Summer is the best time of year for a family where all the members have their very own classic Chevy they built themselves. Instead of wrenching under the hood while the snow falls, they’re now out enjoying the fruits of their labors. The Ronfeldts, Jeff Sr., Jeff Jr. and Will, are a Chevy family and it shows.

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The Ronfeldt family has cars in its blood. Before the sons could even drive, they were hooked on building cars. From left are: Will Ronfelt and his 1966 Chevy II; Jeff Ronfelt Sr. and his 1957 Chevy; and Jeff Jr. and his 1966 Chevy Chevelle. Don Perkins photo

1957 Chevy

It began in 1982 when Jeff Sr. of Windham got his cream-colored ’57 Chevy Bel Air.

“I bought it off a buddy of mine who dragged it out of the woods,” he recalls. “He was going to fix it up but he didn’t have the time. It was in pretty rough shape.”

In three months, the senior Ronfeldt, 59, had the car basically as it looks today. But like many car buffs, he said it’s still a work in progress.

“I’d like to go back and build a high-performance 283 V-8 for it,” he said. “I’ve got a stock 400 in there now.”

He updated some components: disc brakes on all four wheels, and the rims are off a late-model Chevy S-10 pickup that bolted right on. This interchangeability is one reason the Ronfeldts went with Chevy.

“When I was growing up, Chevrolet was the easiest thing to get high-performance parts for,” Jeff Sr. said. “Corvette parts would fit on a regular Chevy V-8. You could get a four-speed (transmission) out of an old Impala, a motor out of a Corvette, and a rear end out of a Chevelle – they’d all work in something like this ’57.”

And Chevrolet kept many bolt patterns on engine and other powertrain components consistent for some 40-odd years. From 1955 to 1998 almost any small block Chevy V-8 – whether it be from a car, van or pickup – has the motor mount configuration to slide into something like Jeff Sr.’s ’57.

“I like the ’57s because they had a lot of class,” Jeff Sr. said. “Even standing still they look fast.”

1966 Chevrolet Chevelle

Jeff Jr., 30, of Windham got this sleek-looking Chevy back in 2001.

“When I bought it, it was wrecked,” he recalls. “I found it in Westbrook; it’s originally from Arizona so it didn’t have any rust.”

Like the other cars in the family, father and sons helped each other out on this project. It took three years to complete the Chevelle. They did everything but the bodywork and paint.

This car is just as much at home on the drag strip as it is cruising down a scenic stretch of road. It sports a monster of a motor. A Chevrolet 509 cubic inch big-block V-8. His best drag time is 11.01 seconds and 122 mph on the quarter-mile strip at New England Dragway.

For some perspective, this performance is in the ballpark of the 2011 Corvette ZR1, which boasts 638 horsepower and is dubbed “the ultimate Corvette; the fastest GM production car of all time,” according to Chevrolet’s website. And it costs $110,000.

“The Chevelle’s a sleeper; it’s very fast,” Jeff Jr. said. “It’s basically a street-legal drag car.”

In the future, he said he’d like to get a 10-second run on the quarter-mile, but that will come at the sacrifice of the cars “streetability.”

The car sits quite low in the front because of drag racing coil springs. “I can’t take any corners really fast,” he said.

1966 Chevy II

Rounding out the bunch is Will Ronfeldt’s basic-black classic Chevy II he got back in 2003; in two years it was finished. Like his brother Jeff’s, this one’s a sleeper as well. His license plate reads “RZRECTD,” reflecting the effort spent restoring it. The little beast sports a seriously tweaked 377 cubic inch “de-stroked” small block Chevy 400. A Tremec five-speed standard transmission with overdrive links up to a 5.13-geared rear end.

This is the second motor that Will, 27, of Casco, put in the car. A high-performance 327 V-8 rated at 350 horsepower was plenty to get this compact down the road, but Will said he’s become hooked on speed, deciding to put a bigger engine in the quest for more power.

“Other than the wide tires in the back, it’s a sleeper,” he said. “We’re both going for that sleeper look, basically original.”

One detail that can change this car from street cruiser to strip serious is an exhaust bypass switch that allows the car to run on open headers at the touch of a button.

It’s all legal; Will’s Chevy II is the only one of the trio with a current Maine inspection sticker. The little heavyweight boasts 7.3 seconds and 95 mph on the eighth-mile track.

It’s evident this family has cars in their blood. In their early teens, before the sons could even drive, they were building other cars in eagerness to become licensed drivers.

And Mom?

Though some mothers might cringe at the fact their sons drive speed demons, Velma Ronfeldt (who owns an ’84 Corvette) is glad the cars have brought the family so close together.

“When they were young, I was glad they were at home working with their father in the garage instead of out spending time somewhere else getting into drugs,” she said.

Besides classic Chevys, it turns out the family has another common thread: The guys all drive ordinary Honda Civics. With gas prices the way they are, they have to.

Don Perkins is a freelance writer who lives in Raymond. He can be reached at: presswriter@gmail.com

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