Javier Leclerc’s restoration work yields an automotive blast from the past

Javier Leclerc remembers vividly the old 1971 Chevelle Wagon his family had when he was a kid. With closer similarities to a tank than a Corvette, it was not something most would have called a work of art. But there was one aspect of the green and brown station wagon that Leclerc remembers fondly.

“Those cars came with what they called a jump seat, which is at the very rear and faced backward,” Leclerc says. “I remember for a long time, probably when I was between the ages of five and 10, that's what my mom drove every day. And that's what we rode in. And my brother and I used to sit on the very back facing back — because we knew that if we got into a fight, my mom couldn't get to us.”

As Leclerc got older and his career in auto restoration blossomed, thoughts of the station wagon would arise. While it didn’t get any prettier, the memories he had in it did. So a year ago, when Leclerc had the opportunity to get his hands on a similar 1971 Chevelle station wagon, he knew what he had to do.

“I had such a great memory about it, and I like to build stuff that that is different,” he says. “And I always wanted a family-driven car that you could do everything with; that could go fast. It has 1,100 horsepower and it's comfortable enough to take on a road trip and my wife can drive it. It's so unique and different. So that when I saw that it was for sale, I bought it.”

Recently, Leclerc drove the newly rebuilt station wagon down to Dallas and entered it into one of the biggest car shows in the region, the inaugural Holley LS Fest Texas at the Texas Motor Speedway. To his surprise, he not only came away with the prize for Best Muscle Car (1964-74) but also took home the Best of Show. This means he had the top automobile at the prestigious event.

“I was surprised because there were a lot more cars,” Leclerc says. “The level of overall quality was a lot higher. I was surprised about both. But because it's a wagon and nobody sees wagons and nobody wants to build a wagon of this kind or put that much work into a wagon — it's rare. So, I knew it drew a lot of attention. I knew that based on the attention that maybe I got some votes.”

When Leclerc originally bought the station wagon, he didn’t have set intentions to enter it into any contests. That’s not why he restores vehicles to their former glory. But the opportunity seemed like a perfect chance to display a unique vehicle that was also a significant part of his childhood.

“My wagon, it's built to be on the road course. But because I just got it done not too long ago, I hadn’t had a chance to set it up,” Leclerc says. “So I wanted to, No. 1, test it. So, I took it on a road trip to Dallas, three hours down and three hours up, and it didn't miss a lick with AC and everything. And I just decided to enter the car show.”

Leclerc bought the station wagon in early 2021 from the editor of a nationally known car magazine. At the time, he was told the car was 90 percent restored and he would just need to put the finishing touches on it. It seemed like the perfect job for him; even though he calls himself retired, he continually has several different projects he is working on for his garage (D.I. Motorwerkz) or his own personal collection. But when Leclerc got his hands on the station wagon, he saw that it was not going to be a quick fix like he had hoped.

“I ended up having to take the whole thing apart and redoing almost everything, including the engine, because he had too many people working on it that didn't know what they were doing,” Leclerc says.

It took him more than a year to get the car to the point that he felt comfortable enough to enter it in the LS Fest. While he originally didn’t want to put that much work into the project, in the end, he was glad that he did. It wasn’t somebody else’s work that claimed the Best in Show title; he and his crew put in the work, which made it more satisfying.

“It's better because now I know the vehicle 100 percent inside and out,” Leclerc says. “It leads you to believe that harder work pays off. It's not really somebody else's car except for like that 10 percent. But having to go back 80 percent and then finish it — it's more my car than whoever sold it to me.”

Leclerc said winning the titles and trophies at the LS Fest really doesn’t mean too much to him. After all, he has a room full of hardware from his years of entering contests. But what did make him feel good was when his parents came down to visit and saw the ’71 Chevelle after it had been fully restored.

“They love it. They saw it a few times parked when [it was] dusty because I was working on it, but with it running and the way it's put together, he was really impressed,” Leclerc said. “I didn't have time this time around to take my mom and dad for a ride. But now know that I have it and they come here quite a bit. It's going to happen eventually.”