My wish to own a 1957 Chevrolet convertible has finally come true.  It has been a long and windy road but it is finally here and on the road.  For those who don’t know my past, I owned a black 1957 210 sedan Chevrolet.  Then, there was the 1957 purple 4 door hardtop Chevrolet. 

The first time I saw a 1957 Chevrolet convertible (other than in posters) was at Danchuk (Chevrolet warehouse in USA) when I was on holidays for my 25th wedding anniversary, in 1995.  The warehouse had a red 1957 convertible on display.  I asked the Manager if I could take a photo with the convertible (after all, I did spend thousands of dollars in parts for the black 1957).  The manager wouldn’t let me, so I had to find a convertible for myself so I could take as many photos as I wanted.  After searching high and low, I finally found a convertible in Queensland in 2003.  Brian, my son, and I flew up.  It was a piece of crap – rust bucket with no roof or floor.  It was kind of like a Flintsones car where you paddle with your feet.  That did not bother me – it was my dream coming true

I arranged for the transportation of my chev.  There were many delays with the car carrier and I couldn’t wait.   So, I decided to drive myself up with a car trailer and collect my dream.  Diane, my daughter, came with me.  We drove directly to Surfers Paradise in 10 hours, loaded the chev on the trailer and within a couple of hours we were headed back to Sydney.

This is where my dream comes to fruition, I couldn’t stop working on my chev.  It took me all these years of weekends, after work and through Christmas holidays to finish my dream. 

As my chev was being sand blasted, I noticed that there wasn’t much rust.  The chev had original paint, except the front guards and the bonnet. The first Christmas break I converted the chev from left hand to right hand drive and installed the 57 Aussie dash.  I decided to put 2 new door skins which didn’t need to be replaced. 

That following year, the chev was on vario (primer).  I got into the chasis and also had that sand blasted, I fitted an LS1 motor with a turbo 700 (Camaro), I put a Ford 9 inch diff, I did the tail shaft and I painted everything black. 

I was undecided on the colour.  I finally decided on red (VS Commodore Sting Red Hot).  After my chev was painted, I took it to the electrician, where he worked on it for 3 months.  Then the exhaust was done.  The trim was completed after 6 months.  There were some minor problems with the chroming.

After all that, I took my chev home and started to finally put my dream together. 

Just before Christmas 2007, the engineer gave me the report and here I am with my dream.

I also wanted to thank my mate, Warren McMartin, fromACE (Automotive, Colour & Equipment) for sponsoring me with all the materials and Spies Hecker paint.