We all remember our first car, some had’em cooler than others, Margret still has hers. Margret Strohmeyer and her husband Bob live in Port Angeles, Washington, but they’re transplants from Kansas City, Kansas. Margret bought her car in 1973 when it was only a year old and had only 20-thousand miles on it.

“My sister in law’s dad was a car salesman and he was trying to find me a car,” she explained. “I almost ended up with a Camaro, but that was bought before I could get it. He brought this one to my door to see if I liked it.” Of course she did.

Originally it had a 350 cubic-inch motor in it, but in the mid-‘80s Bob put a small-block 400 cubic-incher in it out of a Monte Carlo. They only drove it like that a few years and he parked it, pulled the motor, and picked up this 454 cubic-inch big-block that is now in the car. Back in the mid-‘80s he also bought new fenders, trim, and a grill from GM with the intentions of restoring the car.

Back in 2000, Bob’s brother was looking for a project so came up from California and bought the Chevelle. He took it down to California, drove it for a little while, and sold is back to Bob and Margret for what he had into it. “That car still only has 113,000 miles on it,” Bob told us.

The seats have been reupholstered, but the headliner and carpet are original to the car. It was Margret’s idea to do the fabric inserts on the seat because she was tired of burning her legs on the vinyl. “I’d come out from work and sit down and it would be hot,” she explained. And that was back in Kansas where it gets a little warmer than out here in the mild Pacific Northwest.

This is another cool long-time ownership car story, and it’s cool that the Strohmeyers sold it and got it back later from Bob’s brother. If you’ve got a cool car like the Strohmeyers, shoot us an email with a couple pictures and tell us about it. We’d love to consider it for one of our Street Features.