Chevy Showdown features classic GM cars

When Judy Pella cannot find her husband, Frank, she knows where to look.

Downstairs in the couple’s Oro Valley home is a rather large garage with three bays. One of them houses what is possibly the most notorious line of cars GM ever manufactured: a Corvair.

This model, a late-generation 1968 Monza, has a soft top, white leather interior and four on the floor. With a sky blue, smooth-as-silk paint job, the car is a beauty. It’s a good bet Judy will find Frank there.

“I nicknamed (the car) Chevy-Ann,” she said. “I said, ‘Are you cheating on me with Chevy-Ann?’”

Frank, however, has a reason to be spending time with his metal baby. He is readying it for this year’s classic car beauty pageant season, and as president of the Classic Chevy Club of Tucson, he better be ready.

What’s up next this year for the Pellas and car is the 35th annual Chevy Showdown, planned for Saturday, April 1, at the Desert Diamond Casino in Sahuarita.

The show is no joke. Sponsored by the Classic Chevy Club of Tucson, the event will feature more than 75 classic GM cars that were manufactured no later than 1993. (They know the name, Chevy, is misleading, but the show is for any GM vehicle.)

That means that besides Frank’s Corvair and other Chevys, there could be restored and babied Cadillacs, Pontiacs and Buicks to moon over. There could even be a 1958 GMC Greyhound bus. The owner intends to make it into an RV, Frank said.

“This show, we don’t accept new cars,” Frank said. “We only accept 30 years out, so ’93 seems like a new car to us, and it’s not. It’s 30 years old.”

It’s $25 to enter a vehicle, which can be done the morning of the show. The public can view for free. The club also sponsors raffles with big-ticket items, such as televisions, lawn furniture and two Stoner car care kits.

Proceeds benefit the Ronald McDonald House of Southern Arizona, Aviva Children’s Services, Southern Arizona Children’s Advocacy Center and Therapeutic Riding of Tucson.

Frank’s Corvair is unusual in that he did nearly all the work himself. Clearly, he likes being busy; his car is testament to that. It took him six years to restore.

“(The car) was sitting in (the seller’s) backyard for 13 years, so it was trashed,” Frank said. “Rust was everywhere. It was pretty bad, but I said, ‘Yeah, that’s what I want.’”

The Corvair came on a trailer, and when Frank got his first good look at the car, he got worried. He asked himself, “Did I just waste $3,300?”

“He brought it on his trailer, and it was up,” Frank said. “When I saw the rust by the rocker panels — the convertibles, they drain through the rocker panels — I thought, ‘Oh, no,’ but we brought it home, and there was oil all over the motor. Something was leaking.”

Frank began the daunting task of fixing the car, getting it ready to use as a daily driver.

Unfortunately, the rust eventually took over, pieces of the body started falling off, and Frank knew it was time for restoration work.

“I was getting embarrassed to drive it,” he said.

He replaced all the rubber, the seat padding and the convertible top. The car has new wires, spark plugs and points, everything that makes a car run safely.

“Even including the motor (which he replaced) I have maybe $22,000 in it,” Frank said.

As anyone who has a classic car will tell you, that’s a reasonably priced car.

The 35th Annual Chevy Showdown

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 1

WHERE: The Desert Diamond Casino, 1100 W. Pima Mine Road, Sahuarita

COST: $25 to enter a car, free to visit the cars. Food will be available for purchase and there will be a shaded area to sit.

INFO: classicchevycluboftucson.shutterfly.com

This article appears in Mar 30 – Apr 5, 2023.