The canon coral color stands out on the 1957 Chevrolet owned by Bernard Zwiebel of Elida.
ELIDA — As Bernard Zwiebel scanned the pages of an auto trade magazine, the colors of a 1957 Chevrolet — canon coral and imperial ivory — had him taking a longer look. The fact that it was a Chevrolet added an exclamation point to his excitement.
That was two years ago. Today, that 1957 Chevrolet 2010, four-door sedan owns a spot in the 75-year-old Elida man’s garage.
“I just liked that set of the colors,” said Zwiebel. “I haven’t seen a car with those colors around here.”
He purchased the car from a man in Defiance. It had only 74,000 miles on it and was out of a collection from Florida. It was fully restored and period correct.
“More than $34,000 has been invested in the car,” Zwiebel noted.
It has a six-cylinder, 235-inch power glide transmission that’s all original. The motor was rebuilt in 2018 with a new Pertronox ignition. The interior was redone and various new chrome was added.
It’s been a hit at car shows.
He’s taken the ‘57 Chevy to four shows and it has three first-place finishes. But Zwiebel will tell you that while it’s been neat to win the honors, what he really enjoys is the camaraderie at the shows.
“It’s fun talking with the people at the car shows and listening to their stories. I’m always finding out things I didn’t know,” he said.
The ‘57 Chevy is just the latest of a long list of General Motors products Zwiebel has owned.
“I had five cousins, all boys, that lived down the road from me in Jackson Center. They had all kinds of cars back then and we were always tinkering with them. I just liked the GM cars,” he said.
The first car he purchased when he got out of the Navy in 1968 was a 1968 Malibu. Since then he’s owned everything from a Chevelle to an El Camino.
“I’ve found them to be pretty solid cars,” Zwiebel said.
