In September of 1958 I ordered a new 1959 Chevy Impala 2-door hardtop in black with red interior, standard 250 HP 348 cubic inch engine with a power glide.  I really enjoyed this car but I so regretted that it did not have a standard transmission and more HP.  So in June of 1959 I traded it in for another brand new 1959 Chevy 2-door hardtop in white with red interior.  This car had the 335 HP engine and a standard 3 speed.  Since I was only 18 years old I felt I was pretty cool to have one of the fastest cars around.  I was so excited to get this car because I wanted to drag race it.  Well, I did and boy, did I ever start to have troubles.  The rocker arms would constantly fall off to the side of the valve push rods, plus one blown engine, three transmissions & four broken rear ends.  The car was in the Chevrolet dealer's repair shop for 3 months of the 6 months that I owned it.  The local Chevrolet dealer just could not fix all the problems.  I was so fed up with all the troubles that I just wanted to get rid of it.  Sure wish I had that car back now.  Ever said that before?

Being only 18 years old, I had to have wheels all the time. I was also at that time a member of the Strollers Hot Rod Club in Sioux City, Iowa. One of the members of the club, who was a used car dealer, always had a fast and good looking car. At that very time that I was having all this trouble with my ’59 Chevy, he had a ’57 Chevy convertible with a factory 283 HP fuel injection and a 3-speed. He bought the car from the original owner in Omaha, Nebraska. He had put 4 rows of louvers in the hood, filled in the hood bullet scoops, removed the Chevrolet and V emblems in the front of the hood and painted the car a candy apple red. Wow, I thought that surely this red convertible would be a lot nicer to own than a white ’59 Impala hardtop. Besides, he was not having any troubles with the car. So, we traded cars.

Since he was a dealer, he never registered the car. Therefore, in December of 1959 I became the 2^nd owner. I found out later that all he did to the’59 Chevy was insert new rocker arm studs and the problem stopped. Oh well. I still had a convertible and it was a hot ’57 Chevy. In that era it was very popular to have a name on your car. So I named it and had written on the sides of the tail fins “Lit’l Teaser”.

I did my share of drag racing this convertible at the local drag strip in the super stock class. I did pretty well and it held the title as the fastest car in that class for almost 2 years. My mother wasn’t happy that I was drag racing but she figured that it was safer at the track then on the streets. The streets? Well, that’s another story.

While I owned it, I lowered it all around with lowering blocks in the back and a torch to the coils in the front. I put on some different parts that I thought at the time were good looking. Like short exhaust drag pipes right behind the front tires, big flipper hubcaps and installed a floor shifter. It was the “in thing” at that time, remember it was 1960. The fuel injection gave us so much trouble that I just put on 3 deuces and it then ran good all the time.

In 1962 I was drafted into the Army. So, instead of going into the Army and being shipped to Vietnam, I joined the Air Force. Well, the Air Force did not pay very well. In fact, only $73.00 per month. My car payment was $68.00 per month and there was no way that I could afford to pay for the car, insurance and drive it. So, I was forced to sell it. I sold it in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in March of 1962. Boy was I ever heart sick. I really loved that car. So did the girls.

I did my time in the Air Force and after discharge in March of 1966, I returned to Minneapolis, MN to go back to work as an airline pilot. I started thinking about that car again and wondered where it was. So, I wrote the DOT in South Dakota and they returned to me the latest information of who owned the car and their address. Boy, was I ever excited. I called the owner and found out that he still had the car and it was in, you guessed it, Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The same city in which I had sold it. I asked him if he was interested in selling it to me as I would like to have it back. He said no. But, he did agree to let me come and see it.

Wow, was I ever disappointed when I saw it. It now had bucket seats in the front and both the front and back seats were now redone in black tucked and rolled naugahide. The car had been repainted dark blue. The dash and upper door sills were all covered with black felt. The car had been raised in the front and the back with a radical rake look. The undercarriage had been painted a bright yellow. It looked just terrible. But, it was my old car.

I kept calling him ever so often to see if he would sell it and he said no. It was his first car and he wanted to restore it. But, finally in 1986 after another 20 years of calling him and going to see it, he finally agreed to sell it to me. Price? Way too high. But, then it is my old car? I had to do it. For me, way too much nostalgia and he knew it.

So, I sent him the check and I went on down to Sioux Falls and brought it home. Now, the engine and transmission were out of it. He gave me the engine and transmission but it all had to be restored. He also gave me a good ’57 Chevy Bel Air 4 door for parts. It was a good thing as later I found out that I really needed the parts car.

When I brought it home to Minneapolis, I couldn’t wait to have my family see it. My wife and daughter came outside, took one look at it and said, “Dad, that is butt ugly.” My heart just sank. Because, it was my old car and I knew it’s potential. They just shook their heads and walked back inside our home.

I then started to take the car apart. I found that there was a lot more rust than I ever expected and I knew that a lot of parts were going to have to be replaced on the body. So, I took it all apart and stacked every part up in a pile in a barn for the next 2 years while I started to buy parts.

Then in 1990 we moved to Tampa and I brought the car down with us. We had built a new house with a big garage so I finally started the restoration process. I was assisted by Bob Kling of Kling Automotive in Lutz, FL. He helped me restore the rolling chassis plus some body work. He then rebuilt and installed the engine and transmission. I did as much as I could with the help of this good friend.

I then took the car up to Virginia to another person who restores Tri-Five Chevys. Many hours and months of labor were needed to complete the body off restoration. The car was transformed to a new life.