Show in Nashville in July of 2012, I took first place

Platinum certificate with 979 points! The car also took Best Interior for the Custom Class and third place in the Junior Judging. My future plans include driving the ’56 to many shows, as well as just "cruising" with our local car club, Lakeland Cruisers of Western KY.

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