Many couples know this fight. One person has too many cars, and the other wants the garage back. Usually, the fix is to sell something. In this house, the answer was a 1955 Chevy.
The car builder behind @FinnegansGarage, Mike Finnegan, says his warehouse is full. So he made his wife, Jessa, a deal. She could pick cars to get rid of, but she had to drive each one first.
She drove five and picked two. One was his blue 1998 GMC Sierra, the truck he drove every day. He loved that truck, he says.
A Trade Instead Of A Sale
However, he did not sell the truck. Instead, he traded it to a neighbor for a car plus cash. When Jessa saw the car, she was not happy, he says. After all, he already owns another 1955 Chevy.
His pitch did not help much. “It’s a 55 Chevy with the chassis of a Corvette underneath it,” he told her. He also argued that the car is about 3 inches shorter than the truck. In other words, he says, he technically saved space.
According to Mike, a California shop built the car for autocross and road-course events. He says it had a nickname, Bad Idea, and appeared in a magazine. His neighbor says it runs an LS376 V8 rated at 480 horsepower.
Waking Up A Car That Sat For Years
First, there was a big hurdle. The car had not been registered since 2015, Mike says, and it had sat in his neighbor’s garage for at least four or five years.
So he bought a new battery and added a gallon of fresh gas. Then the V8 fired right up. Still, it ran rough, as if a few cylinders were not firing.
Next, he pulled the fuel sender and pumped out the old gas. It came out brown and orange, and it smelled like varnish. After five gallons of fresh fuel, the 1955 Chevy idled much better, with good oil pressure. Even so, a slight misfire remained.
On his first drive, he loved the clutch, the steering and the brakes. Meanwhile, he noticed a shake that he blames on old tires. He also found the fuel gauge reading backward, because the float was in upside down.
The Wife Takes The Wheel
Then it was Jessa’s turn. At first, she held back. “I didn’t say you’re right, but so far I’m enjoying driving this,” she says.
As the drive went on, she warmed up. She praised the brakes and the shifter. She also said the steering felt pretty nice. By the end, she was laughing.
Back home, after the drive, she gave her verdict. “Exciting to drive. It was exciting to drive. I loved it,” she says.
Tips For Waking Up A Car That Sat
- Drain old fuel before you try to drive. Varnished gas makes engines run poorly.
- Start with a fresh battery. A weak one can make a healthy car seem broken.
- Expect injector or fuel trouble. Stale fuel often clogs parts of the system.
- Replace old tires, even if they hold air. Age can make them shake or fail.
- Let the other driver try it. A short drive can change a mind faster than an argument.
Where Things Stand For The 1955 Chevy
For now, the car stays. Mike still has to sort out the misfire and probably the tires. He also made a new promise. Next time, he will let Jessa drive three cars, and he says he will really sell the one she picks.
Her reply was short. “Those are big words, my man,” she says.
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