Finding an old car on the internet that's in another western state can lead to several twists of fate for any American muscle car enthusiast. Flying to this other state while you're recovering from knee surgery and then intending to drive your new/old vehicle home to California - that's also a recipe for some potential adventures in your life. One wonders whatever could go wrong in these sorts of circumstances? Hmmm...
Pretty Much Everything Can Go Wrong
But with the right sort of attitude and a fair amount of some good old American know-how and a bit of stubborn muscle car persistence thrown in for good measure - a gearhead can get to the other side of the equation with a nicely built muscle machine. This process might just take some time to get to the other side, of course.
1960 Chevrolet Brookwood Purchased in Colorado
On day three of Fred Scott Delprino's recuperation from knee surgery in 2016, he found a 1960 Chevy Brookwood two-door wagon for sale in Colorado while looking around the internet on his wife's Apple iPad. Mr. Delprino's doctor cleared him to fly to a Denver dealership to check out the wagon, so long as he wore his knee brace and walked everywhere on his crutches.
The Drive from Denver, CO to Garden Grove, CA
Murphy's Law - whatever can go wrong does go wrong - paid a few visits to Fred on his drive home to California. A broken fuel sending unit led him to initially believe that his new/old vehicle was getting great fuel economy, and then he ran out of fuel, about 10 miles north of Wagons Mound, New Mexico on highway 23 South. The speedometer also broke and was spinning wildly. Coinciding with these issues, the engine was burning, leaking, and pretty much disappearing a quart of oil every 123 miles driven. The road distance between Denver and Garden Grove is about 1,022 miles, which equates to approximately over eight quarts of oil consumed/vanished on the drive home.
Let's just say it's a good thing that Fred has AAA. He's also lucky that a good samaritan in a pickup truck picked him up when he was walking on crutches trying to find and relay a mile-marker to AAA on a conference cell phone call with his wife in Garden Grove, CA, and the AAA employee somewhere in NM, since there was no service at his desolate location on 23 South, somewhat near Wagons Mound, NM.
That's not even the whole story with the inaugural drive in the 1960 Brookwood, but these crazy mishaps are probably what got Fred thinking on the drive home that his new/old wagon needs much more work than he first thought. The dealership in Denver told him that the 350 Chevy V8 was a crate engine. Fred was beginning to think that the engine was found sitting on a crate as opposed to shipped new or fully rebuilt and then shipped in a crate.
Seven Year Renovation for the Brookwood
Once the Brookwood's new owner safely returned to Garden Grove with Murphy's Law riding shot gun much of the way, a thorough 11-point renewal of the old Chevy wagon took place, which took seven years of time and more American greenbacks than is prudent to mention.
By the Numbers
1) The Brookwood rolls strong on American Racing Torq-Thrust II chrome wheels that are 17x8-inches in the front and 17x9-inches in the rear. BFGoodrich Radial T/A tires wrap the rims, courtesy of America's Tires in Huntington Beach, CA. The BFG radial rubber is 225/60/17 inches in the front and 255/60/17 inches in the rear.
2) The boxed X-frame is a heavy duty Canadian fully reinforced X-frame from the Canadian GM factory.
3) Global West tubular upper and lower control A arms, equipped with Viking dual coil over adjustable shock absorbers, a quick ratio power steering box, and modern, adjustable tie rods form the basis for the state of the restomod art front suspension.
4) Global West comes to the rescue for replacing the worn-out Chevy rear suspension as well. Tubular lower trailing arms with dual upper adjustable trailing arms with dual frame reinforcement and an adjustable panhard bar, make the five-link Global West rear suspension system ride with smooth precision, thanks to the Viking dual adjustable coil over shock absorbers making a repeat appearance for the wagon's caboose.
5) There are drilled and slotted front disc brakes and 11x3-inch Ford Torino heavy duty power drums plumbed with all custom bent stainless steel brake lines and a hydro boost master cylinder.
6) The Ford nine-inch differential (read pumpkin in hot rod speak) is a Ford track lock positive traction with a Chevy 3.50:1 rear end gear ratio.
7) A stock-sized 16-gallon stainless steel horseshoe-shaped internal Holley electric fuel pump supplies a FITech high pressure command center three-quart fuel sump that then pumps 45 pounds of fuel to the Chevy ported and polished tuned port fuel injection system with a 56 cfm dual butterfly throttle body.
8) Chad Golden Racing Engines, in New Hampshire, supplied the 6.2-liter World Chevy small block V8 with ported and polished aluminum cylinder heads that has four bolt mains at the bottom and big lopey camshafts at the top that made 517-horsepower and 535 ft.-lbs. of torque on the engine dynamometer at 6,400 RPM's.
9) Backing that high performance Chevy V8 is a Stage 3 GM 4L60E four-speed automatic transmission from BowTie Overdrives, in Hesperia, CA, that has a big pan, a Corvette servo, a big trans cooler, a shift kit, a 3,600 RPM stall converter, that's all in a GM 1993-1996 case.
10) A two-piece, 2.5-inch diameter heavy-duty custom-made driveshaft with beefy universal joints, spins all that power back to the aforementioned Ford Torino nine-inch pumpkin.
11) The three-row aluminum radiator is from Fan Man, in Stanton, CA. There are built-in dual electric cooling fans, auxiliary transmission, oil, and air conditioning coils all built into the radiator, and a notch at the radiator's base to accommodate the power steering box.
Finishing Touches
With all the foundational work finalized, Fred set his sights on getting the Brookwood's wiring, exterior, and interior set to rights. He hired professional body man and painter John Mottlett (RIP) of Burkes Auto Body for the bodywork and two-tone Merlot over Maroon PPG paint scheme.
A Dakota Digital gauge cluster replaced the stock instruments, wired in with a Quick Wiring harness. The seats were covered in distressed corona leather and a stock 17-inch 1960 Impala steering wheel completed the vintage-modern vibe.
A Labor of Love
Fred’s journey with the 1960 Chevrolet Brookwood was more than just a cross-country drive—it was a testament to the persistence and passion of American muscle car enthusiasts. From a harrowing road trip filled with mechanical failures to a years-long restoration, Fred turned an unreliable relic into a high-performance masterpiece.
This Brookwood now stands as a rolling testament to ingenuity, resilience, and a love for classic American cars.
Fred's Brookwood Wagon - & Parts from Classic Industries
Mr. Delprino claims that no less than 50% of the parts installed on his 1960 Chevrolet Brookwood two-door wagon were purchased at Classic Industries. He has the option of ordering items online or pouring through the Impala/Full Size Chevy Parts and Accessories Catalog. Should you also have a Chevy full size underway in your home shop, click the button below to get your catalog in the mail. Happy hunting, shopping, building, and driving your Chevy full-size muscle machine!
