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Dave and Rosemary Renke have made plenty of family memories cruising in the ’55 Chevy Bel Air.
Photo by Maria Allard
Dave Renke, on the right, and his brother Ron, left, pose for a photo with the car during its restoration.
Photo provided by Dave Renke
Three of Dave and Rosemary Renke’s daughters had wedding photos taken with the Bel Air.
Photo provided by Dave Renke
METRO DETROIT — Dave Renke purchased his first car before he even had a driver’s license.
Two weeks before his 16th birthday, in the spring of 1976, Renke and a few friends were riding their 10-speed bicycles in St. Clair Shores. When biking through a random parking lot, the group spotted a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air.
Renke couldn’t take his eyes off the seafoam green beauty. The teenager left a written note on the windshield with his phone number, asking the owner to contact him if interested in selling the vehicle.
“It was a 210 model, two-door post with a six-cylinder engine and an automatic Powerglide transmission,” Renke remembered.
When he got home, the phone rang and on the other end of the line was the Bel Air owner, who made an offer to sell the car for $800. An excited Renke told his dad, who wasn’t so sure it was a good deal.
“Why do you want to buy an old car like that?” he said.
But Dad gave the OK for Renke to use the money he earned from his paper route to buy his first-ever set of wheels. Renke has always been a fan of the Tri-Five Chevy models, which refers to the 1955, 1956 and 1957 Chevrolet automobiles, including the Bel Air and Nomad.
“I always thought they were very cool and was glad I bought it,” he said. “If you look at the ’54 Chevy, it was more rounded. In ’55, they made a big change to the body style. In ’55, you could get more color options.”
For many years, Renke’s teenage purchase sat in his parents’ Warren garage.
“I didn’t start enjoying it until the late ’80s and early ’90s,” he said. “I was always saving up enough money so I could buy the next part.”
Prior to that, Renke and his friends spent many nights in the garage restoring the Bel Air.
“It originally had a six-cylinder, and then we put a V-8 engine in it,” Renke said. “There was more power. I found an original 265 V-8 Engine and had it rebuilt.”
In the late 1980s, the Bel Air got a new look when Renke’s cousin painted it India Ivory and Gypsy Red, which remain its current colors. While many maintenance upgrades have been completed over the years, “I tried to keep the car with the original look,” he said.
Renke took the Bel Air with him when he and his wife, Rosemary, moved to Sterling Heights, and it’s still with the couple, who now reside in Macomb Township. Renke’s interest in cars dates way back to the days when he and his friends would take apart their bicycles. Renke eventually moved on to cars by buying and selling several different models, including a 1975 Fiat Spider, a 1969 AMC Javelin, a 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass and a 1972 Pontiac Grand Prix over the years.
“He always had a different car in high school,” Rosemary recalled.
According to Renke, because of his love for restoring older cars, Rosemary has “graciously” given up a parking spot in their garage for the past 30-plus years for the Bel Air.
“It’s too nostalgic. It’s a part of who he is,” Rosemary said. “Cars are a part of your life.”
In time, Renke’s dad had a change of heart and made Renke promise to never sell the Bel Air.
“Seems he became very fond of it over the years, just as I have,” Renke said. “And I plan to keep the car and hope to pass it to someone in my family down the road.”
The Renkes’ four daughters also are big fans of the Bel Air. Three of their daughters are married, and the car was on-site and photographed with each couple at all three weddings.
“They have fun memories of it,” Renke said.
Renke often takes his ’55 Chevy to many of the local car cruises and shows, including the Woodward Dream Cruise and the Lakeside Mall Circle Cruise-In on Monday nights in Sterling Heights. One fun event is the Berkley car parade the Friday evening before the Dream Cruise on Saturday.
“You can park your car at the cemetery, get out and can talk to people. You drive down 12 Mile. The crowd is cheering. You feel like a celebrity,” Renke said. “You usually get a thumbs-up or a wave. People come to you and say, ‘My dad had a car like that.’ Everyone is very friendly.”
The most mileage the Bel Air gets are the drives to Port Austin for its annual Carfest. As he prepares to retire soon, Renke hopes to enjoy his vintage vehicle “even more with family and friends.”
