Part one of three
by Joe Reinschmidt
This advertisement for T. M. Rowley’s in Hilton was printed in the Thursday, November 4, 1954 Hilton Record, page eight. A Chevrolet dealership in Spencerport was also operated by a member of the Rowley family. That’s where Madeline bought her first new car, a BelAir sedan and that is how this story began.Madeline was 30 years old in 1955 when Chevrolet introduced a new design for their cars. It was a significant change from the designs of the early 1950s. This style featured what would best be described as a “wrap around” windshield. It caught the attention of a lot of car owners. Apparently the designers felt it was a good way to see the USA in your Chevrolet. Madeline was just one of many folks who decided that it was for her.
Like most folks who lived in Spencerport and drove Chevys, she went to the local dealer which was Rowley Chevrolet located at 191 South Union Street. In those days there weren’t a bunch of cars on the lot for people to look at or select from. There might be two or three in the showroom and maybe another one or two on the lot that had been ordered but not picked up yet by the customers. Your decision was based on what you could see and the colored brochures that were available. Once you decided, an order was generated instructing the factory to build the car with the accessories and colors you chose. Six to eight weeks was the usual wait time and the customer was kept aware of the progress on their car.
Madeline decided to buy a Chevrolet BelAir 2 Door Sedan with two-tone paint, specifically Glacier Blue and Shoreline Beige, a beautiful combination. Other accessories were a V-8 engine, automatic transmission, radio, rear view mirrors, turn signals, heater, white wall tires, back up lights, windshield washer, undercoat, inside mirror, EZ eye glass, and the optional oil filter since the 1955 V-8 was designed without an oil filter. In today’s world almost all the “options” Madeline wanted are standard equipment. Madeline took delivery of the car on August 30, 1955 in exchange for $2,244 plus some financing charges. She was too nervous to drive it home so her brother did it for her.
Madeline drove the car for 10 years and had accumulated 43,186 miles, when she decided to get another vehicle. Because it was the first and only new car she ever bought she couldn’t bear to part with it. Her family had several properties with garages so the car was parked in one of them for 43 years, from 1965 to 2008. At that time the property where the car was stored was sold, so it had to be taken elsewhere until a decision about its future was made. All the while it was still bearing its 1965 inspection sticker.
Madeline’s Attorney, Dan Schum, was handling her legal affairs and she asked him if he would be interested in acquiring the car. He was, but only if she established a price. Madeline talked to family and friends and arrived at a price which they agreed upon, and Dan took possession of the car. Madeline told him it had not been started in quite a while and the motor might be seized up. Dan trailered it to his garage and began going over it. He was able to turn the engine over manually, so after putting in a good battery and checking the other starting necessities he turned the key and, to his surprise, it started. Dan then told Madeline, and offered to take her for a short ride around the neighborhood. She readily accepted and wore one of her favorite flowered blouses for the occasion.
Sometime later, Dan feeling he needed some advice, contacted Bill Bennett who had worked on several car restorations. After some discussion it appeared the restoration might entail more than Dan wished to pursue so he offered to sell the car to Bill.
Next: Madeline’s Chevy gets restored
