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1957 Chevy
Hayesville, NC

Frank and Paulette Capozzi retired to Brasstown from Marathon Key in the Florida Keys. Frank and Paulette met in Daytona in the 70’s where Frank was an auto mechanic. After several years they moved to the Florida Keys where he became a realtor. He stayed in real estate for about 20 years then retired to Brasstown in 2004 where they owned a cabin for about 10 years. They have since built a beautiful house and a large garage/workshop for their car hobby.

Frank and Paulette own several cars, some have very unique stories behind them and will be featured in future articles. This article features their 1957 Chevy 2dr Bel Aire with only 39 miles on it since completion. Frank traded a 1965 Chevy pick-up truck for this car about a year ago. The truck was a regular street driven truck, but the 57, although solid was a project vehicle. He then proceeded to do a frame off restoration which took him about 6 month to complete.

Frank has restored or rebuilt several cars before, so this project was not his first, and he has several other cars waiting for their turn at a new life. Frank’s Chevy is mostly all original, standard factory type parts. The engine was totally reworked by Frank and is a 1968 Chevy 327 c.i. L79 V-8 engine pushing about 340 horsepower and is fed by a single Carter AFB carb. Power to the rear wheels is through a Muncie 4-speed transmission with a Hurst shifter and stock rear gears. The car has factory A/C, P/S and Frank added disc brakes on the front and a tilt steering wheel.

The front and rear tires are P225/70R 15’s on American Racing Aluminum wheels. The paint is Inca Silver and was painted by Byers Paint and Body on Carter Cove Road in Hayesville. Frank’s friend, Jim Jones who lives in Brasstown did the upholstery which is silver and black. Jim is from Jupiter FL and owned Florida Mustangs and Jim’s Trim Shop before coming to the mountains. Frank did all the disassembly and assembly of the car other than the paint and upholstery.

Frank has about $50,000 invested in the car and is a regular at cruise-ins in the area. He and Paulette like to bring a different vehicle to each event. Stop by and talk with them at one of the future events.