A Desert Treasure - Our 1955 Handyman

Herb & Sidra Spies, FL

In 1996, my wife Sidra and I made a business trip to Tucson, Arizona and it was like being in old car heaven. I saw many old cars in great shape still being used as daily drivers. On our last day I spotted an ad in a local newspaper that read:  "1955 Chevy two-door station wagon. Great original condition. One owner AZ car". I had to check it out.

Unrestored ‘55 Chevys are my favorite and I am always on the lookout for them. This car was located on the other side of the mountains that ring the Tucson area near the Saguaro National Park in the middle of the desert. I couldn't believe it when I first saw the wagon sparkling in the bright desert sun. I kicked the tires, looked for rust, drove it, looked for rust, negotiated a decent price, looked for rust again and then bought it. Needless to say I couldn't find any body rot. All the unrestored cars I see at home have some rust somewhere, but this one didn’t. Unbelievable!

The wagon had been owned by one family since new. It had been parked, unused, in a carport for the last 20 years. Other than non-original wheels and tires, everything was untouched. It showed its age, though, with paint that was thin in many places and the front seat was in shambles. The car was a 210 two-door wagon, a.k.a. Handyman and had a standard three-speed transmission and a trusty stove bolt six cylinder engine. It was now noon and we had plane reservations early the next morning to return home so I quickly found a place to store the wagon and drove it back to town over a mountain pass. It drove fine for the 20 mile trip on cracked 20-year-old wide oval tires. A month later we drove the 1800 miles back to Tucson to pick up the Handyman and trailer it home.

The wagon is a 2100 series made in Los Angles with a Flint, MI 235ci six-cylinder engine and a three-speed manual transmission; it’s a real “Plain Jane” Chevy. The body was made in St. Louis, MO and had a brown imitation leather interior and had the 684-LA Navaho Tan and India Ivory paint scheme.

Once home we decided the wagon needed too much to keep it unrestored, so disassembly of the Handyman began in January 1997. A complete body-off restoration was undertaken. We restored it as original as possible. I figured at least one Chevy should be saved to represent what many Chevys in ‘55 looked like. My wife and I completed all the restoration, although we did have a local body shop paint the car in pieces and then we assembled it. The only thing we changed was the interior because we couldn’t find original equipment rubber mats. The original rubber mats were tan colored rubber and had tiny bowties stamped in them.

The project was completed in 1999 in time for the Classic Chevy Winter National show. Later that year, we joined the Classic Chevy Anniversary Tour in Houston, TX at the Lone Star Classic Chevy Show. Afterwards, we drove with the tour to San Angelo TX, El Paso, Tucson and Phoenix and on to Flagstaff.  In Tucson, we stopped and took the wagon back to the original owner’s house to show it to him. Needless to say he was astounded. We also drove it back through the desert area where it had spent most of its life.

The wagon now is our only ‘55 Chevy and has been to many of the CCC shows across the nation in the last nine years. Last February marked the 10th Winter National since we first took the car to a CCC Show and it scored 992. The first time it was at a CCC convention it scored 991 in Flagstaff. Needless to say this wagon is my favorite and is a keeper.