Like most young all-American boys, Wally Holdsworth spent his kaleidoscope youth growing up in a suburb - Park Ridge, Illinois, near Chicago. As he began to fuse his erector set mentality, he dreamt of someday cruising down the boulevard in a cool custom, spinning wheels and turning heads. Like most male adolescents, old custom cars and trucks influenced Wally. After swinging his leg over his Schwinn bicycle (his only means of serious transport) for the last time, Wally found himself being transformed into his true teenage identity. He remembers when his buddies and older brother would give him the occasional ride in a cool American iron steed. While attending high school in the early '60s, the important things were hot rods, drive-in movies, malt shops, and sock hops.
It's interesting how an older generation tends to grasp onto its youth with a death grip. That's when life seemed to be so simple and their whole lives lay ahead of them. Optimistic and innocent, open minds were like a blank computer screen just waiting to be programmed. The ability to resurface youthful memories is truly a blessed thing. Everything looked, smelled, felt, and tasted different.
Now, Wally Holdsworth is a publishing representative for a number of automotive and motorcycle magazines, as well as aftermarket manufacturers publications. He has been wrenching on four-wheeled vehicles since his first ride, a shaved and primered '56 Ford with scallops and spinners, during his early high school days. After serving in the Air Force during Vietnam and returning home, he first found himself behind the wheel of a '57 Oldsmobile, then a '58 Chevy Impala, before becoming kind of a sporty and musclecar guy. Wally had a long run of Corvettes (12), from '63 split-window Stingrays to '74 Corvettes, and he also dabbled in Saabs and Porsches. While being involved in a family business for 12 years, Wally was given the opportunity to move to SoCal. Always being a car-crazy guy, Wally saw this as a golden opportunity to emerge in the hotbed of the hot rod car culture. Wally and his wife Mary migrated to Santa Ana, California, during Christmas of 1980, where they set up their family business and have resided ever since.
His life changed one early Sunday morning while strolling solo through the endless aisles of domestic early model iron at the Pomona Swap Meet 5 years ago. His eyes focused on a '57 Chevy Stepside pickup that was 3/4 complete. It was love at first sight. Wally had never owned a pickup truck before, but before he knew it, he was peeling off a roll of Franklins and signing a bill of sale to make the little turquoise pickup his.
Originally, the '57 Chevy Stepside started as a farm mule that belonged to Vern Shepard of Waterford, California. It was then sold to Richard Jones, who had watched the two-tone green and white pickup drive around town for years. Richard had the engine machined and built by his good friend, Mike DePalma, of Turlock, California. Then, Richard delivered it to Leon's Upholstery in Hughson, California, where Leon Jones gave the seats, door panels, and headliner a two-tone tweed treatment.
With no real time to invest in personally completing the truck the way he wanted, Wally visited most of the quality hot-rod and custom shops in Orange County. He decided to have Bryan Wheeler of Wheeler's Speed Shop finish the truck, and what a great job the crew at Wheeler's did.