'57 with a story

[magicoolbus]

I'm a noob to the board and I thought I would relate an interesting tale of a truck. I am in my mid forties and back when I was about 5 years old, I came to Arizona with my family to visit my uncle Jimmy. He had just aquired a 1957 Chevy 3200. It had beed well used and had just gotten a well deserved new paint job (a roller and several gallons of latex, my uncle bought it that way.) My uncle owned a garage and tow business in Mesa, AZ, called Southwest Auto and Towing, some of you old timers in AZ might remember it. This truck was destined to be a shop/parts truck.

The truck was used just like it was for many years and served the business well. When my cousin was turning 16, my uncle decided to restore the truck and bring it back to a previous glory that I really doubt it really ever had. This was in 1980.

I often visited AZ with my family and got to ride in the truck many times before and after resto. I was lucky and got to come to ASU for college in the early 80's and wanted to buy that truck so bad from my uncle, but couldn't swing the deal as you can imagine as a starving college student. In the Mid 80's my uncle sold the truck to help finance a new automotive machine shop he was buying.

Fast forward seven years to 1992. My older brother was coming home from Gulf 1 and wanted to buy an old vehicle. Everyone knows, that if you want a rust free truck, you get it from AZ. He spent many hours calling and driving around town to find just the right vehicle. His search culminated on, you guessed it, a 1957 chevy 3200. It was the exact truck that my Uncle had had for all those years. Oh, how I was jealous and wanted that truck!

My brother took 'my' truck to Texas to live for nearly 18 years. In those years, he did nothing to the truck but drive it and enjoy the heck out of it. I had told him, and kept reminding him, that if he ever wanted to sell it, I get first dibs. Well, that opportunity came up in Oct of 2008, for the family discounted sum of $xxxx.xx, I was the new owner of 'my' truck.

I have redone all the chrome, new paint, and rebuilt the engine. Lots of small spit and polish stuff left to do. But it's all mine. Here's to a truck that's been in the 'family' for oh so many years!