My love of cars all started in 1973, when my Father, Ron Nasso and my Mother, Marianne Lazzaro gave birth to me. Let me fast forward now to 1999. In 1999, I had a 1964 Chevy Malibu SS. I had a nice rumble to it, and some of you saw it when I tagged with the Street Machines to the Adirondack Nationals that year. It was maroon two tone in color and I eventually painted it Royal Blue.
I bought the car on a whim (without my "Dad's" stamp approval - NEVER AGAIN!!) and by the end of September that year, I ended up blowing the driveshaft right through the floor into my sons legs, as he sat in his car seat. THANK GOD, he was in a car seat, and higher than normal, or he would have probably lost a leg. I ended up blowing out one of the tires too, and almost lost control of the car all together, while I was panicking (thorough what seems like hours) trying to stop the car. My son, Kyle and I were both safe, but shaken up by the situation. I ended up being "forced" (not really, I was afraid to drive it again) to sell the car, as my brother-in-law would not fix it, unless I agreed to sell it. I agreed, as it needed a new driveshaft, a new tire, and a whole bunch of other things, which probably would have cost me thousands. So right after it was fixed, I put an ad in the paper and it sold in no time.
In early 2006, my now fiancé, John McHugh had purchased a 1950 Dodge Pickup Truck, in addition to his 1963 Chrysler New Yorker. John knows how much I wanted another car, and this was a really cool truck, it was red with a wood stake bed. The only problem was the truck was "too hard" for me to drive. I think John was feeling a little guilty, as he knew how much I wanted a classic car of my own. We took it to the Street Machines show in 2006, and shortly after, John put the truck on eBay. He did this on his own, and when I found out, we decided that if he DID sell it (I knew he would) that I would get to pick the next car. The week long auction ended without meeting the reserve, however, there were bids on the truck. I found out that the person who was the highest bidder was a co-worker of mine (coincidence??) AND married to my old neighbor growing up. Being that I had an ulterior motive, I tracked Allen down and gave him my sales pitch. After about 2 weeks, he finally decided to buy the truck : YEAH!!!!!! WOO HOO - I get to pick the next car.
Everyone who knew the deal kept asking me what kind of car I wanted. Mopar, Dodge, Chrysler, Chevy, etc? I could not say what I wanted. I do not have a "brand." I THOUGHT I wanted a 1969 Dodge Dart. John and I even drove to Ohio the weekend of the Syracuse Nationals to take a look at one. Once we got there, it just wasn't the right car. We left Ohio on Saturday, drove all night, past Rochester, and to Syracuse, where we crashed the night in my parents hotel room, and then enjoyed the show on Sunday. We kept looking and everyone kept asking, "Did you find your car?"
Summer came and went and finally in November 2006, I saw a car I wanted on eBay. I sent John an email simply stating. "This is MY new car!" I came home that night, and John and I discussed the car. He said "put a bid on it!" I wasn't sure. So I called my "Dad" - Bob Bialecki. I have come to trust his opinions and value the guidance he has given me in life. Dad suggested calling the guy to talk to him. I really did not know what to ask him, and John kept saying "Anything can be fixed! - Don't worry about it!" I asked Dad if he would call the guy. The eBay user name was "Metrohetero" and his name was Benji. Ok - you can stop laughing now!!! : The car was located in Los Angeles and Benji was a "Manny" who needed to sell the car to start his belt bucket business. Stop laughing! : We had 3 days left on the auction and I called Benji again. I asked if he was willing to give him his reserve price. He told me what it was, and I put an auction stealer on the auction.
John, Kyle and I were out the night the auction was said to end. I want to say it was Thanksgiving weekend, but am not 100% certain without looking it up. This was before we had internet access on our cell phones, and no one we knew was home near a computer. We were DYING to know if we had won, as the auction ended while we were dropping Jack (John's son) off to his mother. We got home and the three of us literally RAN to the computer to see if we had won. Not only had we WON, but it was LOWER than what Benji told me his reserve was. I guess he thought that if I thought the reserve was higher, that I would bid higher. Thanks to the auction stealer, it allowed the bid to reach the reserve and not go higher. The money we saved was almost exactly what it cost to transport the car from LA to Rochester.
Next step. How do we get the car from Los Angeles, to Rochester in the middle of winter??? The car was in need of TLC, and we knew (at the very least) the convertible top needed to be replaced. We decided to have it shipped in an enclosed hauler (only to find out the last miles, would be on a flat bed truck!!) Thankfully, the car was delivered on December 23, 2006. It was a BEAUTIFUL day, and John even took the day off to wait for it. He wanted to "clean it up" before I saw it. When I got home, I was so excited. I fell in love with "Larky" Immediately. On December 24th, we were cruising around with the TOP DOWN (the temp was in the high 50's that day)!!! This was the BEST CHRISTMAS present ever!
John immediately started cleaning the car and I started making plans to do some major changes. By spring 2007, we had replaced the top, replaced the carpet and also had custom interior installed. The "Bialecki Green" Buick now had a pearl white interior with lime green piping to match the exterior of the car.
That was just the beginning. John rubbed out the paint and got it shining to the best of its ability. As the year went on, John continued to work on my car. I am SO GRATEFUL and THANKFUL for all he has done to my car. Words can never express how I feel. Near the end of summer, John had also EXTREMELY detailed (with a toothbrush) the engine compartment. We had some items powder coated, lime green of course! Added lime green plug wire (Thanks Michael Pecora for telling me where to find them!) and John had even located a lime green battery. It looked AMAZING!
Once this work was completed, I took the car to its first show in Palmyra Macedon Canal Days. This was the first show I have gone to without John, as he had to work till noon. I really did not want to go to the show alone (I HATE going places alone!), but I did with his encouragement. I knew there would be people I knew there, so that made me a little more comfortable. I strapped my future stepson, Jack, in his car seat and the two of us headed to the show. John joined us after he got out of work, and thankfully, he was there, and ran to put the convertible top up just as it started to downpour. The shower passed, and it was time for the awards. I was hoping for a 3rd place trophy, because I was PROUD of all the work John had done. I felt it deserved recognition.
As they called my class, I did not hear my name for 3rd place; I did not hear my name for 2nd place... I thought to myself - oh well, and was bummed. When the announced the 1st place winner, they called MY NAME! I could NOT believe it. Who me? Really? Are you joking? I went up and received the trophy and actually got tears in my eyes (which is why I got tissues from Roger at the awards banquet). I could not believe how much JOHN'S hard work had paid off!!!
The following week, I ended up winning two more trophies. It was a true testament to John's hard work! This winter, we have a few more things to take care of, like replacing the weather stripping, tightening the top (the original installer did not go a good job), replacing the dash board, etc. However, John and I got engaged on July 16th (my birthday) and we are now saving to pay for our wedding. Therefore, I am not sure how much of that will really get done. Perhaps it will have to wait till after October 10, 2009 - our wedding date!
Thanks for reading, I know I can be long winded in writing stuff, but I hope you enjoyed reading this. Spring is just around the corner, so let's get ready to CRUISE Topless (or as my license plate says ~ "CRUZTPLS" - Roni' Nasso (soon to be McHugh!!)
THANKS JOHN!
