#rideoftheweek

Dec 19, 2022
2 min

Ride Of The Week 12/19/2022: Gary Kmit's 1974 Vega Kammback

FROM TRASH DAY TO TRACK DAY Many #rideoftheweek profiles are of cars that I consider the oddballs. These are vehicles that are rarely seen these days because the were either rare to begin with or basic transportation (i.e., shitboxes) that no one bothered to save. In the case of this week’s honoree, these cars were poorly built and basically rusted away. So, to see an example preserved or restored show up at a car show is a treat. Such is the case of this 1974 Chevrolet Vega

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Ride Of The Week 12/05/2022: Phil McCormick's 1969 Stingray

Drake Donovan

Dec 5, 2022
1 min

Ride Of The Week 12/05/2022: Phil McCormick's 1969 Stingray

Yes, He Really Did Spend His Kid’s College Fund On A Vette Phil McCormick took best in show at the 2021 Corvettes at Carlisle event and that offered him a prime location at the 2022 show where I got to see his beautiful 1969 Corvette Stingray in all its glory. When I asked him my standard “What’s the story” question, he responded with a doozie. He bought the car with his daughter’s college fund! True story! Granted it didn’t affect her pursuit of higher education, mind you.

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Ride Of The Week 10/10/2022: Melissa & John Faragotti's 1967 Chevelle

Drake Donovan

Oct 11, 2022
1 min

Ride Of The Week 10/10/2022: Melissa & John Faragotti's 1967 Chevelle

BETTER THAN A NEW MINIVAN The year was 1983. Dodge was releasing the brand-new, 1984 Dodge Caravan, but for Melissa & John Faragotti, the ideal family car for their kids, aged 7, 5, & 3, was this 1967 Chevelle. Melissa saw it on the lot at Powers in New Brighton listed for $3,000. It had some rust but was in overall good enough shape to take the kids to car cruises. Over time, John began to dig into the triple black GM A-body, starting with body work. He stripped the stainles

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Ride Of The Week 09/26/2022: Katrina McDonald's 1967 Jaguar E-Type Roadster

Drake Donovan

Sep 26, 2022
1 min

Ride Of The Week 09/26/2022: Katrina McDonald's 1967 Jaguar E-Type Roadster

KAT’S CAT It is said that the Jaguar E-Type was considered to be the most beautiful car in the world by one Enzo Ferrari. That is indeed high praise. While not everyone shares the great car maker’s taste, the classic lines of the E-Type still impress today. Katrina McDonald’s 1967 E-Type Roadster is our #rideoftheweek for the storied history the car has. Her father purchased it in 1969. Kat has fond memories of riding the car in a booster seat wrapped in a flannel blanket tha

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Ride Of The Week 09/19/2022: Kyle & Michelle Manseau's 1966 Corvette Sting Ray Roadster

Drake Donovan

Sep 20, 2022
2 min

Ride Of The Week 09/19/2022: Kyle & Michelle Manseau's 1966 Corvette Sting Ray Roadster

ALL IN THE FAMILY At the 40th Corvettes at Carlisle I happened upon this stunning 1966 Sting Ray Roadster owned by Kyle and Michelle Manseau of Collegeville, PA with a very well-done show board. When I moved in close to inspect who designed it, I was struck by the story. It was a tribute to the current owner’s father, Arthur Manseau, who purchased the car in 1970 for $1,000 as a project. While running and drivable, it needed body work and some TLC. But, life, as it always doe

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Ride Of The Week 09/12/2022: Dave Johnson's 1969 Dodge Super Bee

Drake Donovan

Sep 14, 2022
2 min

Ride Of The Week 09/12/2022: Dave Johnson's 1969 Dodge Super Bee

EPIC BEE In my opinion, muscle cars are the coolest. However, this 1969 Super Bee has a great back story that ups its cool factor 10-fold! It was featured on TV. I met Dave Johnson and his son, Devin, at the Syracuse Cavalcade of Cars back in March. When I saw the Graveyard Cars plate on the front, I had to know if this car had been touched by Mark Worman and his Ghouls in Oregon. Sure enough, it was restored and featured on the show in the episode 8 of season 13 entitled: "T

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Ride Of The Week 09/5/2022: Beth Rhodes' 1968 Camaro Sport Coupe

Drake Donovan

Sep 6, 2022
1 min

Ride Of The Week 09/5/2022: Beth Rhodes' 1968 Camaro Sport Coupe

A GRADUATION GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING Beth Rhodes it the original owner of this 1968 Camaro Sport Coupe. Upon her graduation from Penn State, her father gave her a gift. “He tossed me the keys and the payment book and said, ‘Here! Congratulations!’” So, he didn’t buy her a car, just signed for it at C&Z Chevrolet in Houtzdale, PA and made the first payment. But still, a new ’68 Camaro at $69 a month wasn’t too bad. It was originally Seafoam Green, but after years of Centr

