Summertime celebrations in Bloomfield Center are not over yet, but one crowd-pleaser is.
The Bloomfield Center Alliance, a non-profit community development organization, hosted its final 2023 Classic Car Shows at Broad Street and Bloomfield Avenue.
The curbside exhibit is a popular opportunity for vintage car owners, from Bloomfield and beyond, to have their four-wheeled pride and joy inspected by appreciative strollers. But for two more months, summer persists.
According to Ollyn Lettman, the BCA director, al fresco enjoyment continues with “Dinner Under the Stars” scheduling, with live music, along Washington Street.
Lettman also said there will be an upcoming harvest festival along Washington Street; a scaled-down version of the annual Broad Street attraction. Nonetheless, here are a few responses taken last week from classic car owners parked along Broad Street.
Gary Destefano was showing off his 1941 Ford Business Coupe.
“It was made just before Pearl Harbor was bombed,” he said .
The vehicle was previously owned and rebuilt by a friend, from whom he purchased it five years ago.
“The speedometer never worked,” he said.
But he and his wife have driven it to New Hampshire, Ohio and West Virginia.
“It’s my fourth or fifth classic car,” he said. “I got rid of the others. I’m getting rid of this one, too. It’s up for auction right now.”
Destefano was asking $39,500 for the coupe and said his next car was going to be a boat.
Gene Szura and his wife, Diane, were showing a 1957 Ford Thunderbird. Gene said he has owned the car since 1970.
“I still have my high school car,” he said. “It’s a convertible ‘56 Ford Sunliner. I’ve owned that car since 1965.”
Szura is a graduate of North Arlington High School. A Vietnam War Army veteran, he was in the 23rd Artillery Group and fought in the 1968 Tet Offensive.
“I’m a Ford man forever,” he said.
Raymond Dinorcia brought a 1933 Ford, 3-window coupe, to the show. He has owned it for 10 years.
“It’s a bad-ass car,” he said. “Take a look at it. I went all the way to Oregon to buy this car. It’s a 15-hour drive and I drove it back. It has AC and power windows, rack and pinion steering, a boombox and beautiful music, and power steering. It cost me a lot of money.”
Dinorcia said he cleans the car, whether he takes it out or not, twice a week.
“I’m a fanatic,” he said.
Bloomfield resident Ted Lawless, with his wife, Lisa-Marie, a Bloomfield High School teacher, and their two children, came with a 1950 Chevrolet DeLuxe. Lawless has owned it for 10 years.
“It has a 400-small block engine from a “72 Caddy,” he said. “It was my brother’s engine, but I did all the work.
Lawless called the ‘50 Chevy a “Frankenstein” because it was constructed from the parts of other cars. The rebuilt transmission came from an ‘80s Camaro as did the rear differential and the front grill is from a Cadillac.
“It’s all a mish-mash,” Lawless said.
The car has a visor, which he made.
“I put the holes in it for aesthetics,” he said.
For more information about upcoming Bloomfield Center Alliance activities, go to: bloomfieldcenter.com.
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