It is often said that opportunity knocks softly, and when it does you have to open the door and seize the moment. Carpe Diem. Looking back through my Facebook feed of memories, I can identify those moments – the once in a lifetime chances and opportunities.
I was incredibly lucky to be asked to perform on some of the biggest stages in South Africa, including opening for Mark Haze a couple of times. I was blown away when given the chance to meet ex F1 driver, Mika Salo, and appear as a guest on the TV show “Test My Ride.” And my heart was pounding out of my chest when Oom Christo offered me a shot at adding my name to a list of only 3 others…the list of people who have driven his 1957 Chevrolet 210 since its restoration over 20 years ago.
The ‘57 Chev is an absolute design icon, instantly conjuring images of retro American diners, burgers and milkshakes. You can easily imagine being at the drive-in, with everyone admiring the chrome details, curves, folds and sculped surfaces.
Plenty of Autosol and elbow grease is needed to keep the bullet shaped hood ornaments, rear fins and massive bumpers looking good. The design screams ‘50s and makes quite the statement in your rear-view mirror, not least of all because nothing looks like this anymore – these largely hand-made parts and trim pieces simply aren’t economically viable.
The size of this car is truly showcased by the side profile. You can burn off those burgers and milkshakes just walking around the car taking pictures of the two-tone paintwork. Parking this car on a typical street today is no joke, yet in ‘50s America this was really just an everyday family saloon.
The interior is of course devoid of the modern luxuries that most people are accustomed to. Simple and beautiful design details are the order of the day. The immense steering wheel reflects the proportions of the rest of the car. I love the way that the instrument cluster is mirrored on the passenger side of the dashboard, where the radio’s speaker is actually housed.
With the beach photoshoot behind us, it was finally my turn to join the fortunate few who experience this piece of Americana from behind the wheel. The column-shift 3-speed (“three on the tree”) is surprisingly easy to get used to, but there is so much torque that you don’t have to use it that often. Stick it in 3rd and forget about the ‘box.
Instead of being intimidating to drive, the car is playful and fun. Controls are weighted, but not heavy. The accelerator probably needs more prodding than you might be used to, but the steering is where the real effort comes in. It feels like 18 turns are needed lock-to-lock, further helping your body deal with the burgers and milkshakes. It makes sense now how the characters in Grease ate what they did but still fit into those ridiculous jeans.
The ride comfort is simply out of this world. You will struggle to find a modern car that can match this Chevy for pure smoothness going down the road.
The suspension is a major factor here, clearly designed for straight-line comfort rather than corners, reflecting dead-straight American roads where nobody exceeds 55mph. The vast bench seats are springy, turning the car into a lounge suite on wheels. Perhaps the best explanation though is that the car is just so damn heavy that it flattens out bumps in the road surface, leaving a better experience for all the boring cars in its wake.
The Chevy “Blue Flame” straight six is not the most popular engine choice for this car, with most people favouring the more powerful V8 models. However, the Blue Flame engine is actually a great choice. It’s quiet, smooth as silk and as mentioned before, makes for a relaxed cruiser with buckets of torque from no revs at all.
To me, it almost suits the character of the car better than a shouty V8 would.
This will sound familiar to those of you who have owned classic cars, but I’ve historically been more of a modern classics guy. Driving something this old is a special reminder of what it’s like to actually drive a car and feel the engineering around you. Despite being an everyday car in the ‘50s, it is now an absolute head-turner that turns every drive into a memorable event.
When Oom Christo first got his hands on this car, it was basically a shell lying in a field. A lengthy labour of love and much blood sweat and tears brought this beauty back from the dead. This is a car from an era when car makers took genuine pride in the products they were building. The craftsmen who put them together were artists who were constantly trying to prove their worth.
In a few decades from now, will anyone go through that effort to save a 2019 model everyday car? No. Maybe it’s time for me to dabble in older cars?
Huge thank you to Christo Thomson (Oom Christo to you), for allowing me to become a member of your 4-member club and letting me drive this amazing car.