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Ride Of The Week 08/29/2022: John Campbell's 1977 Plymouth Aero GT

Drake Donovan

Aug 30, 2022
2 min

Ride Of The Week 08/29/2022: John Campbell's 1977 Plymouth Aero GT

YOU HAVE ONE OF THOSE? The car show oddballs always get my attention at a show. This one is no exception, a 1977 Plymouth Aero GT. What exactly is that, you ask? Well during the fuel crisis of the early 1970s, the Detroit Big 3 were scrambling to catch up in the small car market dominated by imports from Europe and Japan. General Motors and Ford had smaller cars already in development which debuted early in the decade in the forms of the Vega & Pinto. But Chrysler had not su

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Ride Of The Week 08/22/2022: Gary Radford's 1965 Corvette

Drake Donovan

Aug 22, 2022
2 min

Ride Of The Week 08/22/2022: Gary Radford's 1965 Corvette

LIVING FOR THE FALLEN When I witnessed this beautiful mid-year Vette back into a space at a recent cars & coffee event, it grabbed my attention in more ways than one: throaty side-outlet exhausts, triple taillights, a stinger hood and a deep shine on the “arrest me red” finish. This car had all the classic Sting Ray mods and I had to know more about their history. Turns out, the driver had a whole interesting history of his own. Gary Radford is the owner of this 1965 Chevrol

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Ride Of The Week 08/15/2022: Paul Campbell's Corvair 95 Rampside

Drake Donovan

Aug 17, 2022
2 min

Ride Of The Week 08/15/2022: Paul Campbell's Corvair 95 Rampside

WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? While attending the first car event in my new hometown, I heard several spectators remarking on this particular truck asking some variation of the same question, “What the hell is that?” As I car guy, I knew exactly what it was, a Corvair pickup truck! What caught my eye and made me want to know more were the added IROC-era Camaro wheels that were painted to match the light blue exterior. I spoke with the owner, Paul Campbell of Darlington, PA, who exp

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Ride Of The Week 08/8/2022: Wendy Beitinger's 1967 Camaro Sport Coupe

Drake Donovan

Aug 9, 2022
2 min

Ride Of The Week 08/8/2022: Wendy Beitinger's 1967 Camaro Sport Coupe

BORN INTO THIS At Camaro Nationals this past July, I came upon a family wearing matching t-shirts. Mom and the kids all had “I was born into this” on the back, while dad sported a shirt that read, “I married into this.” ‘This’ was a 1967 Camaro Sport Coupe named “Betsy”. The family is the daughter (Wendy), son-in-law (Jeff) and grandchildren of the second owner, Sandy. When I asked Wendy the meaning behind the shirts, she told me that she was brought home from the hospital

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Ride Of The Week 08/1/2022: Jerry Beck's 1978 AMC AMX

Drake Donovan

Aug 1, 2022
2 min

Ride Of The Week 08/1/2022: Jerry Beck's 1978 AMC AMX

ACID RAIN After a month-long hiatus to move, again, Car Show Life's Ride of the Week returns for August 2022 with a very unusual ride spotted this past March at the Cavalcade of Cars in Hamburg, NY. Owner Jerry Beck of Kittanning, PA has a unique car collection. And in that unique collection is one of the most unique cars I’ve ever seen, a 1978 AMX called Acid Rain. The original AMX (American Motors eXperimental) was devised as an answer to the Corvette. AMC took a four seat

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Ride Of The Week 07/4/2022: Bob Bachman's 1969 GTO Restomod

Drake Donovan

Jul 4, 2022
2 min

Ride Of The Week 07/4/2022: Bob Bachman's 1969 GTO Restomod

YOU CAN GO HOME AGAIN I’m jealous of those people who have managed to hold on to their first car. I’m just as envious of those folks who’ve let a car go and found their way back to it. That is the story of Bob Bachman and his 1969 GTO. Bob is both the 2nd and 5th owner of this car. He purchased it in 1973 as a high school student and drove it daily as an upperclassman. But the new 1974 models were calling to him, so he proudly traded the car on a brand-new GTO, on the x body

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Ride Of The Week 06/27/2022: Kat Jones' 1954 Studebaker Commander

Drake Donovan

Jun 27, 2022
2 min

Ride Of The Week 06/27/2022: Kat Jones' 1954 Studebaker Commander

You throw weld like a girl! Kasia "Kat" Jones is a car builder. And a great one at that. Cars are a hobby for this woman who made her career in the medical field, but she’s got the goods to go pro anytime judging by the workmanship on this 1954 Studebaker Commander, lovingly called “Stew”. I met Kat and her husband at the Cavalcade of Cars in Hamburg, NY and this ride was one of the key attractions at the show. She held court near Stew for much of the weekend, but I was final

