1955 Chevy 210 Is Not So Sweet Lucky Lucile

Rudi Van Der Merwe from Pretoria is the proud owner of this unique 1955 Chevy 210 4-door beast he affectionately calls Lucky Lucile. Rudi’s story of his beloved Lucky Lucile is one of passion, grit, and a love for raw power.

When you think of a 1955 Chevy 210, what comes to mind? Beautiful body curves, massive chrome bumpers, an immaculate paint job, and expensive wheels—all perfectly put together, cruising down the road, looking all pretty and shiny. It’s the same feeling you get when you see a beautiful woman in an elegant evening dress walking by. But Lucky Lucile isn’t that elegant beauty. She doesn’t tease you with a bit of leg; no, Lucky Lucile is the woman your mom warned you about—she body slams you and rides you like a Harley.

"My love affair with V8s started when I was 16," Rudi recalls. "I heard a V8 roar for the first time and I was hooked. Growing up in a small Freestate town called Heilbron, about 120 km from Joburg, I got my first bike when I was 8 and my first car, a 1972 Toyota Carona bakkie, at 16. My dad helped me buy my first V8, a Chevy small block that was in pieces, for R700. With help from local gearheads and the engineering shops—and a lot of lessons learned from bargain parts—we finally got her running on the engine stand. Hearing that V8 rumble for the first time without mufflers was pure magic."

With the engine sorted, Rudi needed a car to house it. "I spotted an old car sitting under a tree and I just had to have it," he says. "I sold the Carona bakkie and bought the 1955 Chevy 4-door sedan for R6500. It had very little rust and still had the old straight-six Blue Flame motor. But before tearing her apart, my mates and I used to hunt rabbits through the mielie fields with that car!"

But the V8 had to go somewhere. So, Rudi and his friends stripped down the Chevy and fitted the V8 with an auto box and an El Camino diff. "That was nice for a while," he says, "but eventually, I got the itch to go faster. I installed an Iskenderian cam, Rhoads lifters, an Edelbrock Performance intake, and a Holley 600 carb. That made a huge difference. The car took me to Pretoria for three months when I was doing my diesel mac apprenticeship. I still remember scaring people in the car because when you hit the brakes (drum brakes), it used to be all over the road!"

After qualifying as a diesel mac, Rudi moved to England, where he had time to obsess over what he wanted to do with his Chevy. "At the time, the car was the typical SA '80s rod, but it wasn’t me. I wasn’t happy; it was still too slow, looked too tame, and just didn’t get my juices pumping!"

That’s when Rudi decided to go for a turbo conversion. "I bought a book about turbo-charging and became fascinated with the idea. After saving up some cash in the UK, the first thing I did when I got home was swap the El Camino rear for a shortened Ford 9-inch. This allowed me to fit some fat BF 275s under the wheel wells, and it was a solid foundation for the power I planned to put down."

Next came a suspension rebuild with polyurethane bushes and disc brakes all around. Rudi also lowered and moved the engine back for better weight transfer. "Then came the new seats, roll cage, battery relocation, polycarbonate windows, locally fabricated throttle body fuel injection, Gotech Engine Management Systems, and the big turbo conversion. The car first had a medium-sized RAJAY turbo, but now it’s got a ginormous Schwitzer turbo from a Mercedes Actros truck, along with a massive custom-made intercooler."

The inspiration for Lucky Lucile came from the tough-as-nails bomber planes of the 1950s. "Those old planes were built to last, and the pilots lived life to the fullest—not like today’s white-collar, Greenpeace SUV-driving society! Back then, gas was cheap, Hot Rods were badass, rock and roll ruled, and whiskey on the rocks was the drink of choice!"

Rudi sees car building as a form of artistic expression. "If you build a car, it’s like an artist painting a picture. It gives you the freedom to do whatever you want. Respect!"

Lucky Lucile is named after an actual bomber plane that flew during World War II. Today, she puts down about 300 kW at 0.8 bar boost, thanks to the many gearheads who helped Rudi along the way: Henco Reeders (paint), Jaco Ferreira (stainless work), Lau Herne (aluminum fabrication), Micheal de Carvalio (bonnet), Maurits Lourens (decals), and Leon van der Merwe (general technical guru).

And Rudi’s not done yet. Future plans for Lucky Lucile include a forged rotating assembly, 1.2 bar boost, and a 10-second quarter mile. 

SWEEEEEEET!!!!