Family Ties
DRAGGED FROM A BARN OVER 30 YEARS AGO, THIS ’56 HAS GROWN UP WITH THREE GENERATIONS OF THE WILLIAMS FAMILY t’s no secret that some of those who stand among us consider their creations — their cars — to be part of the family. To others it might sound absurd that a hunk of steel with four wheels and an engine can be regarded as family, but for the Williams family, their ’56 hardtop, which has been in the family for 30 years, has been the cornerstone of many memories, road trips, and holidays. It’s also served owner Sean his share of angst as it’s grown older. How could you not consider it family? The ’56 first appeared in the family garage when Sean was in his early 20s and eldest son Chris was still in nappies. Dragged from a barn on Waiheke Island, it was in a state that would have had those more irresolute among us leaving it where it lay. But for a young Sean Williams, the shape of the hardtop
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Auto Channel Issue #39 September 2021
was too hard to ignore, and the price was well within his ‘I have a young family’ budget. But there was no denying that it was a basket case — and a very rotten one at that. Sean recalls the trip home: “I pulled into a gas station towing the ’56, and the attendant comes up and asked what I was doing with it, to which I replied, ‘Taking it home.’ ‘What, you’re not taking it to the tip?’ he asked. And I replied, ‘No, I’m going to restore it;’, and he told me, ‘I hope you didn’t pay money for that’. I told him I paid five. ‘What, you paid $500 for that?’ he asked, and I said, ‘No, $5K,’ to which he replied, ‘You’re mad.’” Ignoring the impromptu mental health assessment, Sean pushed ahead. The shell was taken to Kiwi Metal Polishers and dipped in acid.
What hadn’t been eaten by rust worms was returned to the shed. It was bad — like, real bad — so much so that it could have spelled the end hadn’t Sean’s cousin, a fresh-faced panel beater, not stepped in and offered his services. Over the course of three years, he would fabricate and weld in countless patch panels while the car was on a rotisserie, while also handling the first round of panel work before it was returned to Sean’s garage for final blocking. While all this was going on, the chassis was undergoing an upgrade at home. In the rear went a nine-inch diff, while, up front, a 427 big block and TH350 were slotted in. The car was painted in two-tone red and white, and the neighbour’s garage became a makeshift booth in which to spray most of the components. Stitches Upholstery handled the
