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Muscle car from Somers wins top honors at car extravaganza
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Corvette summer
Muscle car from Somers wins top honors at car extravaganza
By Laura F. Alix
Journal Inquirer
Published: Monday, September 1, 2008 2:05 AM EDT
SOMERS — To call Bill Valentine a “car guy” may be a bit of an understatement.
Valentine has put a lot of time, money, and work into britax marathon car seat restoring and customizing his 1971 Can Am Corvette, and he recently got a little bit of recognition for all his hard work.
Recently, Valentine’s Corvette was the recipient of a Infinity Car Dealer Celebrity Pick Award at Corvettes at Carlisle, the world’s largest Corvette extravaganza, held yearly in Carlisle, Penn.
The Celebrity Pick Award is given out by various celebrities attending the event, but this particular honor was bestowed upon Valentine by none other than General Motors’ Bowling Green Assembly Plant Manager Paul Graham.
“I really felt proud that the Corvette plant manager picked mine out of more than 3,000 Corvettes out there,” Valentine said.
Valentine said he and his wife, Mary Lou, began attending Corvettes at Carlisle in 2003, three years after he bought his prized Corvette. The Valentines live on Pinney Road.
“I’ve always wanted a Corvette, since I was a young boy, and classic muscle car I finally got compressed air powered car one in 2000. It took run your car on water a long time to get it,” Valentine said.
The Valentines bought the car from an elderly man who later passed away, he said.
“He said, ‘I’m too old to pick up the girls, but they sure did look at me’,” Mary Lou recalled.
But it wasn’t easy, or cheap, to fix up the old car.
“It takes money, and it takes time and a lot of patience,” Bill said.
The paint job alone cost about $17,000, Mary Lou said.
“It was a very expensive paint job, but it’s gorgeous,” she said.
But for the Valentines, it was worth it.
“I wanted something that raised eyebrows and made you look,” Bill said.
Valentine’s Corvette is not just for show, either.
Bill and Mary Lou enjoy taking their ‘Vette out for thrifty car sales a drive and getting the “thumbs-up” when they travel down the highway.
They even drove it all the way to Pennsylvania for Corvettes at Carlisle.
“There are people that trailer the Corvette, but they don’t enjoy it. You have to drive the Corvette to enjoy the Corvette,” Mary Lou said.
Still, three wheeled car packing three days worth of clothing and other supplies into the car safety reports car was no easy feat.
“You’ve got about two feet of space behind the seats. We packed two lawn faa approved car seats chairs, an umbrella, books, a fire extinguisher, a table, and our clothes,” Bill said. “It was tight!”
He said he and Mary Lou attend about half a dozen major car shows each year and also frequent smaller shows and “cruise nights” throughout the year.
And his admirers come harley davidson side car in all shapes and sizes — from big, burly truck drivers to little boys and girls.
“Kids love it,” car maintenance he said. “I let them sit in the Car Park Fun Cumbria car and take their picture. Then they can feel like they’re at the top of the show.”
“Little boys see the car and puerto vallarta car rental they come up and go, ‘Ooh! Car Rental In Phoenix Arizona It’s a bat mobile!’” Mary Lou said.
Bill estimated that he restored and customized six or seven other cars before purchasing the Corvette he has now, and custom cars are definitely his passion.
He said, “It’s a car that I brought back to Chameleon Car life, and I enjoy it.”
Road closings planned for Somers road race
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