May 21, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 15 Auto enthusiast learns the fate of his Chevy Camaro afford. We dropped it in the ’55 Chevy, but unfortunately it never really ran well, and we reinstalled the six. My dad sold it soon afterward. Now my father was not one to waste money on unnecessary options, but in 1964, I was somehow able to convince him to “dress up” the Mercury Comet he was about to order. He would buy the top model (Cali- ente) two-door hardtop with the 289 cubic inch V8 (210 HP) and all power, although I can’t remember if it had air conditioning. Again my friend and I couldn’t keep by Ron Marciano While we were at North Haledon Day (September of 2013), Ron Panicucci intro- duced me to the local police chief, Bob Bracco. Bob then asked me if I used to live in North Haledon. When I told him “yes,” he replied that I had sold him his first car in 1972 – a 1970 Camaro. Talk about a small world! As it turned out, Bob then sold it to his brother two years later. The bad news is that his brother rolled the car one day. The good news is he still has the car, although mostly in pieces ready to restore. Of course, we continued our conversation for some time, and I told him I would look for any pictures I had of the car. As I later searched through those early albums, I came upon all the cars I once owned back in the day. The first was actu- ally my father’s ’55 Chevy. It wasn’t mine, but I learned to drive on it and it would be my only transportation until my father bought a ’64 Comet. More about that later! The ’55 was a four-door sedan with the standard six and three-speed on the column. However, it was a yellow and white Bel Air 1970 Camaro and looked sharp in its own right. The one photo I have was taken by someone else in 1963 as I was soundly trounced at Island Dragway by an early Ford with a flathead V8. As I recall, I was in class “N Stock” and didn’t reach the finish line until something over 20 seconds. While in college, my friend and I bought a 265 cubic inch engine, bored it out to 283 and added any goodies I could our hands off the car, and it would soon be sporting a three-quarter race Crower cam. I raced it once at Island Dragway, but don’t recall the ET. What I do remember is that modified cars less than two years old had to run in the “factory experimental” classes. I wish I had a photo of that car going down the track with the prestigious “B/FX” mark- ing on the side glass. Meanwhile, my poor dad was trying to figure out why his new car ran so rough. Trips back to the Hawthorne dealership (continued on page 17)