1951 Chevy Two-Door - High School Sweetheart

A lot of guys have soft memories of high school sweethearts and high school cars. Not many have either one after a few years. Trying to recapture that magical time may be a challenge to most of us because of the passage of time and innocence. Still, many of us keep trying, and with some success, judging by the many cars that are either being rebuilt after many a winter has passed or new ones emulating the old ones.

Bob and Bonny Loop were high school sweethearts, and they are part of a fortunate few who are still sweethearts after many years of marriage. The one thing that did get away was the old Chevy in which they cruised Main Street, among other things. In the ensuing years, kids and other rides came along, but the old Chevy of their youth kept coming up in their memories. Then, one beautiful day not long ago, on a casual drive, there in a driveway was a forlorn '51 Chevy two-door that had seen better days. It was, however, drivable and made it home to their garage. The fun was about to begin, if you look at it that way. There are times when building an old car into a streetable one can be challenging and very frustrating. But Bob and Bonny stuck together on this project, just as they have in their lives. They started with an out-of-box ZZ4 GM crate engine with a bunch more go-power than ever imagined in 1951. Put a GM 350 transmission and Chevy 10-bolt rear in back of that and you have an unbeatable combo that will get you down the road and the 1320.

The body, with its pastel green PPG paint and recent addition of whitewalls, was not like that when they drove it home. After a false start, and Jerry Charlson's redo of the bodywork, Baha Auto shot the paint over the now smooth panels. Cool mods to the car are the replacement of the windshield with an Olds unit, and the setting back into the fenders of the front headlights so they don't seem to be bug-eyed like the originals. The firewall was also smoothed, along with the inner fenderwells, to provide a cool place for the hot motor.

Bob and Bonny spent a lot of time in the first '51, most likely with plaid seat covers over the worn original upholstery. My, how things have changed. Jim Sanders did a pro job of stitching the dark brown 'Hyde over the '54 Chevy front seat and stock rear. The original gauges were restored with new white faces and the radio grille now hinges down to display the new Sony music box. Top it all off with a slightly later-model GM steering wheel and you have a very tasteful, and OEM-looking, update to a neat old Chevy coupe.

In some of the former days, the original sixes had a rap to them when straight pipes were installed. Now this '51 has a growl from a very healthy V-8, cool threads, and great sounds that make it equal to anything the General has to offer today.