1957 Chevy Bel Air turns a lot of heads

NORWALK — Jim and Jo Ann Grover ride around in their prized possession "Shasta" about two or three times a week when the weather is nice. "Shasta," a 1957 Chevy Bel Air, was purchased in Illinois about 10 years ago. The Grovers found the iconic car online and brought it back to Ohio. The car had originally been sold to someone else, but the sale fell through so they nabbed it. "It was full of holes like Swiss cheese," Jim said, adding, "The pictures that were on line looked a lot better than what it looked like in person." They loaded up the car on a trailer and had it hauled back to Norwalk. It took the Grovers two full years to have the car renovated. Local mechanic Nick Snyder did most of the work. But not all of it. "We cleaned a lot of chrome," Jo Ann recalls. About 50 percent of the parts on the vehicle were new at the time of restoration, Jim says. Jim says they get a lot of thumbs up from people when they are driving around town. "It's kind of surprising young people will stop and say 'I really like your car.' You wouldn't expect that," Jo Ann says. So how did they come up with the name "Shasta"? The car was named after a car Jim's aunt owned, which got the name "Shasta" because, "She has to have gas. She has to have oil. She has to have repairs," Jim jokes. According to Wikipedia, "The 1957 Chevrolet is a car that was introduced by Chevrolet in September 1956 for the 1957 model year. It was available in three series models: the upscale Bel Air, the mid-range Two-Ten, and the One-Fifty. A two-door station wagon, the Nomad, was produced as a Bel Air model... The '57 Chevy, as it is often known, is an auto icon." If you have a classic car or unique vehicle that you would like featured in The Reflector, email briangott@tandemnetwork.com.