73 years old and still running: that's the car, not the owner

If you’ve walked down West End any time over the past 25 years, you may have seen a smart and shiny 1950s American car in a driveway. We saw it was out in the sun recently and asked the owner about it.

Here is the story.

“This Chevy is a real Family Car ...”

“ On the fifth of November 1951, my Aunt Lizzie (Elizabeth) collected her brand new 1951 Chevy Deluxe from the dealership in New Jersey. She was the first one in our family able to afford a new car. It was the first new car I ever sat in. It was so huge and new and shiny, I was ‘in love’. A ‘LOVE’ that continues to this day.

Aunt Lizzie drove the car sparingly until 1971. At that time illness forced her to give up driving, but she didn’t give up her Chevy. She pulled The Chevy into her garage and locked both The Chevy and the garage. No one set foot into the garage until after her death in 1992. Aunt Lizzie was gone, but she left her beloved Chevy to me. In 1994, we brought The Chevy to England, spruced her up a bit and drove her sparingly then kept her in our garage on West End. The Chevy has spent its entire life sitting in just two garages. It is not a restoration project. It is quite original. It has just over 70,300 original miles on the clock. There is still plenty of life left in the old girl yet, more than I can say about myself. I must be realistic: all good ‘love stories’ do eventually come to an end. None of my children or grandchildren can take care of the old girl. The time has come for her to move on to a good home.

I have now put her on the market, and I will be considering offers above £30K. That price is very flexible to anyone from my Launton family as I would welcome the chance to see her on the road again, albeit occasionally. For more information, contact me on 07765 492 184, or email at eddie.hamill23@gmail.com, or just stop by at 23 West End. ”

Ed Hamill

P.S. If you would like to read the full love story, and have a seat in this Grand Old Lady she will be at our Launton Classic and Retro Car Show on Saturday 22 June between 10am and 3pm at The Launton Playing Fields.