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in
the

Fin Fan’s Fave

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

’57 Bel Air
enthusiast
boasts of
impressive
collection.

TOP: Ryan Gertner created a
stunning mosaic of a 1957 red
Chevy Bel Air. ABOVE: The real
deal sits in his driveway.

Y

ou don’t get much happier than hob-
byist Ryan Gertner, living his dream in
Rochester Hills. The artistic and well-
organized engineer has indulged his passion
for red 1957 Chevrolet Bel Airs by amassing
an impressive collection of original and some-
times personally enhanced models, photo-
graphs and other items. Everything pays hom-
age to his favorite car model.
After decades of yearning for one, Gertner
also drives a real 1957 Bel Air sedan, red with
a white top. Made in his native Baltimore, he
purchased
his dream
car last
August
from a
Corvette
restoration
shop in
Old Forge,
Pa. The
vehicle is
detailed to
his exact-
ing speci-
fications.
Upgrades
to the pristine vehicle include disc brakes, a
stereo system and a modern carburetor.
The Bel Air enthusiast also gets high-fives in
life for his understanding wife, Jessica Gertner.
She is fine with having their home office devot-
ed to her husband’s collections and his classic
car being the sole occupant of their two-car
garage.
The couple met on JDate when the former
Jessica Sheeran of Philadelphia attended

graduate school at Michigan State University.
Ryan graduated from GMI/Kettering University
in Flint. For a wedding gift 12 years ago, Jessica
splurged on purchasing a Danbury Mint model
of the car Ryan loves, complete with pedestal
and dust cover.
“I was happy I could do this for him,” said
Jessica, 37. The family, including son Daniel, 9,
belong to Temple Beth El.
Ryan, 40, said he fell in love with the shape
and fins of ’57 Chevys when he saw the car fea-
tured on M.A.S.K., a television cartoon series.
“One of the first evenings when I got my
full-size Chevy, I sat in the driver’s seat
and streamed the Nov. 7, 1985, episode off
YouTube,” he said. “It was really neat to watch
the episode that started it all in a real ’57
Chevy that was mine!”
Before visiting his collections, Gertner
pointed out the stunning ’57 red Chevy Bel Air
beaded mosaic he created from fusing 69,000
Perler beads in 19 colors. He found a program
to print an image he sized to 94-by-43 inches,
to better show the vertical and horizontal lines
of the car’s grille. Completing the project took
a year.
All scale models, pictures and posters in
the Gertner office are 1957 Chevrolet Bel Airs.
Reproduction billboards are affixed below the
ceiling. Four shelves display Gertner’s favorite
car model in clear boxes, meticulously arranged
by size and variation. Online retailer Etsy, and
especially eBay, are where Gertner purchased
most of his items. Novelties include a red Bel
Air nightlight, phone, business card holder and
whiskey decanters. Press the license plate on a
VHS tape rewinder that resembles a Bel Air and
the hood and interior sections pop up.

continued on page 14

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August 16 • 2018

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