A special gift that will benefit those most in need

What car person wouldn’t want to wake up to find a beautifully restored Tri-Five Chevy hardtop parked in the driveway with a big red bow on top?

That’s exactly what someone could experience, thanks to an anonymous Wichita area donor. In the spirit of the season, he has given a 1956 Chevy Bel Air 2-door hardtop to the Union Rescue Mission to sell as part of its $3.5 million capital campaign to build a transitional housing facility on the 6-acre campus on north Hillside.

“One of our donors wanted to make a gift … and he decided the best way was to donate something commensurate to the amount he wanted to give,” explained Terre Johnson, director of development for the Union Rescue Mission.

Since the donor is a car collector, he chose the Chevy, appraised at $50,000, since that was the amount he wanted to give.

“We’ve never had a donation like this in the past,” said Dennis Bender, executive director of the rescue mission.

He said whoever purchases the car will be doubly blessed, not only having a great classic car, but enjoying the satisfaction of helping those most in need of a helping hand at this time of the year.

“At this point we’re asking $49,500,” said Johnson, who is listing the Chevy on several online collector car sites, as well as offering it to local collectors. “It has an appraisal/replacement value of $50,000. No proceeds go to the donor.”

The Chevy was bought following a complete restoration/upgrade a few years ago, and is finished in a stunning white-over-turquoise, with a custom color-coordinated interior.

A modern 4-bolt ZZ4 350 Chevy V-8 replaces the stock 265 power plant under the hood and features upgrades such as a Demon 4-barrel carburetor and aluminum intake manifold, HEI electronic ignition, along with custom aluminized dual exhaust. A late model 700 R4 automatic overdrive transmission is used, along with a 3:73.1 Currie Positraction rear end.

Amenities include air conditioning, power disc brakes and power steering. Inside, Classic Instruments gauges have been fitted, including a column-mounted tachometer. A 6-disc AM/FM/CD changer and custom built speaker pods were added, along with seat belts.

The Chevy rolls on 17-inch American Racing 5-spoke wheels, with 235/45ZR17 BFG T/A’s under the front fenders and 255/45ZR17s tucked in the rear wheel wells.

“We always hope that our nightly homeless guests are `restored’ to the point that their uniqueness is revealed and appreciated,” said Johnson. “One of our recent newsletters featured Justin, who said, `I went from holding up a sign for spare change to being a productive member of society.’ Talk about being restored,” Johnson said.

For more information on this great gift, contact Johnson at 316-644-1730 or Bender at 316-687-4673.

This story was originally published December 14, 2016 at 3:07 PM with the headline "A special gift that will benefit those most in need."