I was out and about recently heading home from Dierbergs in O’Fallon, Illinois. I was in the wrong lane to turn right on Greenmount Crossing to get on the entrance ramp to I-64, so I decided to just go straight onto Central Park Drive which took me right by Syberg’s restaurant. And what to my wandering eyes did appear, but a gorgeous 1955 Bel Air.
Well, I just had to go into the lot. I was looking for lunch anyway and thought I’d get some Syberg’s hot wings (yummy!) and hoping to run into the owner of this sweet ride. Luckily, I did! I met Jim Thomas, owner of Key Commercial Corporation, a commercial equipment financing and leasing company in Lake St.
Louis. Jim, who is 86-years old but you’d never guess it, is married to his wife of 25 years, Marcia. Jim graduated from Jennings High School and joined the Marines, stationed at Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California.
He was with his sons, Chris and Craig. Jim is a regular reader of this column and recognized me immediately as I was wearing my shirt with The FIN MAN emblazoned across the back. Jim and his sons were on their way to the annual gathering of the Tri-Five Chevy Club at the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
In case you happen to be a Ford or Mopar fan, you may not be familiar with the “Tri-Five” folks. They are followers, fans and owners of the ‘55, ‘56 and ‘57 Chevrolet’s. Model year 1955 brought with it a whole new body from bumper-to-bumper and side-to-side.
The new models were long.