Chase and Nicole Frueh’s 1951 Chevy 2-door sedan is 2022 Car of the Year.  It was the NDSRA pick at the Ft Ransom car show on Sept 24th.     

The 51’ Chevy Styeline Deluxe was passed down from my grandparents in Rugby, ND around 1985. My father, Bruce, got it running and driving in original form in the late 80’s. Fast forward to the 2000’s, I took the car down with me to Wyoming Technical Institute.  This is where I chopped the top 4.5” in the front and 6” in the rear, slanted the B pillars, laid down the rear window and set up the front glass for a Oldsmobile 1-piece windshield from Glass Guy Chicago.

Moving down the road a few years, the car made its way back to Walcott, ND where the framework was next. We put on a Heidts Mustang 2 Front End, 4-link rear suspension, air bags all around and built a tubing k-member to stiffen up the frame.  For the power plant, a tuned port 350 hooked to a 700R4 from TNT Transmission was installed.  A fully tig welded 2 ½” mandrel bent exhaust and Oldsmobile rear end finished off the chassis mock up.

Moving forward a few more years, it was time for us to finish up the metal work (with a few more modifications). The rear wheel wells where tubed 2”.  The trunk floors and rear tail section were rebuilt from scratch. We also flipped over the bumpers, hid the fuel filler behind the license plate, suicided the doors and fitted an old school leaded and louvered hood to the body (found at a junk yard in SD). Finally frenched headlights and some 54’ Chevy Smoothy taillights finished off the metal work.

Next, Bruce and I did the bodywork and got it into final primer, then sprayed on the maroon paint using PPG envirobase basecoat and Global clear from United Auto. All the stainless trim, bumpers, and grille where painted a semi-gloss charcoal metallic color to finish off the outside.

After cutting and buffing the paint, the body was put back on the chassis where we wired and plumbed the fuel and brake lines, then it was ready to head over to Stitches Upholstery where it received its custom leather and suede interior and finished off trunk.

After a combine 37 years of off and on work, we are happy it’s finished and driving once again.

Finally, Nicole and I would like to thank everyone who voted and stopped by to talk about the 51’ Chevy with us. It means a great deal to us to be one of the picks selected for this award by our fellow car enthusiasts out of all the beautiful cars out there.