(Editor's note: The following was published as a feature story in a recent edition of Classic Chevy magazine. It is reprinted here with permission. Chan Drake is a lifelong resident of Wilkes County.)

My family was honored in September 1989 when Classic Chevy put the story about our son's '57 hardtop on the magazine cover with the "All in the Family with Father and Son Project" as an inside feature. We still have three classic Chevys and all are still driven frequently. However, there is now more to this story.

Our sons are married now and each has a daughter. We have upgraded all the cars to front disc brakes for safety. Both sons plan to give their classics to their daughters and will teach them to change the gears as soon as their little legs grow long enough to reach the pedals. They should be driving both cars to high school in the year 2022 and the cars will be 65 years old at that time.

I am writing this story to complete the original story. You see, my wife never wanted a car of "her own." She has always said, "I have had to put up with you for 44 years as a car nut and our sons are the same. Enough is enough on cars. I don't want or need a classic." About 10 years ago she had a change of heart and she said, "Ok, you can build 'my car,' but I will select the exterior and interior colors according to what I like, not what you like."

With that bit of news, I purchased a '57 hardtop that had been wrecked and totaled in 1974. A farmer had been plowing around it in his field for decades. I brought it home and removed the cowl. Then I built a car based on that cowl from the ground up from parts from other cars. The car was built like we wanted to do in 1963, but could not afford then on an E-4 pay as an Air Force mechanic.

The interior is rolled and pleated in white with a crossed-flags 1958 Impala steering wheel. The engine is a 355ci, 4-bolt main with 1988 aluminum Corvette heads. It has a 350hp Corvette cam with 2 1/2 inch rams horn exhaust manifolds. It has a 2x4 Corvette carburetor set-up with progressive linkage. The transmission is an S-10 fivespeed. This modificationwas featured in many Chevy magazines in October of 1993 in my black '57 hardtop. The rear end came from a Nova with a 2.56 ratio for high mileage (20/21 mpg.) The engine runs at 1600 rpm at 60 mph. The fivespeeds still allow good drivabiity around town and super gas mileage for out-of-town trips.

I retired from the Air Force as an E-9 mechanic. In 1979, at age 38, we moved back to our hometown and I began to teach automotive repair at the local high school. I wanted to make car nuts out of all my students. Who is better qualified than a classic car guy? I now teach at Thomson High School (a bigger school 25 miles away) and we have won 15 state championships in trouble-shooting automobiles.

I am retiring this year at the age of 65. My wife said, "Finish the car before you retire. I want a complete car, not a bunch of parts." I finished the car last summer and she takes pride in "her car." The car is a hit wherever we go. Every person in our family has his own classic and life could not be better!