Christmas decorations come in various forms, shapes and sizes.
In Applewood, Dave Bandimere, of the Bandimere Speedway family, decorates by lighting up a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air with red and white Christmas lights, brightening the classic car’s faded paint, as well as the mood of passers-by.
Bandimere has decorated the car, on and off, for about the past 10 years.
“At first, I thought it was silly,” Bandimere said. “It’s been the craziest thing. People come by and tell me: ‘It just isn’t Christmas unless you do this.’ ”
Bandimere purchased the car in 1986, for his then-teenage son, David, whom the family knows as Skip.
In his youth, Skip worked on the car with his dad. The father-and-son projects included working the engine into tiptop form, Bandi- mere recalled.
They brought the Chevy to the speedway and raced it. But over the years, they never got around to repainting it.
Skip went off to college in California, and the Bel Air was put in storage.
He later got married and started a family, which included a plan to adopt a child from China.
“He was going to sell the car in order to raise money” for the adoption, Bandi- mere said.
But Bandimere couldn’t bear the thought of parting with it.
“I bit the bullet; I bought the car for a second time,” Bandimere said with a chuckle.
Bandimere kept the Chevy, and Skip was able to adopt.
“It was one of those lovely things,” Bandimere said.
While Skip’s family was growing, his father put the Chevy in storage.
About a decade ago, when Bandimere drove by a store in Wheat Ridge selling vacuums, he spotted an old pickup truck out front decorated with white Christmas lights.
“It got me thinking about the car, as bad as the paint was; I did it,” Bandimere said.
Bandimere uses net lighting, typically draped over bushes, on the Bel Air.
“Red lights on red paint, white lights on white,” he said. “The fun thing is — the net lights are so cool the way they spread out, it looks like it’s painted in light.”
Kenneth Niles, a longtime neighbor, said the car brightens his holiday season.
“I step out the front door and can see it,” Niles said. “I see it every night.”
Some people driving by on busy West 32nd Avenue stop, get out of their cars and take photographs of the lit-up Chevy.
Niles’ wife, Dot, recently walked past the car with a group of friends.”Everyone ‘oohs and aahs’ over it,” she said.
After the holiday season, Bandimere will remove the lights and put the classic back in storage.
“I just put it away, take care of it, start it once in a while,” Bandimere said. “Someday, we’ll figure out what we’ll do with it.
“In my heart, it’s still Skip’s car.”
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822, knicholson@denverpost.com or @kierannicholson
