The plan was to built a simple, cheap and mild custom driver. “It was going to be a primer car,” says Box. “But Linda (his wife) wouldn’t go for that.  Linda chose the Tantalizing Turquoise exterior colour which Box reveals is actually a  2000 Volvo truck colour. Despite wanting a simple ride, Box can never leave a car totally stock.  The most radical change to the ’51 Chevy’s original lines is the 1948 Oldsmobile rear window, complete with the rear portion of the donor’s Olds roof sheet metal. It makes for a smoother, more rounded area around the C pillars and rear side windows. Other than that, Box says the Chevy was “a 5 our of 10” in terms of difficult custom modifications.  “It’s actually the first car I’ve left the door handles on,” says Box, adding the stock locks were excellent. “I thought, what the hell,  I’m going to leave them in. The hood is nosed and the seam welded, while the fender skirts are 1 ½” deeper to better flow into the rear quarter panels. The headlight rings are from a ’55 Chevy but the headlights are from a Honda Valkyrie motorcycle.

      Because it was meant to be driven a lot, Box updated the entire suspension, starting with a Mustang II front suspension with 1978 Malibu disc brakes, power steering and power brakes. Out back, a 1977 Nova donated it’s 10-bolt (2.73 ratio) and the wheels are 15x6 GM units from a early 1970s wagon. The rims are wrapped in Coker wide whites.

     For motivation is a mild 350 linked to a Turbo 350 tranmission with a lock-up torque converter from a 1977 Monte Carlo which Box says keeps the rpms under control almost as good as a 700R4.

     Since it’s a driver and he wanted to keep the costs down, there was liberal use of white and turquoise pleather. The floor, door panels, front and back seats, which rest on seat tracks scored from a 1977 Trans Am are lathered in pleather. Yes, you read that correctly, the floor is covered with a pleather  rug, not carpet, that can be removed for easy cleaning. The steering column is stock with a rare, optional GM butterfly steering wheel. The  stock clock was shaved from the dash and the gauges are all aftermarket units. The stock heater was retained and there is no radio. To keep it simple and cheap, Box resisted the urge to install A/C – a brave decision as anybody who’s lived through a humid Ontario summer can attest to.

     Finished in the fall of 2008, Ron and Linda have had plenty of fun driving the car to shows as far as Myrtle Beach, NC and Tennessee and it already has close to 9,000 miles on the odometer.

      Can’t wait to see what rolls out of Box’s shop next.