Chapter Members Spotlight - Butch and Pat Jones

Butch and Pat Jones have been Charter Members since the beginning of the Hot Springs Hog Chapter.

They have a Love for Harley Davidsons, Classic Cars, and Cushman Scooters.

They were recently featured in the Hot Springs Newspaper "The Sentinel Record" here is a clip of the article - 

When it came to cars, Butch Jones carried one regret with him throughout his life.Jones drove a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air as his first car and it was his vehicle when he first started dating his wife, Pat. The couple built a lot of memories in the automobile, but then decided to sell it as they needed money for having children, a house and other expenses as they got older. 

In 2019, after looking for the car for a long period of time, Butch and Pat Jones finally reunited with a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air, finding one at the Hot Springs Cruisers Car Show fully restored and for sale. They could not pass up the opportunity to get it.

"When she saw it she said, 'That's the car we want,'" Butch Jones said. "If I had custom-built the car, I would've done exactly what they did to it because it hit all the buttons I was looking for. The color was right. Everything about it was top-notch. They did a top-quality job on it. I was just tickled to death to be able to have this car and still have the same girl I started out with."

Now, Butch and Pat Jones can relive their youth in the car they rode in together when they started dating. It is not a daily driver, but a car they use to take on trips to Sonic like when they were younger, or other drives to breakfast spots and the farmers market.

"It's pretty romantic," Pat Jones said. "We loved the little car but we were having a baby and needing some money and we sold it. He regretted it all of our lives. That's the one thing he regretted selling. So when we found it to rekindle that, it was really special."

The car provides a wonderful sense of nostalgia, but it also simply looks good. The paint job is a shiny, reflective turquoise and white, and Butch Jones spends plenty of time keeping it in tiptop shape.

"He spends a lot of time just keeping it immaculate," Pat Jones said. "He starts it up periodically. Keeps it on a battery charger."

The husband and wife duo said the car has won several best of show awards at car shows, and it's clear to see why.

Under the hood, the Jones' car went through some changes, too.

"Originally the car came with a 265 V-8," Butch Jones said. "In 1955 that was one of the years Chevy really started going from a six-cylinder engine to an eight-cylinder engine on their main production cars. ... This is a 327."

Throughout the restoration, the car received plenty of different parts, including a 1955 Corvette grill, 1959 Impala wheel and electric windshield wipers.

"The old '55s had a vacuum system," Butch Jones said. "When you'd go up a hill your windshield wipers would slow down to almost nothing because of the drag on the engine. So, the electric windshield wipers are quite an advantage in this day and age."

Pat and Butch Jones happily stepped back in time and found a part of their history that meant so much to them when they discovered the 1955 Chevy Bel Air for sale.

"I am basically the caretaker of this automobile now," Butch Jones said. "I'm tickled to death to be able to have it and to take care of it. ... This is a much nicer car than the one I had as a young man. There's no doubt about that just because you didn't have as much money back then."

Butch Jones also has plenty of motorbikes in his garage, including a 1955 Cushman Eagle motorcycle he rebuilt to match the Bel Air.

"So basically I'm back where I started," he said. "I've got the Cushman, the car and the girl."