Joey and Larry’s 1955 Chevrolet 210

Joey and Larry are proud onwers of this 1955 Chevrolet 210 with flames that appear to flicker and come to life. The couple first purchased this hot rod after a frame-off restoration twenty-five years ago. The couple had it two years and then sold it.

“About six years ago it came back up for sale and I bought it back,” said Larry. “This is the only car that I’ve ever owned and I’ve owned a few, that when I sold it my wife got mad. So I knew right then when the car came back up for sale, I don’t know whether it appeased her or not to buy it back, but I bought it back anyway and she’s tickled to death with it.”

The Chevy had seen two different owners in the twenty years that Larry didn’t own the car. “The owner before me, he used it as a daily driver. The twenty-five old paint started getting pretty bad on it,” Larry said. “When I got it, it was just a nice driver. It wasn’t beat up or anything, but the paint was cracking and it had a few door dings in it. The interior was pretty dirty but it was a twenty-footer. It didn’t look like a bad car.”

After Larry re-acquired the ’55 two-door, his plan for the Chevy was pretty straight forward. “I drove the car for a couple of years just figuring I’d just enjoy driving it. I didn’t want to have a car I couldn’t drive and make it too nice,” Larry explained. “I’ve got a couple cars that sometimes I feel they are too nice to drive. But over a period of a couple years I decided I wanted to freshen it up and just one thing turned to another and a freshening up went to building a full blown hot rod.”

This is a situation that automobile owners create when they make one thing look nice, it all has to look nice. “Well, you’re exactly right,” Larry agreed. “When you get the car looking one way and the interior doesn’t look nice anymore, you’ve got to do that. And then the engine, well the engine bay, it’s got to be dressed up. Then you end up spending several thousand more dollars than you anticipated.”

When Larry had the ’55 Chevy the first time around, it had a supercharged 350 cubic inch engine and a roll cage. “When I got back it still had the cage; it didn’t have the 671 blower motor anymore. We put an LT1 out of a 1996 Trans Am hooked to the original Trans Am six-speed manual transmission. The LT1 is stock and it pushes about 330 horse power. The car is fast and it gets about 27 miles to the gallon cruising on the highway,” said Larry.

“When we got doing the interior, I liked the roll cage. It’s something that people talk about with they look at the car, so we left the roll cage in it. Larry stated, “Some people don’t like it. Some people say what did you leave that there for? It just gives the car personality.”

To transfer the performance from the General Motors fuel-injected power plant to the American Racing Torque Thrust II wheels on the pavement, Larry installed a 1967 Chevrolet eight-bolt rear end with a four-link rear suspension system. Disc brakes at every corner stop this classic Chevy with a press of the pedal.

Inside the vehicle, Joey and Larry are surrounded by a compilation of comfort and style. A Billet Specialties steering wheel bolted to an ididit steering column relays the driver’s commands to a CCP (Classic Performance Products) 500 Series power steering kit to keep it between the ditches.

“It’s got Vintage Air, all the amenities,” Larry pointed out. “It cruises down the highway nice because you’re cool and at a low RPM. We used about ten to twelve boxes of Dynamat insulation in it when we redid it so it’s quiet inside. It’s got Dakota Digital gauges, all the brand names are there,” said Larry. “Nothing real fancy, most of the stuff you get right off the shelf. Stuff that I liked, I put on it,” Larry affirmed.

Joey and Larry cruised from Supply, North Carolina to Richmond, Virginia for the National Street Rod Association 5th Richmond Nationals and got to make use of all the cars accessories. “It’s got a RainGear wiper system in it so the firewall could be smoothed off and still have wipers. We got a little wet last night. We got to clean the car up twice, once before we left, and once when we got here,” declared Larry.

The couple enjoyed the trip sitting on seats removed from a 1996 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. “The interior is an interior by Dan Cope in Lexington, South Carolina. He specializes in Tri-Five interiors and he did this one for me,” said Larry.

The 1955 Chevrolet also has features that aren’t shelved in a ware house. The vent windows were removed in favor of one-piece door glass. In place of the original dash speaker, a custom made classic Chevrolet logo that lights up is in its place to match the digital gauges.

On the outside life-like flames engulf the front of the car except the gleaming chrome. “A gentleman in Wilmington, North Carolina, Ray Haves, did the paint and body work on the car,” Larry shared. “The body on the car as I said was good, but there was a little bit of rust on the bottom of the doors, so he put the door skins on it, stripped it completely down, pulled the front end, the hood, and everything came off.”

To achieve the clean look Larry wanted, Ray applied his skill to the engine compartment. “He smoothed the firewall where the battery box originally was. He took all the bolt holes out of the inner fenders. We took a good bit of time hiding the wires. If you look in this one about the only wiring you’ll see is the spark plug wires. We hid all those under the fenders,” Larry revealed.

That was only part of the job. Ray removed the tin and painted the pieces separately. “He painted it apart and re-assembled it and then went on about a two and a half month excursion of putting the flames on it. It’s got thirty coats of paint to build up the fire look on the car,” Larry said.

Joey and Larry are an example of successful classic automobile owners in the sense that not only did they cross finish line of their project, but they are pleased with the results as well. “Overall, the car is exactly what I want,” Larry said with content. “A hot rod has got to have two things. It’s got to have flames and it’s got to have a clutch, and this has got both.”

Larry doesn’t plan on making the same mistake again. “This car, that’s the old story. Everyone’s got one that got away. I’ve got a couple I let get away I wish I had back, but I got this one back. I won’t be buried in it, but let’s put it this way, someone will have to wait till I die to enjoy it.”

Classics Feature – 1955 Chevrolet 210 – Joey and Larry reside in Supply, North Carolina and are members of the Tri Beach Cruisers Car Club. Pictures were taken August 29, 2009 at Richmond Raceway Complex during the NSRA National Street Rod Association 5th Richmond Nationals in Richmond, Virginia.