My dad bought his very first car back ('57 Chevy content)

My dad (aka, Popz) had a 57 bel air as his first car. It was a 4 door hardtop, black with a white top, red interior, and a 283 mated to a powerglide. He loved the thing, but was forced to sell it in 77 when he found out that mom was pregnant with my brother (the running joke is that he was conceived in the back seat of the 57). He sold it to his uncle Bob for $500.

Well, uncle Bob kept the car all these years. He did have the car repainted and the engine and trans rebuilt during those years, but kept it all original otherwise. When I was about 10 we went down to Georgia for a few days to visit. I found a couple pics from that trip:

Here is myself (left), Popz (middle), my brother (putz), and uncle Bob building model rockets.

Check out that sweet body glove t-shirt I was rocking. Rad level = so.

And a pic of the car at that time. This was in 1990 or 91.

Unfortunately, uncle Bob had be pretty ill for the past few years and passed away a couple months ago. I was unable to attend the funeral, but mom and Popz went down there for a few days. While he was there he found that in uncle Bob's will, he had specific instructions that Popz had first dibs on buying the car back. It was a no brainier, so he bought it from Aunt Yvonne for more than the asking price.

Apparently the car had been sitting for about 5 years. Popz said it started, but ran quite rough (as to be expected) and looked like the radiator was leaking. He snapped a couple pics while he was there.

We are leaving early Wednesday to go get the car and bring it back. I'll update with more pics as we go!

That is a cool story, and a neat car with family history. never let it go again.

Loving this one! Driving or towing it home?

Sorry about the circumstances. Happy for your Pops. You guys will have fun getting this one back up to speed.

Wow, that's in pretty nice shape. I didn't know that they made four door hardtops. I thought that all the four doors had B-pillars. That should be a fun ride home.

We will be towing it home. I could only get 2 days off for this trip, and we're not sure on if the car is up to the task of a 9 hour drive back home, so trailering it was really the only option.

I'm eager to see it in person and figure out what all it'll need to get back on par. I figure, at minimum, it'll need a full tune up, several fuel filters, and possibly a carb rebuild to get the engine back to life. I'm sure there will be other things that need attention too, but Popz wants to make sure the engine is ok before we tackle the rest of it.

I'm also excited for this because dad and I have never had any sort of project like this. He fell out of the car thing once he became a father and has been way more into firearms the past 20 years. This will be a cool way to get him back in a cool car and for us to spend some quality wrench time together

Spoolpigeon wrote: Popz wants to make sure the engine is ok before we tackle the rest of it.

Don't forget the tranny. Give that old 'Glide a flush by disconnecting the trans cooler outlet pipe, running a hose from it into a bucket, then adding fluid as you displace the old stuff.

The Tri-5 Nationals are close to home later this year, too. I'm hoping to attend with my dad in his '55.

Our view for the day

Clear roads so far except for Nashville. Getting close to Atlanta, so let's hope for the best. More pics to come tonight!

Woot Woot! Road Trip! Good Luck!

Made it to the town the car is in. Acquired a trailer from the local Uhaul. At the DMV now to sign the car over.

This is just outside the courthouse

It's the old hanging gallows. Pretty creepy. Maybe they left it as a reminder that they don't berk around down here

Destination complete.

And the beauty

After some visiting with the fam, we went out to load the car up. We expected the worst since it had been sitting, but the damn thing fired up and about 5 seconds of cranking. Backed it out and drove it right on the trailer. It runs surprisingly well considering it sat for the last 5 years. Some fresh gas and a fuel filter change should smooth it out.

A couple rust bubbles on the front left fender/door

Loaded up and ready for the trek home tomorrow

And one happy guy!

Pretty nice. '57 Chevys are one of those cars that looks good in two or four door versions. Some bubbling in the lower fender, but assuming the car will be only used on sunny days it probably doesn't need to be attended to for a while.

Awesome story

how cool that is

Such a clean car. Loved the story on it too.

Thanks guys! I can't believe how good it looks considering it has sat for the past 5+ years. It's going to need a thorough cleaning. It was fairly dusty and the interior was dirtier than the exterior, but underneath the car was nothing but cobwebs. Spiders give me the heebeejeebees, so that has to get addressed ASAP.

Made it through Atlanta surprisingly smooth. Looks like another beautiful day for a drive.

We had a tearful departure this morning. Aunt Yvonne gales herself together until we were ready to leave this morning. That car had been such a part of her's and uncle Bob's life that she was so sad to see it leave. On the other hand she said she's happy that it's going to it original home. She's a sweetheart and I wish we could have stayed for a couple days to spend some more time with her.

And we are back home.

We drove it onto the trailer in GA, but it wouldn't start when we got home. I couldn't push it off the trailer on my own, so we fired up the old '42 john Deere (in the background below) and pulled it off that way!

Pushed it in the garage and we will deal with getting it running another day. Time for bed!

thas a win there

I'm very happy for your father.

Very nice! Held up well over all these years.

The four door looks a lot less awkward than its contemporary sedans did.