Heaven Sent

Where does the inspiration to build a car come from? Well, in the case of 31-year-old Chris Roark's fine '57 Chevy Bel Air, "Heaven Sent," from Vacaville, California, you might think that it came from above. "Actually, it's because my last car was called 'Darkside '58,' so I thought that this one should come from the other side," notes the Oldies-East Bay member with a chuckle. Okay, so maybe the inspiration for the car isn't as ethereal as we'd like, but the results of Chris' year-and-a-half-long frame-off fantasy are certainly inspirational.

The heavy hitting hardtop is a perfect blend of stock restoration and modern ride and electronics technology that could hold its own at any concourse event or lowrider show. In fact, that's just what it's done. Chris busted out with the '57 at LRM's 2001 San Francisco show where it took Second in Street Custom. Chris wasn't too upset, however, since the car that beat him was his own "Darkside '58." Then, the Bel Air went on to win First in Street Custom and Third in Traditional at the 2001 Las Vegas Super Show; not a bad way to start off, we'd say.

The trophies are a testament to Chris, who did much of the work himself, including disassembly/reassembly, and to the shops and friends who contributed their time and talents. It all started with the bodywork, handled by Darren "Big Dawg" Gonzales of Superior Auto Body in Dixon, California. After taking the body down to metal, Big Dawg laid on a brilliant PPG turquoise blue and for the body and white for the top, including the factory sun visor.

Meanwhile, Chris was busy working on the chassis, applying 3M undercoating to the frame, installing all-new steering components, brakes, bushings and air bags with shocks on the rear. A complete system from Air Ride Technologies was installed with two 145-psi compressors, two 5-gallon tanks, electric fast valves and a cool dash-mounted digital pressure readout panel with four switches for front, back and side-to-side moves... and a great ride.

Before Chris started working on the chassis, he delivered the stock 283-c.i.d. engine and under-hood components to Kurt Pedracci, a private mechanic in El Sobrante, California, who restored the reliable V-8 to original showroom condition. Careful attention was paid to every detail, including the original factory engine and component colors, electricals and rubber, a 100-point engine in anybody's book.

Chris then put the engine and components back in their bay and bolted up a Turbo 350 tranny from Jim Dandy Transmission in Vacaville and The Muffler Store in Vacaville added a cool custom exhaust. Of course the original rearend had to be narrowed to allow the 14x7 Dayton wires to tuck inside the skirts, so Don's Workshop in Pleasant Hill, California, handled the task. And speaking of the wheels, a cool custom touch came from Oldies member, Conrad Garcia, who suggested having the OG '57 Chevrolet spinners machined to fit the Dayton knock-off hubs. Hercules radial whitewalls were chosen for rolling stock.

Once the car was back together, Chris took it to Tom Burnett of Burnett's Upholstery in Travis, California, for an original stock-restored interior. Tom used factory blue vinyl, patterned fabric and white piping throughout, with matching blue carpet from Auto Custom Carpets. Chris added several factory interior accessories including, rear window blinds, Bel Air floor mats, dual spotlights, a traffic signal viewer and compass.

To keep the interior looking original, Kirk "The Captain" Knutsen of Stereophonics in Vacaville installed an OG-style AM/FM/Cassette stereo head unit from Danchuk. Two Audiobahn amplifiers were mounted under Plexiglas in the trunk, three Audiobahn 10-inch woofers hidden under the rear deck and Memphis mids and tweeters hidden under the dash.

All of the interior brightwork including door handles, steering wheel, dash insert, as well as the exterior chrome, gold grille mesh, side trim and bumpers, were made to look new by Howard Walker at Walker's Custom Chrome in Shasta, California. Chris added the cool Continental kit and dual factory radio antennas to complete the package.

So what does a man do next when he's built such a heavenly hardtop? Well, if you're Chris you sell some of your toys and buy a very rare #1 concourse '59 Chevy Impala convertible with factory fuel injection--one of only five known to exist today. "I may take it to a Lowrider show and enter it in the Original class," quips Chris. And, he's also begun building a '50 Chevy Fleetline with a friend; but that's all that we can say about that for now.