AK Steel retiree’s ’57 Chevy ragtop a prized possession

Greg Lynch/Staff photographer Glen Majors, Don Garver, and Bob Majors own a couple of 1957 Chevy Belair convertibles.

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By Denise Wilson, Staff Writer 10:46 AM Thursday, July 22, 2010

LEMON TWP. — Glen “Smittie” Majors has had a love affair with Chevy automobiles since he was kid.

In 1976, the Middletown native and retired crane operator and carpenter for AK Steel, purchased a 1957 Harbor Blue Chevy Bel Air convertible from a friend.

“I’ve had Plymouths, I’ve had Fords and Chevys, and it seems like I’ve always like Chevys a little bit better than any other thing. I think they’re a little handy to work on and I understood them a little bit better,” said Majors, 76, while gazing at his classic car in the backyard of his home on Ohio 4.

“They just seem like they were a frontrunner of innovations for poor people. They had a better transmission, no doubt about it, I thought. Some people like chocolate ice cream, some like vanilla, but I always had luck with Chevys over Fords,” he said.

The car was made in Norwood in June 1957, the same year his son, Bob, was born, he said. The car had a listed valued at $3,340 in 1957, he said.

Majors also has owned a 1940 Chevy four-door special deluxe, a 1948 Chevy convertible he got married in to his wife, Jane, and a 1966 Bel Air two-door hard top.

Majors also owns a 1946 two-door Ford sedan.

He said he only brings his two-door 1957 Bel Air, which he co-owns with his son, out of his barn to cruise the streets for special occasions like the Monroe High School Homecoming Parade and the city’s Fourth of July Light Up the Sky parade.

He loves the visibility and quickness of the car.

“It’s kind of nice to be driving a Chevy that is 53 years old,” Majors said.

“I had such good luck finding that car. If I ever got rid of it, I would have a hard time finding another like it. They’re very scarce with the original motor and transmission in it.”

The antique car enthusiast is a member of the former Armco Car Enthusiasts Club, which is just now known as ACE since Armco no longer exists. Majors is one of the founding fathers of the current 32-member club founded in 1975.

He also has passed along his love of Chevy’s to his son who also owns a 1957 Larkspur Chevy Bel Air convertible.

Contact this reporter at (513) 483-5219 or dewilson@coxohio.com.

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