From a bare rolling shell to a street-legal drag car running the quarter-mile in the mid-10s, Jodi Wilson's spectacular candy-red and gold 1955 Chevy launches Delta City News' new Hot Car of the Week series.
By Robert Skinner | Delta City News | September 02, 2026.
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If you happened to walk through the Wednesday afternoon car gathering at the Dairy Queen in Ladner recently, there was one car that was particularly difficult to walk past.
Candy red. Gold metal-flake racing stripe. Big rear tires. And the unmistakable shape of a 1955 Chevrolet.
It belongs to Jody Wilson, and while it looks impressive sitting quietly in a Ladner parking lot, this Chevy was built to do considerably more than sit still and look pretty.
It's a street-legal drag car capable of running the quarter-mile in the mid-10-second range at about 125 mph — on Shell 93-octane pump gas.
As Wilson puts it, it's a lot of fun to watch and drive — “depending on where you're sitting.”
Wilson didn't buy a completed hot rod and add a few finishing touches.
He started with what was essentially the bones of a former drag car.
The two-door sedan — known among enthusiasts as a “post” model — came to him as a rolling shell with no engine or transmission, and without proper wiring, plumbing or interior.
Over the years, Wilson built it into the car seen today.
The custom black-and-gold interior reflects the extensive work Wilson has put into rebuilding the former drag car over the years. Photo by Robert Skinner | Delta City News
Different engine and transmission combinations have come and gone. He redid the interior, installed racing components and continued developing the Chevrolet as both a serious performance machine and a car that could still be driven on the street.
About five years ago, it received the appearance that now makes it so easy to spot.
The body was finished in candy red with a gold metal-flake racing stripe running down the centre.
Inside, the same attention to detail continues, with a custom black-and-gold interior alongside the equipment necessary for a car capable of serious drag-strip performance.
Perhaps the best part of Wilson's Chevrolet is that it hasn't become a museum piece.
It still gets used.
The car has appeared in hot-rod publications, including Canadian Hot Rods and Gasser Wars, but the photograph that probably tells its story best isn't one of it sitting polished in a parking lot.
It's the photograph of the Chevy launching hard at the drag strip, front wheels clear of the pavement.
That's a pretty good reminder that some of the beautiful cars appearing at Delta's weekly gatherings aren't simply displays of automotive history.
They're still very much alive.
Jody Wilson's '55 Chevy is the first in a new Delta City News – Hot Car of the Week series.
During the remaining car-show season, we'll be dropping into the Wednesday late-afternoon gathering at the Dairy Queen in Ladner and the Friday gathering at A&W in Tsawwassen Commons.
We'll pick a car that catches our attention, meet its owner and find out the story behind it.
Because the more time we spend around these gatherings, the clearer something becomes:
The cars get your attention. The stories behind them are what make you stay.
Robert Skinner - Publisher
Delta City News — Licensed Partner of the WBN News Network
Robert is a Ladner-based business systems developer and Publisher of Delta City News. Connect with Robert on: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rlskinner/
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