When you’re a manufacturer of parts for classic cars, it stands to reason you would have a “display car” that could showcase your products. Beginning in approximately 2007, Danchuk Manufacturing in Santa Ana, California, had such a car. It was a great looking ’57 Chevy, and it sat prominently in front of the huge showroom. For years, the car became an identifying icon for people driving by the building. That is, until it one day, it disappeared.

The disappearance of the car surely caused speculation as to its demise. Did the company sell it? Maybe it was stolen? Rest assured, neither of those scenarios occurred, and the car was actually being given another chance at life.

When the car was originally parked on the manicured grass in front of the Danchuk building, it looked great. it also did a great job of promoting the Tri-Five products that Danchuk manufactures. But, because it spent so much time “resting” in the yard, this piece of “lawn art” started to show its age.

When the car was in front of the building and members of the Danchuk team would try to take the car for a short drive to stretch its legs, mechanical issues plagued the car. Eventually, it became too hard to even get the car to move under its own power and something had to be done.

That something occurred in 2018, when a simple transformation was authorized. Although Danchuk is known for restoration products, the breadth of its offerings is much larger. This restomodded ’57 is proof of that diversity. Although the rebuild plan would bring the car into the restomod genre, the car was designed with restorability in mind. When the car was initially built back in 2007, the idea was to create a custom car that could be restored back to its OE specs should anyone deem it necessary, and that would be the mantra during the rebuild.

The body was in relatively good shape for a car that continuously sat in the Danchuk front yard, and only minor rust repair was needed under the quarter-panel lower side moldings. With the repairs complete, the 2007 Corvette Torch Red paint was reapplied, and the repair is not noticeable.

This is a restomod for Pete’s sake, and in this day and age, no self-respecting hot rodder settles for anything that is stock. For that reason, you’ll find an Art Morrison chassis supporting the body. That includes Morrison front and rear suspensions, and kit-specific Strange coilovers on all four corners.

Hot rods need motor-vation, and this one relies on a 350ci Edelbrock E-TEC crate engine. The crate makes the perfect cruiser engine with a 9.5:1 compression ratio, hydraulic-roller camshaft, Edelbrock aluminum heads and intake, and hypereutectic pistons. But, instead of a traditional carburetor, this one is fed via an Edelbrock Pro-Flow 4 EFI system. Behind the mill is a driver-friendly 200R4 transmission and a 9-inch rear.

Although this classic hot rod spent the last several years as a static display, Danchuk Manufacturing has reimaged the Tri-Five, and has created a street-friendly hot rod that is anything but “static.”