Many car guys have that one car they keep around to eventually “fix up”.
Fix up usually means long-term hibernation that’s typically outside and eventually you’ll see a grim fate as a parts donor or a dance with a shredder.
That’s how it usually goes, but this 1950 Chevy Fleetline had a far better future.
Jerry Sutherland
John Waeyan bought the car in 1990 and sat on it for decades because he wanted it to be a retirement project. He retired and nothing happened until his wife reminded him about his goal to take on the car with his wide-open daily schedule.
He’d driven the car as a stock, three-on-the-tree, 216 cubic inch, six-cylinder car but that didn’t interest John. He wanted a beastly resto-mod that could handle the road like no other 1950 Chevy on the planet, so he started the project about three years ago.
The plan was simple enough, so John took on the job himself. John started with an LS3 that was light years away from the humble straight-six that used to live under the hood. He estimated 400-450 horsepower for the new heart. John dumped the three-speed manual for a six-speed automatic, so this was definitely a state-of-the art setup for the old Fleetline.
John wanted a car that could handle as well as it could go in a straight line, so he upgraded in a big way. He added a Mustang II front end and disc brakes at all four corners, so this ’50 Chevy could outrun most Camaros.
The Chevy aftermarket magic really took over on this project because John ran into very few problems on this build. The engine only required a few adjustments to the motor mounts and aftermarket suppliers build radiators specially designed for this specific engine swap. A project like is never easy, but the road map for this swap was much clearer than most.
The interior was the only thing John didn’t tackle. Instead, he found the best upholstery guy in the area and had him build an interior that looked period-correct. There are many upgrades to the seats, but they are still essentially 1950 Chevy based. There’s a built-in lumbar-side support that gives the driver far more support than he would get 76 years ago.
John is wrestling with the concept of a paint job for the Fleetline, but it’s in the distant future because this car was built to be a serious road machine.
He’s driven it to a car show a few hundred miles away and there are plans for more road trips because John has his car exactly where he wanted it to be at this stage. The ’50 Chevy handles like dream and now his role is to answer questions because this car is a people magnet.
John answers the questions and drives the car because that’s all part of the old car experience. He summed it up this way:
Some people spend 9K to go on a cruise. This experience lasts a lot longer than a week or two.
John Waeyan
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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