Sheri and Her II Chevys

As we stood next to her husband’s 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle SS, Sheri told me she has always had an appreciation of cars. We continued talking during the 2nd Annual Lady Trojans Car Show in Shallotte, North Carolina, while people walked up to the see the 402 cubic inch engine cradled between the fenders under the bright red hood with white racing stripes. 

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“My husband bought it because I already had my car,” Sheri stated. “I have a 1964 Chevy II Nova and he wanted a car too so he picked this one up. Today he went fishing so I got to pick between the Chevy Chevelle and the Chevy Nova as to which one to bring to the show. If I am going too far to a show or it’s really hot in the summer time, I will load her up on a trailer and pull her with my Cadillac.” 

The 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle SS has the original carpet, seats, and headliner. “It’s pretty much original,” Sheri said of the Chevelle she drove to the show. “We have the original wheels and poly-glass tires that came on it. We did take those off and put Keystones on it because we would have jacked it up a little bit in the rear end any way if we would have had her in ’72. We did take the exhaust off and put headers on, but other than that she’s pretty much the way she came out of the show room in ’72.” 

Sheri has taken a more aggressive approach to her 1964 Chevy II. “My Nova came with a 283 and I have put a 350 in her,” said Sheri. “I did all the work with a little help from my neighbor. I put an air conditioning system, power steering, power brakes, and a front end in her and loved every minute of it.” 

With her choice of either her Chevy II or her husband’s Chevelle when he is fishing, Sheri takes on the responsibility of caring for them also. “I do all the cleaning, the washing, the putting the fuel in, and changing the oil,” Sheri said.

As you may have guessed by now, Sheri likes Chevrolets. “I am a Chevy fan, a GM fan”, Sheri added. “It’s cool to take it out in town and see all the looks you get. I’ve always loved cars. Before I was sixteen, I had two brand new cars,” Sheri informed me. 

“What were they?” I inquired. 

“A 1977 Mustang II Ghia and a 1978 Ford LTD II,” replied Sheri. “Back then it was Fords; that’s what my parents were into. With my ’78 Ford LTD, I was proposed to, and so my father said that if I got married he was going to sell my car. But the way I looked at it, I was getting a ’78 Trans Am, so it didn’t matter,” Sheri said convincingly. “I was trading up,” Sheri said of the Pontiac that her husband had.  

“How did he feel?” I asked. 

“My father or my husband?” Sheri responded while laughing. 

“Your Father,” I said now laughing with her. 

“He thought I wasn’t going to get married if I was going to lose my car,” said Sheri. 

“How long did you think about that choice?” I asked. 

“It didn’t take long. I really liked the Trans Am better than I did the LTD,” answered Sheri still laughing. “It was brown with the gold bird on the hood.” 

Sheri told me that she thinks that her having to choose between getting married or keeping her car had something to do with her father trading in an old pickup that he really liked to buy the LTD for her. “I was more afraid my parents weren’t going to let me get married.” Sheri explained. “They were worried because my father had just bought me this new car and I was going to be getting married. The car wasn’t leaving obviously. I may be leaving but I wasn’t taking the car with me.” 

“My father, he was really funny,” Sheri said fondly. “He really loved me and he was really strict. I’m a really good backer,” Sheri exclaimed. “Because I only lived two blocks from school. I lived in a small town that had only two stoplights,” Sheri noted. “So to cruise Main Street after school, I would back my way to school and back my way home. Then shortly after that I would cruise Main Street one time, because my father checked my mileage, and if I’d gone too far he would make me walk for two weeks. So I would back all the way to school and back all the way home so I could get my mileage cruising Main Street.” 

When asked if it was worth it she replied without hesitation, “Oh yeah! Just to cruise Main Street one time,” she said  with laughter. “I could cruise it all day long on my bicycle but he wouldn’t let me cruise it in the cars. There were a couple of times I had to walk to school,” Sheri admitted. 

Formerly having a 1978 Pontiac Trans Am myself, I asked Sheri to tell me what became of the Firebird. 

“We traded it for a Pontiac Grand Prix,” Sheri said. “I think it was an ’80 Grand Prix and then we got rid of that because we started having kids and I wanted a bigger car so I got a big Bronco. We put a really big motor in it and when my son was two, in the mornings, Fords are kind of cold natured, and I would put my foot in the floor and it would just rumble. So my son would always say, ‘Mom, put your foot in it’ so it would rumble.” 

Sheri went a stretch without owning a classic car prior to getting her 1964 Chevrolet Nova II, which she will have owned six years in April. 

“We didn’t get into classic cars until about six years ago and we started hanging out with my next door neighbors who are members of the club and we fell in love with the people so I just wanted to be a part of it,” Sheri said. “Plus, with my neighbor having his car, I just wanted to have my own. I just didn’t know this was something you could do when you got to be my age.”

Sheri has been a member of the Sun Coast Cruisers car club in Wilmington, North Carolina for six years, and is currently in her fourth year of being the club’s Vice-President. I asked her to tell me about her role with one of the club’s involvements in the community. 

“We adopt Britthaven Nursing Home down at Wrightsville Beach every year and I head that up”, said Sheri. “I go down there and I take pictures of all of them and get their Christmas wish lists.” 

Sheri matches the pictures of the residents with their wish list and then presents it to club members who adopt residents and donate items on the list. Members of the club return to the nursing home with their classic cars and present the items that otherwise may not be provided. Sheri tells me about how some of the residents react to the visit. 

“Well if they’re able to come out and they can walk around, we’ll put them in the car and let them sit in it. It puts them back into the time when they were teenagers. They’ll tell us what they did in the back seat and all that kind of stuff,” Sheri said with a laugh. “It’s the truth, they really do.”

Sheri revealed that the Chevrolet Chevelle had recently been damaged. 

“In September is was on fire. The garage that it sits in, my husband had gone in there and he was trying to get a fishing rod down to go on a fishing trip. When he stepped down he fell and hit his head and he had a cigarette in his hand, but he didn’t know that because he hit his head. He came in the house to put some ice on his head and when he came back out to get the fishing rod, the garage was on fire.” 

Dickie had been working on painting the intake manifold on the 402 cubic inch engine and Sheri believes that  the cigarette came in contact with rags that had paint thinner on them. 

“When the fire department came, they knew the Chevelle was in there, so they got it out,” Sheri said. “But the front end was burnt and we just got it back from Bugzy’s Rod House. It was smoked up pretty bad and my husband is all right. It could have been worse,” Sheri said with a tone of relief in her voice.

I asked Sheri if she had a favorite between her 1964 Chevy II Nova and her husband’s 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle SS. She replied, “The Chevelle is prettier, but the Nova is more fun to drive because it has a slapstick automatic, plus it’s louder. And I really like to be the first one at a stoplight so I can pull it down in first gear so I can take off and make it talk going into second gear. So the Nova is a lot more fun to drive, but the Chevelle is more comfortable to drive long distances. It just depends on where I’m going.” 

Today, Sheri no longer has to take two drives backward to take one cruise forward. With her choice of two nice Chevys to drive without having to account for mileage, Sheri can cruise where ever she likes. I want to thank Sheri for sharing her time and her passion for classic cars with me. Keep Cruising Sheri!

LADIES’ LANE presented by HOME HEADQUARTERS is dedicated to women like Sheri who have a passion for classic autombiles.

Ladies' Lane is presented by HOME HEADQUARTERS