Sports
Man Finds '57 Chevy Parked in Barn for 35 Years, 24 Hours Later, He Gets It Running
A good classic car is something everyone dreams of having one day, and the 1957 Chevy 210 Townsman wagon is a classic that adorns the dreams of many. This thirty-something beauty was driven into a barn and left in it in 1984, and wouldn’t see sunlight until Danny Rathe and his friends took it to the roads in 2020.
Danny Rathe, who is a small-town car dealer specialized in older cars, found the car through a client who was trying to sell his father-in-law Donald Russell’s property after he passed away.
After one of his friends called him to see if he’d want to check out the vehicles that were going to be removed from the property, and of course, as an oldie-enthusiast, Rathe had to.
Rathe and his friends found a 1977 Chevy El Camino, 1952 Buick Special, 1937 Foard truck, 1961 Apache pop-up camper, 1965, Buick Wildcat, a two-door 1975 LeSabre, and the 1957 Chevy wagon. It is safe to say that this barn had something for everyone. Rathe said, “The cars have been in the barn since 1985, Don was in the United States Air Force. He and his family lived in Rapid City, and he had bought the wagon new from Rapid Chevrolet.”
Rathe made a call and the Chevy was his. It was love at first sight. The car was an original three-on-the-tree manual with overdrive.
In order to get the old-man running, they surprisingly didn’t have to do much. First, they drained the fluids, blew out fuel lines, changed the oil, trans, and pulled gas tank.
The next step was to pull the wheels and buying a battery, carb cleaner, Sea Foam, tires, and bug bombs. After checking the brakes and putting the car back together, they hooked a gas can to the fuel pump, and finally, the Chevy was back on the roads after 35 years.
Rathe said, “35 years in the barn and 24 hours after it reaching the shop, I was driving a one-owner, original titled, '57!"
Tags: 1957 Chevy 210, Townsman wagon