Words: John Gunnell
Resto-Mods (restored/modernized cars) aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but may be one of the factors that explain why old cars are selling while new cars are sitting in showrooms. Retired insurance man Jeff Hess built this ’55 Chevy Resto Mod. He had been fooling around with old cars since the ‘50s. His passion was personalizing his rides.
Hess thought the time was right to re-enter the car hobby. He picked a modified GM car with changes that fit its era. This time the car was a ’55 Chevy. He purchased the car right from a dealer in Texas and made a few modifications to it.
Hess met John Vestri at the Barrett-Jackson auction and laid out a “game plan” for a Resto-Mod. A turn-key Corvette was to be built at Vestri’s shop in Lake Elsinore, Calif., but the build wouldn’t be completed for 18 months. Jeff already had the old-car bug, so he found a ’55 Chevy that he could personalize to his own tastes, with some help.
Tallnla Designs of Woodland Hills, Calif., ([email protected]) did the basic redesigning on the Stovebolt Chev. Egleton’s Custom Paint of Huntington Beach, Calif., did the body work and the painting. The car’s smooth, modernized interior redesign was handled by Fiber Tech, another Huntington Beach company.
Motivating Jeff’s ’55 Chevy was a 468-cid big-block Chevy V-8 with a ton of chrome and billet accessories. It was linked to a 700R4 automatic transmission that directed power to a Ford 9-in. rear end with 3:42:1 gearing.
The car featured a billet aluminum grille, a smoothened ’55 Chevy front bumper and a smoothened ’55 Nomad rear bumper. The hood and deck lid were both “shaved.” There was a Frenched-in radio antenna on the right rear fender. The outside rearview mirror was pirated from a ’78 ‘Vette and the custom smoked taillight lenses were of a special smooth design. Side trim consisted of painted ’55 Bel Air spears.
The custom interior featured front bucket seats and a convenience console. Autometer gauges were fitted to the distinctive dash. The car had tinted power windows and electric locks for the doors and the trunk. A Genie shifter handled gear changes.
A Vintage Air A/C system was added, along with a Be Cool radiator. The custom exhausts had dual Smitty’s glasspack mufflers exiting via a custom billet bracket. A custom coil-over suspension with dropped front spindles was mated with a Wildwood brake system. Jeff used American Racing “Torque Thruster” wheels with Toyo Tires.
Jeff said he wanted his Classic Chevy to be a “New School” custom rather than an “Old School” rod. He thinks there’s room in the old-car hobby for every style of car from stock to lead sled to Resto-Mod. His goal was to have the best ride he could build.
