My first car, owned 40 years today, a 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air

Bought the 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air 4 door sedan, 40 years ago today. It was March 12th 1978, when I bought the Bel Air for $75. It had 58,000 original miles when I got it. A high school friend's grandfather bought it new at Merollis Chevrolet in Eastpoint for $2440 new... Back in 59 Eastpoint was called East Detroit.

Merollis Chevrolet is still in business, if you wish to do the Google maps to check the dealer out the 59 Bel Air sold from new.

The last repaint the Bel Air had was 1982... thats 36 years ago, and it still looks great! It is single stage enamel.

The Bel Air has a 250hp 348cid engine. The trans. is a Muncie 318 three speed manual, on the column. The axle ratio is 3:36 to 1. The Bel Air has power steering and power brakes... that was a option back in that era.

The Bel Air is getting close to 200,000 miles. Dad and I took it for a ride when it turned 100,000 miles. In a couple years it will probably turn that 200,000 mile mark. Hopefully dad and I can go for a ride for the second time around.

I have replaced all the steering joints and both front and rear control arm bushings. I have gone threw the brake hydraulic system a couple times over the past 40 years... it still has the single master cylinder system.

How I earned money to put into the Bel Air back then. I was in the co-op program in high school. I went to classes first threw fourth hour, then went to work for 2 classes of credit in the afternoon. I worked at the school bus garage for Romeo Community Schools, doing oil changes, tune up's, brake jobs, and other maintenance on them. It was a fleet of 60 busses, a couple dump trucks, and a few tractors. All the busses were Ford B-700 and B-750 chassis. They all had the 361 V-8's, five speed manuals and air brakes.

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