A '57 for Alice

Story By Joe McGuire

In 1957, Alice Oliver of Twin Falls, Idaho, then 65 years old, decided she needed a new car for church and grocery shopping. Her brand and model of choice was a beautiful white and red 1957 Chevy Bel Air 4-door with 283ci Power Pak engine, Powerglide transmission, power steering, whitewall tires and fender skirts.

The car was originally built in the Oakland, California plant and then delivered to Glen Jenkins Chevrolet in Twin Falls, where it was on display in the dealership showroom until Alice walked in and bought it.

  Alice moved to Salem, Oregon in 1961, but when she went to the DMV to get a new driver’s license, she was unable to pass the state driver's test so the car was garaged. Sometime in 1964 Alice moved to Florence, Oregon where she lived for the next 16 years. During that 20 year period while in Oregon, the ’57 was only driven occasionally by only a few of Alice’s trusted friends. When Alice passed away a few years later, the ’57 was sold to a neighbor, Eugene McGillivary who then sold the car to Jim Sinclair from Santa Clara, CA six months later. Jim owned the ’57 for the next nine years and kept the car in an old chicken barn, along with several others of his collectible cars. Jim showed the ’57 at many car shows in California.

Paul and Lucille Durbin of Hemet, California saw Alice’s ’57 at a local car show in 1989 and immediately fell in love with it. They bought the car from Jim Sinclair on the spot and drove it home. Since that time Paul has kept the car in meticulous original condition and the car has won many awards at various shows. It won First and Second place awards at the 1996, 2002 and 2003 Classic Chevy International Western shows with Platinum Awards of 979, 981 and 983 points out of a possible 1000 designating the car as one of the highest point cars in the Factory Original Class in the United States and possibly the world.
 
The paint, chrome and upholstery are 51 years old now and are ample proof of the TLC lavished on the car by Paul and Lucille. It now has 61,000 original miles on it and is kept covered in an insulated and air conditioned garage on a carpeted floor. Paul and Lucille said, “We believe Alice would approve of how we have kept her car in the same condition in which she bought it.”