Auto Detailing
Is a love for fast cars—specifically those that are Chevrolet-powered—hereditary? If you were to ask C.A.T. Operations Engineer Kevin Christensen of Castaic, California, he would definitely say that it is.
Sitting slightly nose-high and looking that much more restrained with dog dish hubcaps framed in bias-ply blackwalls, this ’62 Chevy bubbletop is as sinister as it is subdued. In fact, as smooth as these panels are, one has to wonder if this car has ever broken a sweat or even turned a wheel with aggression since it rolled off the showroom floor.
“I started building this car a little over 15 years ago after completing a Pro Street ’70 Camaro RS for my then-16-year-old son, Brad,” says overhead door installation specialist Jim Meltzer of Ventura, California. “I always had the urge to build a ’59 Pro Street Chevrolet El Camino (hence the nickname “U.S. Pro-1”), having owned one of those cars when I was just 21 years old,” he says. “Forty years later, the ’60 came along, and I figured that was close enough. The El Camino project was a joint collaboration with my sons Brad and Rod, and it got off to a great start. We made plans for a big motor and even built a full rollcage for that huge hunk of steel with the intentions of actually racing it.”
“I shouldn’t have sold that car.” How many times have you heard an enthusiast make that statement? It seems that a great many of us regret selling our favorite rides over the years, whatever the reasons.
