Cars lead many lives over time because different owners mean different locations and different roles.
This 1956 Bel Air is the ultimate example of a well-traveled classic.
Jerry Sutherland
The story began when Roy Manchulenko began courting his future wife, Shirley. He was driving a ’56 Chevy two-door sedan he’d bought brand new, and it became his courting car. Roy had done some mild 50s custom stuff like lakeside pipes and tricking up the motor–the car meant a lot to both Roy and Shirley.
Decades later, Shirley asked Roy if he “remembered the green Chevy” and then said, “I think we should get another one”. That was all Roy needed to hear, so he started looking for another ’56 Chevy. He went down many search roads until he settled on a red and white ’56 Bel Air two-door hardtop.
This car had an amazing history. It was originally purchased by a country music star in Nashville. He did some period-correct modifications to it like Packard taillights, dual mirrors, bubble fender skirts and dual spotlight mirrors. It also came with a factory small-block Chevy.
The Bel Air went to a museum five years later and stayed there for nine years. A major auction guy bought it and hung on to it for another nine years, then the Bel Air went to a collector in Philadelphia. That owner had the car pinstriped by a local legend.
The car then went to another collector in San Antonio who converted the three-on-the-tree to a four-speed manual on the floor. He also added air conditioning, but the plastic seat covers stayed.
After that the Bel Air went to another collector in Illinois and that’s where Roy came into the picture. He showed Shirley a picture of the car without the price and asked her what she thought it was worth (100K) and what she would pay for it (75K).
That’s when Roy went back and forth with the owner and cut a deal.
The next step was getting it home. Roy drafted his son Mike to bring it back over the US border and the timing couldn’t have been worse. This was when Covid shut down the border, so the US border guy couldn’t believe they wanted to cross at that time.
Roy pointed to the car in the parking lot and explained how the seller said it wouldn’t be a problem. They negotiated for a few minutes to grab the car and haul it back to Canada where they found out the car’s paperwork wasn’t correct—plus Roy didn’t have a Covid blood test certificate.
That meant two things—they had to go back to the US border with the car and explain the situation to a new border guy. They solved that and then faced a new border guy on the Canadian border—the process took four very tough hours, and Roy almost faced a 5000-dollar fine on the Canadian side for his Covid status. He got lucky thanks to a technicality.
The struggle was worth it because Shirley did see the ’56 Chevy and said, “It’s real!”. Unfortunately, Shirley passed away a few weeks later, but her dream car came home.
Roy is happy to have a ’56 Chevy heritage car back and he loves the 6500-mile piece of history in his life—there’s only one thing not there as he explained.
I miss my co-pilot.
Roy Manchulenko
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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