<VV> 1962 Monza seen at Hershey

[Wrsssatty at aol.com]

>I saw a very special '62 Monza at Hershey today.  It is a black on  
>black 102hp 4 speed coupe.  It had a large ragtop sunroof which I  
>was told was dealer installed when the car was new.  It certainly  
>looked like it.  It was extremely well done and very large.   Has 
>anyone ever heard of this?
 
As Bob Marlow correctly pointed out, the car is here in Jersey and has made 
 the rounds of NJACE member owners.  I test drove it (or I should say test  
rode it as the driver wouldn't let me drive it.  Don't know why since I  
would have driven it much more gingerly than he did in the hair-raising ride 
he  took me on) around '96 when the second owner was selling it.  The story 
was  it had spent most of its life on Long Island with the original owner, an 
 engineer who worked with the second owner's father.  The original owner 
had  equipped it, both from the factory and with after-market accessories the  
way any good enthusiast would have equipped a pre-Spyder Corvair.  In  
addition to the Lucas flame-thrower headlights and Golde sunroof it had Chevy's  
heavy-duty suspension (R.P.O. 696) with added after-market Koni shocks.  I  
thought it was a very nice car being low mileage and original paint, 
interior,  etc. but I was wanting a real convertible so I passed on it.  I 
couldn't  help thinking, however, that the original owner was kicking himself a few 
months  after buying it when the convertible and Spyder option became 
available.  
 
When I looked at it the car had the original '62-'63 style rear grill but  
when I saw it at a car show this Spring it was sporting the ubiquitous '64 
style  replacement grill.  The then (now?) owner explained that he was 
driving it  over an open field when the grill snagged on a projecting woody weed 
and the  original grill was ripped off.  Which reminds me, did anyone notice 
the NOS  '62-'63 grill that recently went for $1,250 on eBay?!  That light 
weight  anodized aluminum piece must be worth MORE than its weight in gold 
even at  today's inflated gold prices.
 
~Bill Stanley