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Focus Artesia Spring 2021 | A Collection of a Lifetime

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Our community shares a love for cars — classic cars, lowriders, street rods, etc.

As spring rolls around, the sight of classic cars cruising Main Street becomes commonplace. Saturday morning car shows and Friday night cruises are staples that bring our community together through a common passion. The smell of tire shine, wax, and burnt gas spreads through the morning air. Folks can be seen, coffee in hand, strolling through cars on a chilly morning that will soon become a hot Saturday afternoon. It’s these times in our community when everyone shares a contagious buzz, each trying to hear another’s stories of car and collection history, and experiencing overwhelming nostalgia only a community car show can create. Each car has a history that will rarely stay in a family for multiple generations.
George and brother on the Belair
George and brother on the Belair

“Best 1950’s hot rod,” “Best 1957 Chevrolet,” “Best tri-five,” the list goes on and on. These awards are only a reminder of the hard work, memories, laughs, and love that went into earning these plastic figures. Sitting among the cars is a 1957 Chevrolet Belair wagon — Onyx black, 1998 350 motor, dual exhaust, and 510 lift zz4 cam. It was being used as a cage for rabbits. Fernando Franco came across it in 1974 when son, George Franco, was only 3 years old. Years later, Fernando traded the Chevy Belair in for a 1952 Chevrolet pickup but the Belair wasn’t going far from the Franco family. At age 8, George stumbled upon his dad’s Belair at Landreth Wrecking Company in Artesia, New Mexico. In 1985, that $300 1957 Chevrolet Belair wagon that had no title and was supposed to be sold for parts only (as written on the original receipt) was sold to George Franco, who was then 13. After working a whole summer raking leaves, stacking wood, painting fences, and cutting grass, George was still short $45 on his 90-day payment plan. With two days to spare, George’s mother asked what he wanted for his 13th birthday and, of course, he wanted that car so he asked her for $45. She gave him the money for his birthday, not knowing that the Belair wagon would come back to their family. George made his 9th payment of $45 on July 31, 1985, becoming the proud owner of a 1957 Chevrolet Belair Wagon. To this day, he still owns that car. With the help of his dad, George completely rebuilt this fan-favorite Belair wagon. If you saw the Chevy today, you wouldn’t believe it was in a junkyard or used as a rabbit cage.

Belair in the junkyard
Belair in the junkyard

The awards that meant the most were the awards we won at the Artesia car show because it is my hometown.

1957 Chevrolet Belair wagon
1957 Chevrolet Belair wagon

The love for each other and cars doesn’t end there. In 1975, Fernando purchased a 1947 Chevrolet 5 window from Jimmy Johnson in Artesia, New Mexico. The ’47 Chevy did not run nor did it have wiring or exhaust. It was not long, after weekends spent in the garage, that George and his dad had the truck running. As George said, “That’s when I started to learn how to build cars.” The Chevy was also the first vehicle he learned to drive. Fernando gave George the keys and title at age 18 as an incentive to go and finish college. George left for college and that’s when he started to rebuild a gift of a lifetime by putting in a 1976 Camaro front suspension. The deep green metallic truck has been taken apart and put back together many times to get where it is now. It has a 454 big block Chevy, disc brakes on the front and back with a 700r 4 automatic transmission. This truck has won many awards including “Best 1940s Chevy pickup,” “Best color,” “Best engine,” “Club choice,” and “Best 1940s hot rod truck.”

47 Chevy and 57 Belair
47 Chevy and 57 Belair

Article written by Ali Lykins and originally published in Focus on Artesia 2021 Spring edition.

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