It is no secret that any Chevy built between 1955 and 1957 (aka a Tri-Five) is one of the most popular cars in the hobby.
Ray Watier is a big fan of this Chevy era-enough to have owned his ’55 Chevy 210 resto mod for over 50 years.
Jim Sutherland
However, there is an additional feature to Ray’s ’55 Chevy that makes it stand out at every car show, specifically the custom trailer behind his car, but MyStarCollectorCar’s first order of business is his ’55 Chevy 210 resto mod two-door sedan.
Ray bought the car in 1974 and started his project in 1975 after he mapped out his game plan for the ’55 Chevy. The real wheel wells were radiused (cut wider for a larger wheel and tire combination), a typical resto mod process for car guys back in the day.
Initially, the ’55 Chevy had a 305 small block engine transplant in it, but Ray replaced it with a larger 350 coupled to a Turbo 400 automatic 3-speed automatic transmission. The car also had a 4:10 Dana rear end, but Ray intended to use his ’55 Chevy on road trips so he replaced the Dana with a more highway-friendly rear end out of a 1976 Lincoln.
The changes suited Ray’s game plan enough for him to rack up 85,000 miles (and still counting) in his ’55 Chevy resto mod.
As mentioned earlier, Ray tows an unusual custom trailer that he built in the early 1980s to haul extra gear on road trips. The trailer was built from two other 1955 Chevy rear decks that were welded together and exactly look the same on either end of the trailer.
The trailer has frame components from the donor cars welded together and uses the front spindles from a ’55 Chevy as part of the trailer’s wheel package. Ray left his custom ’55 Chevy trailer’s wheel wells in their original configuration.
The car/trailer combination initiated plenty of curiosity whenever Ray and his family hit the open road in it.
85,000 miles is a lot of time behind the wheel in a vintage car, particularly when one factors in 10 years when Ray said he “never drove it” because of a hoist accident with the ’55 Chevy.
However, one of his daughters persuaded Ray to bring it back on the road so she could use it in her wedding-and then his other daughter made the same request for her wedding. The ’55 Chevy has been a part of his daughters’ lives since Day One and they both wanted to include the beloved car in their weddings.
Ray lives in western Canada where winters are very real, but he has driven the car during the Christmas season on a special occasion, along with a couple of times when he needed to use his 60-year-old Chevy during the cold months.
One of the more memorable trips in the Chevy took place in early November 1988 when Ray and his new bride used it as their honeymoon car on a road trip from Alberta Canada to the southern US. Their road adventure included a few major snowstorms, but the ’55 Chevy handled it like a champ.
These days Ray and his unique ’55 Chevy car/trailer team are still conquering the open road-and still getting a ton of thumbs-up along the way.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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