Lickety Splickly out to my old 55

ODOMETER LOVE

U.S. Army Colonel (retired) Gary Hale garaged his 1955 Corvette for 43 years before deciding to embark on a mission of love to restore it.

“The car wasn’t like you see it now. It was in bad shape when I bought it from a sergeant in 1970. He was leaving the Army one month before me, and heading to his home in New York,” Hale said. “The car was leaking oil, and it was doubtful it could make the journey from Ft. Hood to the sergeant’s home. The car had over 100,000 miles on it when I bought it. The sergeant had bought it from another career sergeant, so it had been all over the place, San Diego, Oklahoma, Arizona, and even Germany.”

Hale finally decided to restore the vehicle in 2013. “I figured I was retired, had the time, and had the money. It took me, and a group of friends, about 16 months to restore. This was done mostly in evenings and weekends,” Hale said. “It was Lee Reed, Boby Maxa, Bama Brown (as in ex-KVET disc jockey), John Whittenbaugh, Martin Moody and myself. A lot of parts had to be special ordered.”

The body of the Corvette was white, but when the group began the restoration, they found the original color underneath had been Harvest Gold. “They only made about 80 cars with that color, and we decided to go back to the original color-- they made about 700 Corvettes in 1955, all convertibles, and it was the same body as the 1953 and 54. The only difference was that it was the first year that they made it with a V8 engine,” Hale said.

The group stripped the car down completely to rebuild it, and did most of the work themselves, however they did send the engine to a machine shop, and also had professionals reupholster the seats and create a new top. The car was restored to its original specs, which includes a 3-speed manual floor mounted transmission, with three pedals on the floor. It wasn’t souped-up for power.

Hale’s 1955 Corvette has won prizes at several car shows. “I have a trailer, so I do take it to car shows as far away as Mississippi. I also take it to local gatherings of local car enthusiasts,” Hale said. “These gatherings are usually organized at the last minute. People get on phone and say where we’re meeting. Our last one was at a local brewery.”

Hale and his friends did not stop with the Corvette. They’ve also restored two 1969 Camaros, a 1987 Chevy Pick Up, and a 1967 Chevelle. “You ought to see those Camaros, they’re truly beautiful cars. One is candy apple red SS Camaro, and the other is green—big engines with 859 horsepower and a blower, Hale said.

Hale is an officer in the local VFW Post, and active in various veteran organizations. CENTURY NEWS PHOTOS BY JOHN PACHECO