Zimmerman’s car is like no other

Fulltime welder spends much of his free time in his garage working on the 1971 Chevelle.

By Rich Wicks | Guthrie Center Times, February 2026

Justin Zimmerman of Casey says he grew up working on cars while learning from his father. Later, he took classes to learn more.

“When I was in high school, we bought a 1977 Nova that I kind of tinkered on,” Zimmerman said. 

After graduating from West Central Valley in 2004, Zimmerman eventually enrolled at Southwestern Community College. When he started taking classes, Zimmerman found a car that he immediately connected with. It was a 1971 Chevelle.

“I bought the car in August of 2012. I was going to autobody school at SWCC down in Creston and somebody in Creston had it for sale, so I bought it for $3,000. Then, it sat in my garage in Dexter for five years, just doing a little stuff to it,” Zimmerman said. “Then, we moved here to Casey in 2018, and I decided it was now or never, so I started pouring all my weekends and money into it.”

Zimmerman works fulltime as a welder but happily spends much of his free time in the garage working on his car. Along the way, he has made many modifications.

“It’s a 1971 VIN, but I put a 1970 front clip on it because I like the two headlights and two taillights. I lowered the splitter and lowered the body line on the back,” Zimmerman said. “I lowered the bumper and opened up the whole grill to get all the air to the radiator for the big block 496 I have in there. I shaved all the chrome off, all the drip rails, and flush mounted all the glass. The last six years, it’s been every weekend. I did all that work right here in this garage. I painted it, body-worked it, metal-worked it.”

In 2025, the car finally became drivable.

“I painted it on Father’s Day weekend, and I had it running for the Good Guys show in Des Moines in July. That was the first official car show for it,” Zimmerman said. “Now that I have it driving and painted, I can take it to more shows.”

Although the car is being driven and in shows, it is far from finished.

“It’s still a work in progress. I’ve still got to do the interior, some back windows and stuff. Every paycheck I can put more money into it,” Zimmerman said. “You’re never done. You’re always adding something. I do not like chrome, and I like matte color, so it’s a matte finish. Also, I’m a Hawkeye fan, so I’ve got Hawkeye plates.”

Zimmerman’s philosophy is that the car was meant to be driven rather than sitting in a garage all the time. He also uses it to show the type of work he can do for others.

“I built it to drive it, so I want to drive it as much as possible,” he said. “Big John Customz is my LLC I have, so this is like my walking business card.”

The hood and trunk open differently than most cars, which is a feature Zimmerman spent time on to get it just right.

“That’s what took me the most time,” he said. 

Although some cars are restored to factory specifications, Zimmerman wanted his car to be unique. 

“Mine, I want one of one. Nobody else in the world has this car,” Zimmerman said. “That’s what makes it so fun, is the creativity of building these cars. Yes, it’s still a Chevelle, but it’s just tinkered a little bit to what I thought a Chevelle should look like.”

Zimmerman said he plans to keep the Chevelle forever. He also enjoys hearing others voice their appreciation for the results of his long years of working on the car.

“I can’t explain how much fun I had doing it. It’s just me, late nights, alone, just my vision,” Zimmerman said. “The best part was taking it to a car show and having somebody else say something about it. I had a completes stranger say, ‘Hey, I like this,’ and that six years felt like it was nothing. That’s been the biggest reward is having people say, ‘This is sweet.’ That makes all those late nights melt away.”