Family shares a father's labor of love
Joel Pena's first car was one special 1957 Chevy Bel Air. He purchased the vehicle as a 17-year-old in 1966 while living in McAllen, Texas. His cousin sold it to him for $200.
Pena worked hard to make the necessary payments to make it his own. For the next three years, the silver coupe served him faithfully as he drove the dusty roads to and from work. Despite being nearly a decade old, the Chevy still attracted attention.
“Everybody liked the styling,” Pena recalls. “I got many offers from people wanting to buy it.”
He turned them all down and even passed on the occasional horsepower horseplay. His car packed the 283-cubic-inch V-8 engine, one of the bigger engines for the year, but the young man still resisted.
“I didn't have the extra money to race or smoke the tires,” Pena says. That's because he was already saving for a major life change.
In 1969, Pena sold everything he owned, including his cherished Chevy, and made the move to Chicago, where he still lives today. He settled down, got married and for many years told his family he'd like to get another '57.
Decades passed but it finally happened in 1999. With the help of his two sons, Oscar and Joel II, he purchased this 1957 Bel Air four-door from a seller in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
“It was in a barn and half taken apart,” said Joel II. The body was rough and rusted but complete.
Joel Sr. knew this car was just the one.
“Dad had a clear vision for the how he wanted the project to turn out,' says Joel II. The trio brought it home and set to work. They had the floor and trunk pan replaced before the sheet metal was stripped. Next, a new coat of shimmering Sierra Gold paint was sprayed on.
Modern disc brakes were installed up front, behind new wheels and gold-line tires. Pena liked the power of that first 283 V-8, so they sourced another and put it underhood.
An entire new interior was installed along with such tricks as a digital dash and LED lighting. Accessories like dual rear antennae and chrome bumper caps were added on, too.
This was the first auto restoration the family has undertaken but one long in the making. “Ever since me and my brother were small, Dad took us to car shows,” Joel II says. “He helped grow in us a love for the classics.”
The sedan was finished in 2015 and the guys spent the rest of the year “working out the kinks,” Joel II says. This year has been different. Now that their cruiser is dialed in, this summer was nothing but joyful and carefree motoring.
“It was the best thing to buy this car,” Pena says. “It certainly takes me back but the best memories are the ones I'm making with my sons now.”