Between 1949 and 1952, several million Chevrolets rolled off the assembly line.  These were, for the most part, not the glamour vehicles of the period; within a decade or so, most had outlived their usefulness and had been crushed.  Those that survived were often kept running with a patchwork of ill-matching parts, paint and plenty of Bondo.

In 1992, while in Florida on business, a Dutch businessman named Herman Struve happened upon an advertisement for a car in nearby Tampa:

‘52 Chevrolet Styleline Deluxe, body very good condition, standard trans, skirts, sun visor, interior good, lots of spare parts. $1200.

“The car looked reasonable,” Struve recalls. “I decided to buy it after consulting my wife Linda in the middle of the Dutch night. That was in early February  – a few weeks later the car arrived in Holland.”

Herman says his wife fell in love with right away with the car. He was beginning to have doubts. 

“As a boy I had always dreamed of the big, enormous finned American cars with lots and lots of chrome,” he says. “That was what I wanted: A Cadillac Biarritz 1959 convertible or something like that – not a “cheap” Chevrolet.”

Herman’s doubts about the Chevy grew as the stripping started, revealing extensive rust, suspicious parts on the engine and a spare 1952 gearbox in the car.  Herman began to research Chevrolets 49-52, and the more he learned, the more he discovered wrong items on the car, wrong colors and wrong materials. In early 1993 he lifted the body off the chassis. Things went from bad to worse.

“I wanted to give up,” said Herman, “but my wife pushed in a nice way to continue. The front floor, half the rear floor, the trunk floor, one quarter panel, rocker panels had to be replaced. I also replaced all 4 doors. More than 400 hours of welding was required. All parts are hand-made and absolutely original pattern.”

He can laugh about it now. The ad he saw in Florida, he says, should have read:

“52 Chevrolet Styleline Deluxe, filler and rust in very good condition, standard trans which needs to be hooked up like the engine too, skirts, sun visor good, lots of spare parts you’ll need badly, $1200.”

With Linda’s encouragement, Herman pressed forward. The chassis was sandblasted, sprayed (rust primer and 2k chassis black) and every part in need of replacement replaced – including new brakes and complete front-end.

In the meanwhile Herman discovered that the motor was a 1953 235cui PG (Powerglide) engine mounted, to a ‘49 gearbox. This was totally unacceptable, he says, and while at Hershey, PA, later that year he found and bought another Chevy with the correct 216.5 cui engine and ‘52 gearbox, a car that came out of the same factory during the same month as his Styleline. Once back home, the “new” engine got a total work-over, was sprayed in the correct grey color and bolted into the chassis.

By the fall of 1996, the body had been sandblasted, sprayed in a 2k zinc compound paint and reunited with the chassis after spraying the underbody in the correct 2k Spring Green. Nearly all the chrome parts had been redone and the stainless parts polished. Herman then ordered a full interior kit from Hampton Coach.

“Everything, from the assist straps, to the headliner, door panels and door sills just fit,” he says of the interior kit he received from Hampton Coach. “The material was top quality and ready to mount.”

Modest though the original Styleline was, it still contained thousands of parts, and Herman thinks he replaced most of these. 

“Brake parts, switches, terminals, wiring harnesses, bulbs, lenses, moldings, clips, lots of small items and electrical parts–you name it– I bought it! This included available rubbers, grommets, weather-stripping, gaskets, things not always so easy to find. Also five WWW Firestone tires.”

Between 1996 and 1998 the doors, fenders, trunk lid, hood had been mounted.

“That was quite a job since nothing fit in the first instance,” he says. “Also the gas tank had to be replaced. I enjoyed the body work, except for the sanding, from 80 grit to 120, 150, 200 and eventually 400. I tried to use as little filler as I could and I did so successfully. When I got bored with the sanding I revised the steering, heater, all instruments, the radio and those kind of parts. That was fun at least. But the sanding had to be faced and the help of a friend–and beer–made that more bearable.”

The year 1999 found Herman, Linda and their ’52 preparing to immigrate to Canada.  By now the car had been resprayed in original colors – emerald and spring green - inside and outside.

“It started to look like a car again,” he says. “All the sanding was worthwhile.”

But not for long. 

“I had just arrived, ahead of our belongings, at our new home in Canada,” Herman recalls.  “The phone rang. It was an employee of the freight forwarding company.  She told me that my car–my baby–had been ‘slightly’ damaged in transport.

The next day, the container was delivered to Herman, and the contents were no pretty sight.

“It turns out that this 40-foot container had been dropped off the hooks at the dock in Halifax Harbor,” Herman says. “An interior crate holding the car had been crushed in by the surrounding furniture, onto the hood and front end. To make matters worse, Canadian customs then opened the container, unpacked every single box and literally threw everything back inside, not securing the car. You can imagine what I saw when I opened the container at our new home in Ontario”

Physical damage to the Styleliner amounted to about $12,000, including bodywork, complete re-spraying and a total redo of the front end.  Psychologically, Herman says, the damage was even more severe.

“I lost interest for about two years,” he says. “The car sat in my garage under a cover. My wife encouraged me, in her usual friendly way, to continue on ‘the lady.’ Another friend of mine from Holland came over to Canada and we worked for on the car. Once in a while it was a little bit of cursing because things didn’t fit as intended (windows, grille) but we managed and the car did run after long days of hard work.”

“Linda was really happy because she loved that car so much. She had supported me through the whole process, traveled with me to Hershey and other national and international events. She never complained about the time I spent on the car nor about one dime spent on it… and I did spend some.”

Then, early in 2003, Linda passed away.  Toward the end of summer, Herman returned to The Netherlands.  By now the Styleliner had taken on a new significance for him, representing, in a way, a connection to his late wife.  He threw himself into completing its restoration, and by early 2005, the car was ready for the road.  

“The first thing I did after the car passed technical inspection and I got my Dutch car papers was to drive to the cemetery to show her the car,” Herman says. “I believe she saw “her” car. Since then (spring 2005) I started cruising around in it, featured in several magazines and and have very much enjoyed the “old lady.”

“All in all I’m very happy that I continued,” Herman says. “There had been more than 4.4 million of these Chevrolets but most of them are gone. Thanks to the Internet and E-Bay I bought every available original accessory. Items like the Chevrolet 1952 shaver, passing eye mirror and many more. These items are listed in the American and/or Canadian GM Chevrolet accessory catalogue.  I also bought a huge amount of documentation, films, records, training material, books, brochures etc. My collection of documentation is really unique.”

“I love this car. It’s a very simple technical design without any luxury other than little things and chrome. There is no power-assisted steering, brake, clutch or windows, let alone air-conditioning. Due to the colors and all the chrome it just stands out and attracts attention. There are so many people waving or honking at us while I’m driving the car on the Dutch countryside or on the famous Dutch dikes on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I have told them the GM story on this 49-52 Chevy’s over and over again.”