Ravaged For 40 Years
By John Lundgren
My dad graduated highschool in 1969 driving an onyx black 1956 chevy 210 2dr hardtop. He also had a blue/white 1956 210 2dr post that he drove in the mid / late sixties. He was drafted and sent overseas for a 20 months, and both cars sat at my grandparents farm until he returned. When he returned he continued to drive the cars into the early 70's. He married my mom in '73, and I was born in '76. But like most guys those old cars behind the garage were sold to pay for things that were needed when you have a little one. He sold the pair to the same guy for $400.00. He would tell me about those cars as I was growing up and how much he wished he hadn't gotten rid of them. I always wanted a tri-five chevy when I was growing up, but in the early 90's they were far out of my price range. I built Chevelles, Impalas, Chargers, and other junk, but I always wanted a '55-'57 Chevy. Fast forward to 2002, I heard a rumor there was a '56 Chevy behind a bodyshop in a little town about 20 miles down the road. I drove down there to see what he had. He was nice enough to let me tour his yard. Well low and behold there sat an onyx black '56 2dr hardtop. It was sitting on the frame, wheels sunk in the dirt. Last licesned in '72. Well I called my dad up to tell him about my find, and describe the car. Nothing to crazy black car, half rotted in the ground. This is when things got interesting.
I told him it had a hurst shifter and a big STP decal on the heater box on the passenger side. He said are you kidding. I said no, why. He said thats my old car!
Then he told me to look under the hood and look at the fan blade, and valve covers and see if they were painted green and black. So I fought the hood open and sure as poop, they were! This was it! It was the car I had heard so much about. So I went back inside the body shop to ask how much for the rusty Chevy out back. He says $500.00, I say sold. I wrote him a check, and called my buddy with a car trailer. While talking to the body shop guy I told him what the deal was with the car. It being my dad’s old car and such. He told me he had bought the car years and years ago and never gotten to it. He said the guy I bought it from had 2, this one and a blue/white 2dr post. I asked where this guy lived and he tells me about 10 miles north of here and gives me his name (Don). At this point my head is about to explode with excitement. What are the chances this guy still has the car?....
So we load up my hardtop and head for home. Once we get home we unload the car, and I make a call to Don to see if he happens to have the car still. He still does and it’s for sale. I make an appointment to see the car the next day. We drive over to the farm, and out behind the barn in the tall grass sits a blue/white ‘56 2dr post. Dad walks up to the car and smiles and says this is it. He says see that pool ball-sized hole in the windshield... that’s from a rock falling out of a gravel truck on the highway. That’s why I parked the car in the first place.