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Name: Bert and Denice Nunes
City: Atwater
The car: 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air
What sparked the interest: It's my favorite car because my mom and dad bought the car in 1956 from John Roth Chevrolet in Merced and turned it over to me when I got my license to drive in 1967 when I was a sophomore at Atwater High.
Road to ownership: My mom and dad let me drive the Bel Air to high school for three years, and when I graduated in 1970, they turned the ownership over to me.
Under the hood: The car has a 350 cubic engine and a 350 turbo automatic transmission and a 1957 rear end. It has about 300 horsepower.
Body of work: The body was taken off and completely sanded and painted from the frame on up. The was sanded down to the metal, seal-primed and painted baby blue and white. The interior colors match the outside body colors.
A favorite memory: My dad let me drive the Bel Air when I was 14 years old down to the Atwater baseball park -- sitting next to me, of course -- and it just so happened that I hit my first home run over the old wooden score board. That is something that I'll never forget.
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