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Ride Of The Week 06/20/2022: Les Glena's 1989 Shelby Dakota

Drake Donovan

Jun 27, 2022
1 min

Ride Of The Week 06/20/2022: Les Glena's 1989 Shelby Dakota

A TRUCK THAT GOES LIKE HELL The name Carroll Shelby is synonymous with Ford and Mustang, but in the 1980s, it was all about Mopar. Carroll added his go-fast expertise to Dodge’s Omni, Charger, Lancer, and Shadow with the GLH and GLH-S editions of those hot-hatches. However, the only Shelby vehicle that could be had with a V8, was the Dodge Dakota. I spotted this Shelby Dakota at the Cavalcade of Cars in Hamburg, NY last winter and it was a very clean truck. The owner, Les Gle

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Ride Of The Week 06/13/2022: Wally Melvin's 1951 Kaiser Henry J

Drake Donovan

Jun 13, 2022
1 min

Ride Of The Week 06/13/2022: Wally Melvin's 1951 Kaiser Henry J

THE HEMI J Regular Car Show Life #rideoftheweek readers know I love the car show oddball. That car that you just don’t see every day. So, among the Opels, Studebakers, Bantams, and AMCs we’ve featured in the past you can add this Kaiser Henry J known as “HEMI J”. Wally Melvin of Edinboro, PA took this 1951 Henry J and restomodded it. An original car would have come equipped with an 83 horsepower straight-six. Now, the HEMI J is motivated by 5.7 liter Hemi sourced from a 2015

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Ride Of The Week 6/6/2022: Andy Deegan's 1926 Model T

Drake Donovan

Jun 6, 2022
1 min

Ride Of The Week 6/6/2022: Andy Deegan's 1926 Model T

ALL IT NEEDED WAS…EVERYTHING! This 1926 Model T hot rod caught my eye at the Cavalcade of Cars in Hamburg, NY this past March. It had all the quintessential old school hot rod looks: wide-whites, bomber seats, hand-painted pinstriping. But the thing that really got my attention? The custom cup holder console. I chatted with owner, Andy Deegan of Forrestville, NY about how he came to own the car, “I found it on Facebook Marketplace out of Virginia and I saw the potential in it

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Ride Of The Week 05/30/2022: Posie's 1949 Olds 76

Drake Donovan

May 30, 2022
1 min

Ride Of The Week 05/30/2022: Posie's 1949 Olds 76

Post War Resto Mod Restomods are my favorite segment of the collector car hobby. Classic lines with more modern, more reliable mechanicals hiding underneath. Normally restomods are from the muscle car era of the last 60s and early 70s, mid-year Corvettes or shoebox Chevys of the 1950s. So when I happened upon this 1949 Olds with "383 Stroker" badges on the rockers and the unusual "Bellflower" exhaust, I had to know more. The owner would only be identified as "Posie", a child

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Ride Of The Week 05/23/2022: John Shaireman's 1986 Corvette Indy Pace Car Edition

Drake Donovan

May 25, 2022
1 min

Ride Of The Week 05/23/2022: John Shaireman's 1986 Corvette Indy Pace Car Edition

BACK HOME AGAIN IN INDIANA... In honor of the Indy 500 race week, we’re featuring an Indy Pace Car Edition as our #rideoftheweek! When I spoke to John Shaireman of Jersey Shore, PA about his 1986 Corvette Pac Car Edition, he knew all the stats about the car by heart: 1986 Corvette Pace Car Edition. 0-60 In 5.5-6 sec. 14.5 in the ¼ mile. 7315 Pace Car Editions. 1800 with the 4 by 3 transmission. 700 in Yellow like the pace car driven by Chuck Yeager. L98 V8 with Dana 44 Rear.

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Ride Of The Week 05/16/2022: Jeff Nolt's 1983 Dodge D-150

Drake Donovan

May 16, 2022
2 min

Ride Of The Week 05/16/2022: Jeff Nolt's 1983 Dodge D-150

ONE HELL OF A FLIP Jeff Nolt loves to build cars. Once he’s done, he’s in search of the next project. For the past two years, he’s been crafting a one-of-a-kind show truck out of a 1983 Dodge D-150. “I have more fun building them than driving them,” Jeff confesses to me at the 2022 PA Motorama in Harrisburg; “I bought this to sell it because it’s different.” And different is good, as Arby’s used to say before they hall “all the meats”. This truck has a lot of eyeball and it

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