Published: February 16, 2010 11:16 pm      

Friends & Neighbors: Meet Chester Edwards

It was 1956 in Hiawassee, and 16-year-old Chester Edwards was going to school, working and loving his first car, a 1950 Ford.

Life was good for the diehard car enthusiast. Then one day he was driving to work with three other guys, including his uncle. As the car rounded a curve, a tire blew, sending the group hurtling almost head-on into a 1956 Oldsmobile. The driver of the Oldsmobile was admitted to the hospital, but Edwards and his buddies walked away from the destroyed vehicle.

Three months later, Edwards was back behind the wheel of a 1950 Mercury.

“I was kind of apprehensive at first,” he said. “It made me more careful about driving from that point on.”

Back then, teens with cars spent their spare time doing what most small-town teens did — cruising the town square. There wasn’t much else to do aside from heading to the drive-in theater in Murphy, N.C., or the walk-in theater in Hayesville, N.C.

“We would usually hang out at these places every weekend,” said Edwards. “I’d look at other guys’ cars and check them out. We had to impress the girls by showing off our cars and doing a little drag racing.”

Edwards has always been drawn to the HEMI power and far-out styling of old Mopar Chryslers such as the Dodge Charger and Challenger, although he admits longing for a 1957 Chevrolet and a 1940 Ford Coupe to mark his birth year. However, he settled on a midsize 1968 Plymouth Satellite for his first brand new car. With a wife, Sue, and one child, family needs took precedence over flashiness and speed. Four years later Edwards traded for a 1973 Plymouth Gran Fury.

But his love of having a car just to enjoy for fun never dwindled. In the 1980s, Edwards purchased several insurance sale cars, had them redone and sold them. And in 1985, he came across a sweet deal for a 1974 Dodge Charger SE owned by a member of the congregation at Valley Brook Church of God where he served as pastor.

“I just like those particular cars, always wanted one,” Edwards said. “That model is hard to find. It was in good condition when I bought it. Johnny Pye Jr. bought the car new when his dad had a Dodge dealership. It had a 440 Magnum engine and a 150 mph speedometer. It gets less than 10 miles a gallon.”

Although he says it didn’t take a lot to restore the car, Edwards still had to save up the money to have it done — which took 18 years. In the meantime, he kept his prized possession garaged and covered. Finally in 2007 he dropped it off at Hot Foot Street Rods in Murphy.

“I just happened by the place one day and told owner Brian Kevas about the car,” said Edwards. “I made several trips to check the progress. I thought it was going to be forever before he got it done. Not a lot of modification was done to it. It’s mostly original. We changed the color to Prowler Orange, and the interior was changed to black.”

When he picked the car up, Edwards says he was initially hesitant about driving it to Dalton, but his worries proved unfounded. Instead he got a lot of thumbs up and honks from other drivers. That’s when he knew he had something special. Not long after, Edwards began entering area car shows with immediate success.

“I won first at a Pye Nissan benefit car show, at Providence Ministries’ show last year at the fairgrounds, and twice at Grove Level Baptist’s show,” he said.

In January 2008, Edwards kicked things up a notch and entered the World of Wheels in Chattanooga, a show that features cars from all over the country. Edwards competed against muscle cars such as Mustangs, Barracudas and Camaros. Even so, he walked away with first place in the two-door hardtop category.

“I couldn’t hardly believe I won (the first time),” Edwards recalls. “I ended up winning it three years in a row.”

When he’s not competing, Edwards keeps busy driving a shuttle bus from East Ridge, Tenn., to the Atlanta airport part time, watching his grandkids play sports, reading historical and religious books, and traveling. Now retired, the former pastor counts preaching in Bulgaria and the Holy Land among his favorite trips, as well as visiting the seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelations in the Bible. His all-time favorite destination, however, is Costa Rica. And he can’t wait to head south again.

“I would like to go to Venezuela,” he said.