May 21, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 17 Fate of Chevy Camaro (continued from page 15) shed no light on the awful truth. Then one day, as my father was idling the Comet in front of his barber shop, a customer hap- pened by. He was the service manager at a Paterson Cadillac dealership. “Frank,” he said, “You’ve got a cam in that car!” My dad confronted me that night and the jig was up. Soon I would have my own wheels and leave my poor dad’s cars alone. My first car was a ’62 Pontiac Bonnev- ille convertible, which I purchased in 1966. It was a beautiful looking car – deep red with a white top. It had a 389 cubic inch engine (303 HP) and a four-speed auto- matic transmission. It was all power includ- ing an under-dash 45 RPM record player, and would manage 10 mpg. That car was good for two years until I found antifreeze in the oil. A number of my coworkers at Bendix in Teterboro were interested in buying new Corvettes. Three of us trekked to Pennsyl- vania and ordered the all-new ’68 models. I elected the convertible with the 427 big block rated at 400 HP and four-speed trans- mission. It was the largest hydraulic lifter engine available. Of course, no engine performance would be wasted on power ‘Tonawanda Weekend’ (continued from page 16) day there was a blowup jumping house and castle with a slide. A trailer pulled in with ponies, ducks, and rabbits. The majority of cars were Chevys and GM vehicles. Dave got a nice plaque for “Best of the ‘40s” and Don got one for “Best of the ‘50s.” The show was well put together and had plenty of help for all the activi- ties going on both days. After the awards were given out, we thanked Don for all his help and restaurant choices and left for home. It was a long ride back to New Jersey. Dave and I pulled into his driveway after midnight. Thank you, Nick and Dave, for your friendship and for a fun guys’ weekend. Thank you, Dave and Bennie, for plan- ning this trip and inviting me to your B&B so I wouldn’t have to drive home so late at night. steering, brakes or A/C. The car took four trophies at Raceway Park in Englishtown. I still remember by best time at 13.55 at 106 mph in the D Pure Sports class. I also remember that it topped the Pontiac’s gas mileage with 13 mpg. As much fun as it was, it was not all that comfortable to drive. After a short stint with an Italia GFX -- Don’t ask -- I moved on to a new ’70 Camaro. This time, I was looking for both performance and comfort. The ’70 Camaro (second generation) was not available until February of that year. I bought a Super Sport, Rally Sport 396 (actually a 402) cubic inch engine (350 HP) with Turbo hydro- matic transmission, power steering, brakes, and A/C. As I would find out later from the chief of police who bought the car, the RS/ SS396 combination was found on only 600 some-odd Camaros in 1970. That is why his brother plans to eventually restore it. As nice a car as it was, I recall it didn’t have the appeal (or performance) of my Corvette. So by 1973, I was ready for another one. (Boy, living at home sure had its perks when buying new cars!) I bought the coupe this time with the T-top; leather interior; power steering, brakes, windows; and A/C. With the gas crisis and the reduc- tion in performance of the big blocks, I went with the standard engine in 1973, but continued with the four-speed. I kept that Corvette until 1987 when I sold it for nearly twice the purchase price.