John Brown’s well-known 1955 Chevy was one of the vehicles entered in the second annual Randolph Township Historical Society car show Saturday.
ENGLEWOOD — Brilliant sunshine set the stage for the Randolph Township Historical Society’s second annual car show held from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday along History Lane in Englewood in front of the History Center at 114 Valleyview Dr.
The show was open to all makes and models. Trophies were awarded for first, second and third place. DC’s Burgers N More was the food vendor for the event.
Randy Hartman and his 1964 Buick Riviera won 1st place, Jerry Pequignt took 2nd place with his 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 with Steven Sivelle taking 3rd place with a 2015 Dodge Charger.
Approximately 20 vehicles were on display, including a pair by the father and son team of Mike and John Brown of Union. Mike and John work together at Mike’s Body Shop in Brookville.
Mike owns several classics, including a ’62 Corvette. He left the Corvette home this time and instead brought his fifth generation El Camino.
John had his red 1955 Chevy on display, a car that has become somewhat of a legend in the area.
Mike bought the car in Waverly in late 1974 when John was about 2 years old. Mike gave the car to a relative, but John bought it from his uncle for $2,200 in 1986.
Leonard at Keowee Auto Seat Covers completely re-did the interior. John wet sanded the car for an entire week before Mike applied the paint.
The current engine is a 383 cubic inch stroker, a bored out 350 with a four speed transmission with 370 gears and a Positraction rear end (General Motors brand name for a limited-slip differential) with traction bars.
The engine has headers, and the interior is equipped with a full set of roll bars. And of course, it has the requisite set of fuzzy dice hanging from the rear view mirror.
It rides on Ansen Wheels made by American Racing Equipment, but the car overall features an “old school” look.
“Frank Johnson, who owned Dayton Diesel, set up the engine,” Mike said. “He could make your car go faster. We all thought he was God. One day he called me to do bodywork on his Jeep. After that, any time he needed work done he called me.”
In addition to the ’55, John also owns a 1956 and a 1957 Chevy. The trifecta. We should all be so lucky.
When John started entering his ’55 in car shows at age 18, other car enthusiasts snubbed their noses at him. Now the ’55 and John Brown are kind of a legend in the area from all the car shows he has entered and by being seen cruising local roadways when the weather is nice.
Reach Ron Nunnari at [email protected].
