Greetings from Southwest Missouri! I've been lurking about and posting occasionally for a while but never made a proper introduction. My name is Dave Robertson (nostrebor) and I'm 45 years old, married for almost 25 years and have 2 awesome kids, 15 and 9, girl and boy. I work in a senior management position in the manufacturing/construction industry. I've had the car addiction since I was old enough to do spray paint color changes on my Tonka trucks. I started building cars in earnest at age 11 with a 55 1st series Chevy truck that my parents used as a farm truck. I spent my entire childhood riding in and learned to drive in it. I went on my first date with my wife in it. It was built and rebuilt 3 times in 8 years starting with the 235/3 speed and ending up with a serious street sbc and 4 speed and the full paint/detail/ 80's build philosophy. During that time I also powered through several different builds culminating in a 66 Chevy shortbed pro street before I graduated High school in 1988. I then proceeded to become a Corvair addict after buying a 65 Monza Convertible on a whim. My wife and I daily drove a pair of show quality Vairs for several years and I bought and sold over 20 of them. I also have a bit of a "thing" for 70's era Ford trucks, but never owned a nice one. I've been on many adventures in a beater Ford truck. Somewhere in that middle of that I sold my 55 and regret that decision from the minute it left. After my daughter was born I took a 14 year break from cars and focused on career, marriage, and raising kids. I dabbled in other things (woodworking, arcade games and pinball machines) but never lost my love for cars. a few years ago my very nostalgic wife suggested we build a truck like the 55 again. She didn't have to ask twice. I started the search and the research to make up for 15 years lost. That research led to finding the HAMB and also started a collection of semi-decent original 54 Chevy trucks. I did not end up building a truck (yet) because we figured out that our kids were as interested in cars and shows and cruises as we were. Once again my wife rolled out a request for an old ride, but with room for everybody. So I searched for a suitable candidate and ended up buying a 51 Chevy Styleline Deluxe 2 door from HAMBer Caddy-o. We spent last summer driving it around, attending some shows, and lovingly rubbing it with a baby diaper with the kids. It has been a great time. I joined up on the HAMB because of the almost unlimited resource it has been in my research over the last 2 years. There is an amazing amount of knowledge stored here. I also appreciate the era and style of cars represented here, and look forward to sharing our future car adventures on the site.
Nice intro. Please send a picture of your '51. Here's a picture of mine. What will my Grandson have to look at when he's my age at a car show?
The Jalopy Journal
