[Woj]

Well, 50 years ago today, a young Jim Walker rolled into Lyle Chevrolet with his 1968 Super Bee and traded it in for a brand new 1969 Orange COPO Chevelle. He had no love for the Mopar and quickly fell for the Chevelle which he thoroughly enjoyed for the next year. A new wife and son a year later sent the Chevelle packing for new family.

I was on my way to Mike's (M22Mike) place this morning and called Jim to wish him a happy Anniversary for the 50th year since his car's purchase. Jim lives about 10 minutes from Mike. He ended up meeting me at Mike's place where the two shared memories of Goodyear Tire and Rubber, local car related subjects and Mike's current project (Jim was very impressed to say the least!!). The two gents are only a year apart and grew up in the same area. Jim and I went to lunch today, he drove and showed me around his old stomping grounds. This included a stop at the Arfon's place where the jet cars came to life. Buildings are still there. Jim used to stop there on his bike as a kid to check out their latest creations. In the attached photo, Jim is leaning against a door he peaked into the shop in as a kid. He said he was welcomed in, handed a piece of sand paper and told to start sanding the nose of one of the cars Art was working on. You couldn't stand around and watch, you had to work if you wanted to stay in the shop.

When I first me Jim, he said that he heard about Lyle Chevrolet having 427 Chevelles on a Saturday and went to the dealership on Monday and bought the car. The protectoplate from the car shows a purchase date of 6/23/1969. I looked it up on a 1969 calendar this morning, and sure enough, 6/23/1969 was a Monday. Pretty cool. The car was produced on 6/18/1969 and 5 days later was in Jim's possession.

Here's a few pix from today with Jim. He still has great memories of growing up in Akron and all the car related activities from the day. The Arfon's place has a turbine engine casing for a mail box stand. We were also accompanied by the resident cat for our stop. We had a lot of fun today in our brief visit.

Phil W.