Home-Built Hero: This '52 Chevy Bel Air Is As Close As Family

There’s a lot more to this ’52 Chevy Bel Air than meets the eye. The car belongs to Paul Droullard of Auburn, Washington, and the backstory about how he got the car is a big part of what makes it so special. “My brother was Skip Droullard, a well known car guy in the Pacific Northwest. He bought this car eight or ten years ago, and it was ugly under the hood and hardly ran,” Paul explained. “Skip had the firewall and inner fenderwells smoothed, and that was the same time he added a Mustang II-style front suspension to it.”

The color on this car is called "bittersweet," and it's actually a stock color for the car.

Skip worked closely with a friend named Steve Shaw, and while they were working on the front suspension, firewall, and fender wells, they also redid all the wiring. “Steve did the wiring and Skip did the supervising,” Paul explained.

These early '50s Chevys don't get the attention they deserve. When built like this, they're awesome hot rods.

In 2013, Skip was diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer. “We were at a Goodguys show three years ago, and Skip said that he was going to sell all of his cars,” Paul told us. “I told him he wasn’t going to sell this one, I was keeping it. I drove it home from the show that day.”

“Although Skip had a lot of hot rods, I think of this one when I think of him,” Paul continued. “That’s why I wanted it. He had the convertible version of this car too, and that would have been financially a better decision to keep, but this car means more to me.” For Paul, driving this car is a way to stay connected with his brother since his passing in 2014.

The body color on the valve covers works well with the look of the smoothed firewall and solidifies the clean aesthetic under the hood.

More than a way to remember his brother, Paul’s ’52 Chevy is all around a really cool and well-built car. It features a small-block 350 cubic-inch engine with a Holley 650 cfm double-pumper carburetor, Turbo 350 transmission, and the stock rearend. It also features front disc brakes, Vintage Air A/C, a Ron Davis radiator, and a March serpentine belt. The transmission is soon to be replaced with a 200R4 and the rearend is going to be swapped for a Camaro 10-bolt rearend.

The interior is one place where this car really shines. The dash itself has been extended out to the door posts, and is setup to accommodate the Bluetooth radio and cup holders that Paul added. The modifications done to the dash were a really cool and subtle way to make room for accessories, and to customize the look of the interior.

The dash extension also made room for built-in air vents. The steering wheel is also a custom touch, it's out of an Impala.

The upholstery was already done when Skip bought the car, but its a quality deal that has held up well over the years. Another interesting touch added by Skip are the gauges on the firewall. “It would have been really complicated to wire gauges so that the interior and exterior gauges would work at the same time,” Paul explained. “So to simplify things,Skip added a switch under the dash that would alternate them. Switch it towards the engine and the firewall gauges activate, switch it backwards and the interior gauges activate.”

We haven't seen many cupholders like this. They're available through Chevys of the '40s. Although their a little pricey, we may have to buy a couple for our hot rods.

We absolutely love Paul’s car, and the backstory makes it stand out as one that we’ll never forget. It’s great that Paul was able to keep the one car from Skip’s collection that he so closely associated with his brother. We’re alsosure that Skip would be proud of the way Paul has maintained it and continues to modify it as time goes on.