Ron's Black 57 Plymouth Belvedere Convertible

JUNE 1964

NOTE: The slicks on the rear wheels and Sun tachometer in windshield.
I was in a fender bender and put a Savoy fender on.

Photo was taken around 1964 in front of my soon to be wife's parents house in Hayward California.

I purchased the Belvedere in 1962, the year I graduated from Tennyson High School. I sold it in 1966 when I got married.

This is my original Plymouth that was black and white with a white top, 3 speed transmission with overdrive. I swapped out the motor after spinning a main bearing to a 1960 318, I think… It had a full race Iskenderian cam and solid lifters. I did 103 mph in 13.90 seconds in the quarter mile at Fremont Drag strip. Not bad for those days... I had tons of fun going to Santa Cruz with my buddies almost every weekend with surfboards hanging out the back seat with the top down while listining to the Beach Boys. I used to cruse East 14th in San Leandro on a regular basis from Mel's to Prings with my buddies of which 5 became California Highway Patrol officers, or Alameda County deputy sheriffs.

I recently went to my 45th Tennyson High School Reunion and a guy that I used to double date with said "I had the best times of my life in the back seat of that 57 Plymouth of yours." Then went on to tell me names of the girls that he dated in my Plymouth of which not one I could remember… Drive in movies were our first choice for a date then a drive to A & W Root Beer for fries and a Root Beer float.

I gained my mechanical and detail skills working as an aircraft mechanic at Hayward Airport. We built up P-51s for private pilots and the Reno Air Races. I worked on a lot of different aircraft including the 727 for Playboy Hugh Hefner.

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