For reasons that sometimes we don’t fully understand, some makes and models of cars are inherently more popular than others. While there is no denying that the 1955 through 1957 Chevy Bel Air is a stylish and great looking car, it isn’t the only 50s GM product that was a good looking and well built car of that era. But no matter what – when you strike up a conversation about 50s Chevys, people rarely think about the car that we came across for sale today.

This specimen, a 1951 Chevy Styleside Deluxe, is up for sale on Hemmings, and is one of the less-celebrated classic Chevy cars. Yet if you ask us, there is just something especially appealing about a rare and unique ride like this.

According to the seller, this car has been constantly modified for at least the past 25 years, during which it was driven daily and raced as a salt flats racer by a man who lived in a garage…literally. While there are some traditional hot rod touches, including Frenched headlights and a custom frame, there are also modern touches that include a Mustang II front suspension setup .

Under the hood is where things get really wiley though. Instead of your standard small-block Chevy, the engine is a 4.2 liter inline-six cylinder Jaguar engine with dual overhead cams. With many custom parts, including an aluminum intake, water pump, and fan – it is no surprise that backing the engine is a modern 5-speed manual transmission.

This is one incredibly unique hot rod, and for just $19,500, it can call your garage home. We’d leave it pretty  much as is with a few minor tweaks to clean it up a bit, but a perpetual project like this always has room for more mods. This unique and wild ride is something you don’t see every day, and we think that is the best kind of car you can find. That said, there is plenty of room to put your own finishing touches on this ‘51 Chevy. How would you “finish” this ride off?