Denfield, ON’s Ron Box has building top-knotch customs for more than 50 years and by the looks of this sweet little 1951 Chevy time isn’t slowing him down.
     Regular readers of Canadian Hot Rods magazine will remember seeing Box’s very smooth 1941 Plymouth convertible a few issues ago (Vol 5, Iss 1). Magazine coverage for his builds is something Box is used to. In 1958 he built a 1949 Ford that received “a small blurb” in a major US hot rod mag. That car had 1950 Olds taillights, exhaust coming out the quarterpanels with a slick two-tone black and white lacquer job.  Since then his cars have been in many magazines all over the world, including England, Sweden and the US.
     Even before he started hanging around the Alexander Brothers Detroit, MI  shop (with Larry and Mike at one time offering him a job he didn’t take) Box was building notable custom cars. Inspired by issues of Hop Up magazine he built his first custom, a 1947 Mercury with a 3” chop, when he was just 16 years old.  In 1964, the carpenter by trade decided he wanted to start building cars for other people.
     He still does work for other people these days, but he’s basically retired which gives him more time to build cars of his own,  including this gem of a ’51 Chevy. I spied it at a show in Dorchester, ON  last July  and couldn’t resist its smooth lines and mild custom vibe. Box said a 2-door HT he built in 1958 — with ’55 Buick side trim —  inspired this 21^st century version. 
     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.