After it had been sitting in a garage for more than 30 years, it was time for Randy Ladwig to buckle down and get to work.
The Shawano man spent eight years restoring a 1955 Chevrolet Belair he had purchased almost 50 years ago. He showed off the fruits of his labor July 9-11 at the Iola Car Show in Iola.
“I was working at a Pontiac garage in Shawano, a coworker of mine had this, and I wound up buying it from him in 1977 for $200,” Ladwig said.
He restored everything on the red and cream-colored two-door car.
“New floor, new quarter panels, disc brakes on the front of it, rebuilt the front fenders, rebuilt the motor, rebuilt the transmission. Everything’s brand new,” he said. “It sat in the garage for 35 years. I was always going to restore it. My daughter was going to get married and she wanted it in her wedding, so I had to push. That was the plan. It was half done and all of a sudden, the push was on. It had to get finished.”
At that time — 15 years ago — Ladwig was four years into a restoration that took another four years.
“I worked in a garage as a mechanic pretty much my entire life,” he said. “I did it all by myself in the garage.”
He has no idea how much he spent over the years on the restoration but said he can find out.
“I’ve got a book at home with all the receipts in it,” he said. “If I ever get bored one day, I’m going to add it up.”
Ladwig is no stranger to cars. He’s been coming to the Iola Car Show for 38 years.
He retired four years ago and plans to keep the car in the family, as well as a 1966 Pontiac GTO that he recently restored.
Ladwig drives his Belair on occasion and takes it every year to the Back to the Fifties, a car show in St. Paul, Minnesota.
“They have 10,000 cars, nothing newer than 1962,” he said.
Ladwig said there’s a reason why people are fascinated with cars from the 1950s and why events such as the Iola show draw thousands of spectators.
“It’s the style,” he said. “I just like talking to people and everybody’s got a story. I like listening to the stories.”
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