Tony Rizzo's 1957 Chevrolet four-door...
When I was growing up, Running On Empty was my favourite movie and I always wanted a ’57 Chev like the two-door in the film.
But by the time I got around to realising my dream nearly 10 years ago I had a young family and so set my sights on a four-door model.
I looked around for a couple of years and found a factory RHD model that was advertised for private sale.
It was an original, unmodified car – old and still a driver, but not for long.
I took it off the road, stripped it back and, over the next 11 months, restored or replaced everything, bumper to bumper. I was in a hurry; all I wanted to do was drive it.
It’s still a ’57 Chev but nothing like the car I bought. The engine bay now houses a 400-cubic inch small-block Chev fitted with a Weiand supercharger and puts out around 700hp (522kW).
I’ve mated it to a Turbo 400 transmission, which seems to handle the power okay, but I only use it on the road so it doesn’t get a hard time.
I’ve done around 10,000km but never in the rain; I don’t want to get it dirty or all those horses to get away.
I go on cruises with the family and they love it as much as I do, but we don’t go too far because it’s not very fuel-efficient.
I suppose you could say owning it is my youth coming out in me again, but I always wanted a tough family cruiser and I built it exactly the way I wanted to, so it’s very special.
And I’d love a dollar for every photo that has been taken of it.
Photography: Tony Rizzo