1955 210 Del Ray 2 door sedan
Frisco, Texas
October's
FEATURE CAR
Billy & Bobby Doan's
1955 210 Del Ray 2 door sedan
Frisco, Texas
THE ’55 COMES ALIVE.
Not a movie title from a horror flick, but a description of brother’s Billy and
Bobby Doan’s lifelong love and caring for a 1955 Chevy! Here is their story!
On April 27, 1958 Billy and I at 16 years old bought for $1000 a 1955 Chevrolet 2-door blue and white 210 Delray ... and hence it all began.
We drove the car to Tulia High School, to Texas Tech, and to our new jobs with DuPont in Virginia, Tennessee, and Delaware.
As time went on the car got old and tired. We did not want to sell it and on August 13, 1976 we temporarily stored the car in a barn at our grandparents’ farm in Tulia, Texas. We intended this location to be a short term place for the car until we had time to fix it up.
So, 41 years (and 144,159 miles) later on May 23, 2017 we removed the car from "temporary storage" and began a total frame-off restoration with final completion taking place at the end of 2018.
When the restoration was 95% completed the car was taken to Tulia for a preliminary cruise and for showing-off at our 58 year high school class reunion on Picnic Day, July 17th 2018. We had the honor to drive the Man-of-the-year, Randy Singer, in the parade to make the 55’s debut back home in Tulia, Texas.
We planned for the car to look like a brand new original 1955 Chevrolet 210 Delray (and it does) with a slight increase in power ... to 435HP (it was 162 HP). We also added power disc brakes and A/C, but retained the original three-on-the tree transmission.
The restoration has been a real challenge … but we now have a brand new 1955 Chevrolet. WE LOVE the “55” and it warms our hearts to see it and drive it. Each time we start the car we get to be 16 years old again, even if for only a moment.
We are especially happy and fortunate to have had the help and expertise from JB’s Corvette Specialists, Steve & Tammy Kingman in Carrollton to accomplish this historic restoration project. Very special thanks to Jerry McMillon for his expert mechanical work and to Gus Morales for his excellent paint and body work. We would also like to also acknowledge B & B Muffler (Dan Gajewski) in Carrollton for the perfect custom exhaust system installation (designed by David Doan).
YES, THE TIME HAS COME, THE CLOCK IS REALLY RUNNING IN OUR LIVES .... and we plan to savor every moment we have with this car and especially LOOK FORWARD TO cruising downtown Tulia, Texas “Dip-Street” a few more times in the "55"!
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