By Burton Cole
FALMOUTH — Call it the gold standard. Steve Blades of Falmouth and two fellow fans of classic Chevys just last week completed building an exquisite—and expensive—detailed replica of General Motor’s 50 millionth car, a golden 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Sport Coupe. The trio built the tribute car with vintage parts, including a 265 V8 engine, Powerglide automatic transmission and 3.55 rear axle, and completed with 24 karat gold-plated of anything chrome or stainless steel, including trim, screws and bolts, just like the original.
“It is truly… it is a work of art, it really is,” the 1987 Pendleton County High School graduate said.
Blades tracked down car parts manufactured before Nov. 23, 1954, the date the original 50 millionth car was built in Flint, Mich.
“We went down to those details even to get this car as close to original detail…,” he said. “I bought 1950s bulbs for this car. I wanted it to be authentic. There’s not been a detail of the car that’s been left undone.”
The golden tribute car will debut March 1 to 3 at the 71st annual Detroit Autorama in Detroit.
“We felt it was fitting to take it to Detroit,” Blades said.
There’s a chance the car, now in Sanford, Florida, might make a stop in Falmouth before or after the Detroit show, but probably not for display, he said. “It is not an outside car.”
Getting it placed in a museum for public viewing is the ultimate goal. Topping their wish list is the General Motors Heritage Center in Sterling Heights, Michigan, the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, Michigan, or the Sloan Museum of Discovery in Flint, Michigan, Blades said.
“We’d really love to see . . .
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