There may not be another Chevrolet Business Coupe with a business end in all the world quite like Charles Swindoll’s ’53 model that he built to cruise highways and speedways.
Charles says “anyone can own a Camaro, or a Chevelle, or a Nova. But I’m different.” This Business Coupe is certainly different.
For Swindoll, a veteran racer from Pasadena, Texas, his 1953 Chevrolet Business Coupe represents a new chapter and renewed vigor for the sport. Purchased as a roller at the Conroe [Texas] Swap Meet in October of 2023, the classic Chevy underwent a complete transformation in just two and a half months to make its drag-and-drive debut at Sick Week in the American south this spring.
The 416-inch LS makes a reliable 980 horsepower, enough to propel the 3,200-pound car to what Charles hopes will be high 8’s in drag-and-drive trim.
Swindoll’s racing story began in 1970 at the NHRA racetrack in Dickinson, Texas. “I was a mechanic at the time, and I drove a guy’s ’55 Chevrolet one time just to see what was wrong with it … I didn’t have the money to own one,” he says.
Together with his younger brother Jody, he built a 1959 El Camino and began racing it at the local tracks. Over the years, Charles has owned and raced numerous cars, competing in various NHRA classes such as Super Street, Super Stock, Super Gas, Super Comp, and Top Sportsman, as well as local E.T. bracket racing classes. Today, he continues his passion for racing by participating in drag-and-drive events with his family.
“My dad ran around with A.J. Foyt and did a little speedway racing and stuff, and there’s seven of us brothers and six of us are into cars. I’ve won the Cajun Nationals. I won the very first NHRA race at Houston in Super Comp in 1988, raced Super Stock, Top Sportsman, we did some Pro Stock racing, and even ran with Dan Pastorini in Top Fuel. I took a break for 17 years to raise my family, but I’ve been involved and around the sport since ’70,” Charles shares.
Charles, in a bid to make it to Sick Week 2024 with his newly-acquired Business Coupe, closed down his shop and worked around the clock for three months to finish the build.
Charles made his drag-and-drive debut last year at Sick Week in a 1965 GTO with an LS swap, with his daughter, Heather, riding along as his co-pilot. The acquisition of the 1953 Chevrolet Business Coupe marked the beginning of a rather ambitious project. “When I found the car, it was just a roller. It needed some…
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