Ron Luchs' 1956 Chevrolet
1956 Chevrolet 150 sedan owned by Beaverton Exotics member Ron Luchs of Beaverton, Oregon. Ron bought the car September 28, 1957. It was a mint green used sheriff car, and Ron paid $1502 for it. Being the base platform for what would eventually evolve into "Miss Taboo", the car would progress and change until 1961, and then again in the early 1990's. The original restyling was handeled by Vern's Body Shop in Beaverton, Oregon. The customizing started around June of 1958 by modyfying the stock grill. The next batch of changes came in September of 1958, the changes were the addition of lake pipes and Dodge Lancer flipper caps. The name "Miss Taboo" came when Ron began to customize his fairly new Chevy. Ron's father thought it was a taboo to be cutting up such a nice new car. There have been two spellings for the car in it's life. It has been spelled "Miss Tabu" and "Miss Taboo".[1]
By May of 1959 the car had been further restyled as Ron had installed new side trim and a tube grille on the car. The trim on the doors and front fenders had been replaced with 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air trim. Another front fender trim section was reversed and used on the quarter panels. The car had also received a new blue paint job, and a matching blue and white custom upholstery. Somwhere between May and August of 1959 Ron's Chevy recieved quad headlights from a 1957 Chrysler. In August of 1959 Ron had his first of two wrecks in the car. He hit somthing, and messed up the front end on the car. The car was brought back to Vern's Body Shop for repair work. At Vern's shop, the car recieved more modifications as well. The Chrysler headlights remained, but 1959 Chevrolet Impala bumpers and roll pans were added to the front and rear of the car. The smashed tube grill was scrapped in favor of a 1954 Chevrolet grille with 19 teeth, and the stock taillight lenses were swapped for a set of Lee Plastic Company Diamond design lenses. This version of the car recieved a warmed over small block chevy with tri-power, and it appeared on the cover of Rod & Custom May 1960.[1]
Not long after the magazine came out Ron was involved in another accident with the Chevy, wiping out the passenger side of the front end. The car was repaired again, and as last time it was further restyled. This time it recieced fairly new 1960 Chrysler "boomerang" tail lights in the back of the car. Ken kept the car like this until 1966, when he sold it to Chuck Shutts of Beaverton. Chuck painted the car black with a red insert in the side trim and he installed a new all white interior. Chuck owned the car untill 1975. After this the history of the car gets fuzzy untill the mid 1980's when the car was found in Portland, Oregon. It was found in 1987, and it was owned by a lady who drove it everyday to work at a local bar. The old custom had been wrecked again on the passenger side and repaired. It also had a little damage of unknown origin in the back. Beaverton resident CJ Carlile of the Northwest Lowriders car club bought the car from the lady and repaired the back end. He also went through the mechanicals on the car and installed a 327 chevy with 6 dual carburetors. A vintage 4 speed was already in the car, so CJ retained retained this one. CJ owned the '56 until around 1991 when Ron Luchs saw the car and wanted to have his old custom back. CJ decided to sell the car, and Ron was in possesion of his old custom again. Not long after getting the car back, it went through a new wave of changes perfomed by Jon Stewart. Jon suicided the doors, pancaked the hood and trunk, added two rear scoops on the roof, and built in side pipes. The dash was modified and a custom center consle was installed along with front and rear bucket seats. After these modifications, the car was repainted blue with purple accents scallops. In 2009 Ron decided to sell the car again. He contacted CJ and let him know that he was going to sell the chevy and offered it to him. CJ agreed, and bought the car back. CJ restored the car back into more of what it looked like in the 1960s. During the restoration CJ modified the car after his own likings as well. All of the work was done by CJ and his grandson Dalton Carter.[1]
Magazine Features
References
Did you enjoy this article?
Kustomrama is an encyclopedia dedicated to preserve, share and protect traditional hot rod and custom car history from all over the world.
- Help us keep history alive. For as little as 2.99 USD a month you can become a monthly supporter. Click here to learn more.
- Subscribe to our free newsletter and receive regular updates and stories from Kustomrama.
- Do you know someone who would enjoy this article? Click here to forward it.
Can you help us make this article better?
Please get in touch with us at mail@kustomrama.com if you have additional information or photos to share about Ron Luchs' 1956 Chevrolet.
This article was made possible by:
SunTec Auto Glass - Auto Glass Services on Vintage and Classic Cars
Finding a replacement windshield, back or side glass can be a difficult task when restoring your vintage or custom classic car. It doesn't have to be though now with auto glass specialist companies like www.suntecautoglass.com. They can source OEM or OEM-equivalent glass for older makes/models; which will ensure a proper fit every time. Check them out for more details!
Do you want to see your company here? Click here for more info about how you can advertise your business on Kustomrama.
