After five decades, the time had finally come, but he never expected this.
Gerald A. Iwan was so overwhelmed and in awe to be in Scottsdale, Ariz., that he literally could barely get the words out of his mouth to say so.
“I have to slow down, I’m stuttering,” Iwan said, surprised by the attention that he and his gleaming black 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible were getting at the giant 37th Annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Event.
Iwan’s mood was understandable.
While Barrett-Jackson’s audience was loaded with celebrities, millionaires and big-dollar auto dealers, Iwan was about as much of a regular guy as there was among the buyers and sellers of the 1,200 cars consigned at the show. It was his first time to the signature Barrett-Jackson event, which took place in mid January. Other Barrett-Jackson events are upcoming.
It’s not surprising that the sheer largesse of the event left him a little star/car struck, not to mention that like most, if not every, vehicle that crossed the auction block, Iwan’s car has a great personal story behind it. They’re not just rubber, glass and steel, they’re part of someone’s life.
A retired steelworker from Cleveland, Ohio, Iwan bought his Bel Air new on July 25, 1957, at age of 19, when he was so young that he had to get his mother to co-sign the loan for him on the $3,693 purchase price. What followed was a 50-year love affair with his black Bel Air, a car that has never been restored, per se, but one that has lived a life of almost constant modification and guaranteed affection.
“I just loved the car when I got it, and I fixed it up the way I like it.”
First it was a tonneau cover that Iwan added in 1958, the year after he bought the car. Then he began the process of chroming as much of the undercarriage as he could. Off came the gold centerpiece on the huge Bel Air grille, on went a set of chrome teeth from a 1954 Chevy. In 1959, the standard black and silver interior was replaced by a white-and-red rolled and pleated leather interior, complete with a record player in the back seat to play 45 rpm vinyl records. The addition of special exhaust system and aftermarket wheels completed the period-correct look while a high-performance camshaft gave the 283 cubic-inch V8 engine a little more grunt and a whole new sound.
