Feature Story: Classic Cars, the Ultimate Ride!
eat your heart out Peggy Sue!
Story and Photography by Kathryn R. Burke
© San Juan Publishing Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Eat your heart out, Peggy Sue! Today’s muscle car ride is as good as it ever gets…or got. And cruisin’ is still a favorite Friday night activity. Rolling along with the top down and the radio up, you may recognize some of your old friends behind the wheels of these well-loved and lovingly preserved (now) classic cars. Many of their owners are of “a certain age” from the era where you hung out at the malt shop.
But not all of them. You’ll find a few younger folks too, as much in love with these vintage cars today as you were way back then. Remember the rattle of glass packs and steel packs and the roar of 450 cubic inches? The thrust of four-on-the-floor and the thrill of draggin’ Main Street? Muscle cars—the real deal, not these little shoe-sized kiddie cars of today that look like they run on pedal power rather than horse power—are still here. And we’re still building and rebuilding them in our garages in what for many of us is part of a continuing, life-long love affair with the American automobile.
Jack Fay, Ouray, Colo. – He got his first hot rod as a sophomore in Ouray High School, and he’s owned 44 cars and motorcycles since, including his ’62 ‘Vette pictured at top. Wayne Mettler, Fruita, Colo. – started racing and working on cars when he was 20s. His favorites then were a ’55 and a ’56 Chevy and they still are. His current ride is a ’55 210 Post. Rob Lake, Montrose, Colo. – has spent his whole life working on cars. and he’s still doing it. Paul Martin, Montrose Colo. – President of the Black Canyon Classic Car Club bought his first classic in 1970; today’ he’s driving a ’55 Bel Air. Chuck Llewellyn, Montrose, Colo. – The 1931 Ford Vicky Chuck recently restored isn’t his first classic, and it won’t be his last. Augie Reno, Scottsdale, Ariz., restored a 1937 Chevy Deluxe Business Coupe, which he showed at the BCCCC show in July. Wallace Downer, Fruita, Colo. – restored the 1921 Model T Roadster shown above.
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Photography, ©Kathryn R. Burke.
All shots taken at Classic Car Club show, Montrose, Colorado
Top: Jack Fay’s ’62 ‘Vette.
Above: Wayne Mettler’s ’55 Chevy 210 Post; Augie Reno’s 1937 Chevy Coupe; Chuck Llewellyn’s 1931 Ford Vicky; Wallace Downer’s 1921 Model T Roadster.
Notes
Ed.: OK, this publication champions sustainability. The cars pictured here are gas guzzlers, not green hybrids. But, they represent an era when life was sweet and our needs far less complex than they are today. For one thing, we could and did fix our own cars. Without a computer. Imagine that! Our message here is that car clubs like this one, and the vehicles owned and driven by these people are another form of sustainability – they honor our heritage and keep it alive for future generations. Of course, if you’re a car nut like we are, it’s all just an excuse to “put the pedal to the medal’ and see how far we can go before some enterprising fuzz puts and end to the fun.
References & Additional Links
Black Canyon Classic Car Club