<VV> I could use some advice

Gary Swiatowy gswiatowy at rochester.rr.com
Fri Nov 28 17:51:29 EST 2008


Advice?
Get out of Brooklyn and find a place that has some parking.

That might not be feasable but let me tell you my story.
Back in 1978 My grandfather gave me his 1973 Thunderbird, with only 17,000 
miles on it.
He gave it to me as his favorite grandson and for the fact that the 
Chevrolet dealer offered him peanuts on trade in on a new Corvette.
He also knew I was a "car guy" as I also did the maintenance on the family's 
cars. At the time I was 22 years old and owned 4 cars with 2 of them on the 
road, including a Corvair. I was also working at a garage, and going to a 
community college. I drove the T-Bird back and forth to college, but put it 
away before snowfall every year. covered with old sheets, and to go back on 
the road come spring.
Here it is 30 years later..........
I take the T-Bird to a few cruise nights and car shows. I still enjoy 
driving it, as well as driving my Corvairs and Mopars. The car now has 
40,000 miles or so on it.
And every time I drive it I remember my grandfather.....................who 
loved me, and entrusted me with a car that he loved. The 73 T-Bird was a car 
he ordered, and as such came with a plate on the dash with his name on it, 
Anthony Swiatowy.   My oldest grandson's name is Anthony as 
well...............he hopes the car will someday be his. Actually so does 
one of my sons.

If that car had gone to my Uncle, or any of his children, it would have been 
wrecked, worn out, or long gone.
To me, it is an heirloom.................
By the way, My Uncle, hated the fact grampa gave me the T-Bird.
He ended up with the 78 Corvette when grampa went into a nursing 
home..............and made a point of rubbing my nose in that fact. I always 
laughed over that, as he still has that car, and it has been nothing but a 
money pit for him.
See, my Uncle is not a car guy and never works on anything himself. Also 
turns out that a 78 Vette with virtually no options is one of the least 
valuble of any Corvette ever made.

I love my T-Bird, because it was grampa's car.................and never 
regreetted for a moment of keeping it no matter what. And there was times 
when having "hobby" cars were a burden on our family expenses, and for times 
I had to ignore the cars, but always managed somehow to get by and keep 
them. But I always have had no-regrets over that.

Gary Swiatowy




> From: "Bill H." <gojoe283 at yahoo.com>
> Subject: <VV> I Could Use Some Advice
>
> Hi everyone...I had some sad personal news.  My Dad passed away last week 
> at 87, and even though he could be a tough father at time, he mellowed in 
> later years, enjoying his children and grandchildren, and told me "I Love 
> You" more than once.
>
> Much if not all, of my enthusiasm for old cars came from Dad.  He had a 
> pretty good knowledge of old cars, and we would often spend pleasant hours 
> reminiscing about the "good old days" of motordom.
>
> And therein lies a problem.  After the funeral and Shiva last Thursday, 
> Mom handed me the keys to dad's mint-condition, low-mileage '97 Mercury 
> Grand Marquis LS Collector's Edition.  "Dad would have wanted you to have 
> the car," she said.
>
> I openend the door, and inhaled the scent of a new car.  Dad's car doesn't 
> have a scratch on it, and its 60,000 miles were lovingly driven with the 
> best of care.  Everthing works, and the car has every comfort, convenience 
> and safety feature for today's cars.  It runs like a dream, nice and 
> smooth, lots of power and lots of posh.
>
> Living in Brooklyn, New York, it's a problem.  It's a crowded city 
> borough, and although I have a townhouse with garage, my '69 gets the 
> garage and the tiny driveway can't really hold anything bigger than the 
> Vair.  Dad's GM and the minivan sort of hang across the sidwalk, and that 
> of course means a possible ticket from NYC's Finest, who are looking to 
> enrich a budget-crunched city's coffers.
>
> So, with a dire lack of parking spaces, and the occasional car break-in 
> (glass all over the street and sidwalk), I can't find the heart to leave 
> Dad's car on the street.
>
> I really want to keep the GM for sentimental value, since it was Dad's 
> pride and joy, but I do love my '69 as well.  Lately I've been tempted to 
> sell her and keep the GM.
>
> What should I do?  Any opinions would be appreciated.  If I do sell the 
> Monza, the buyer will get a 56K miles rust-free Corvair that runs and 
> drives nice and tight, with a new, inexpensive but pretty good paint job, 
> special Super Sport trim, with a virtually perfect body and a car in 
> excellent mechanical condition, with new radial whitewalls that could be 
> driven anywhere, it's literally a turn-key car.
>
> A happy Thanksgiving to all my Vair friends!...Bill Hershkowitz 69 Monza 
> 110 PG
>



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