Dreamcast18
01-14-2010, 11:34 AM
January 10, 2010
BY MICHAEL DRAKULICH
When the wrecking ball hit the former Sunrise Chevrolet at 147th Street and Cicero Avenue in Midlothian in October, more than a few residents remarked it was a shame to see it go.
The dealership had been at that site for more than 40 years and served as one of the major cogs that drove Midlothian's economic engine.
Gary Gerstner, a former South Sider, gets nostalgic when he thinks about the dealership's demise. He has a strong tie to the dealership in the form of his red 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle Super Sport, which he bought brand new when the dealership was Jack O'Donnell Chevrolet.
When the economy began to decline in 2008 and the dealership closed by the end of that year, something told him there wouldn't be another to replace it, literally or figuratively.
"I knew that place was going to get the wrecking ball. I could just feel it. Who was going to be able to use that kind of space?" he said. "I remember the exposed brick in the (main) building and the W-shaped beams."
Before his prediction came true, though, Gerstner drove from his home in Warrenville to the site last summer to take a few photographs of his car against the backdrop of the dealership where it was bought 42 years ago.
Gerstner grew up in Evergreen Park and graduated from Brother Rice High School in 1965.
He bought the car two years later as his main mode of transportation. While keeping it street legal, though, he also wanted to make it faster so he could drag race it.
So Gary, his brother and his father took out the stock engine, a 396-cubic inch engine that produced 325 horsepower and put in a 427-cubic inch Corvette engine that produced more than 500 horsepower.
When not using it to get from point A to point B, Gerstner liked racing his Chevelle with the heart of a Vette at the U.S. 30 Dragstrip in Indiana and the Oswego Dragstrip.
But it was his everyday chariot too. He took the car down to school at Athens College in Alabama and drove it faithfully for more than a decade.
In the late '70s, when gas octane got too low and emissions standards became more stringent, Gerstner had to park his muscle car. The engine needed to be retuned to run with lower octane gas and meet new emissions standards.
"I liked racing it but it was always going to be a street-legal car. I just couldn't find the gas to drive it. I'd have to go to a gas station that sold racing gas," he said.
At the time, Gerstner was starting a family. So the engine retuning had to wait. In 1982 though, his cousin in Wisconsin offered to spiff Gerstner's car up with a new coat of paint. He drove it to Wisconsin and it promptly sat there for the next 14 years.
He laughs about it. But it was one of those occasions where time got away from him and his cousin. And even though he wasn't able to drive it, the thought never crossed his mind to sell the car. In the early 1970s, his brother sold a 1969 Chevy Nova Supersport - another car that would become a classic - when he decided to go back to school and regretted that decision ever since.
Gerstner got his newly painted car back in 1996, but put it in storage for another seven years. In 2003, he began rebuilding the engine in earnest so it could run on lower octane gas. And he made a few other modifications, such as installing a fiberglass hood with hood scoop. But much of the car is still original.
His restoration was finished in 2008. Since then he's taken it to several classic car shows and competitions. At the Nickey Chicago Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals show in November, Gerstner's car scored 979 out of 1,000 points to win the show's Concourse Award.
He and his car also have been featured in muscle car magazines.
While many of his friends have gotten rid of classic muscle cars in the past only to spend much of the rest of their lives trying to get them back, Gerstner doesn't have to feel those pangs of regret. And now with the disappearance of the dealership where he bought the car, he has even more incentive to hang on.
http://i47.tinypic.com/29p4rro.jpg
Former South Sider Gary Gerstner bought his 1967 Chevelle Super Sport from Jack O'Donnell Chevrolet in Midlothian, which became the Sunrise dealership
http://www.southtownstar.com/neighborhoodstar/oakforest/1980999,011010OFbeatcol.article
BY MICHAEL DRAKULICH
When the wrecking ball hit the former Sunrise Chevrolet at 147th Street and Cicero Avenue in Midlothian in October, more than a few residents remarked it was a shame to see it go.
The dealership had been at that site for more than 40 years and served as one of the major cogs that drove Midlothian's economic engine.
Gary Gerstner, a former South Sider, gets nostalgic when he thinks about the dealership's demise. He has a strong tie to the dealership in the form of his red 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle Super Sport, which he bought brand new when the dealership was Jack O'Donnell Chevrolet.
When the economy began to decline in 2008 and the dealership closed by the end of that year, something told him there wouldn't be another to replace it, literally or figuratively.
"I knew that place was going to get the wrecking ball. I could just feel it. Who was going to be able to use that kind of space?" he said. "I remember the exposed brick in the (main) building and the W-shaped beams."
Before his prediction came true, though, Gerstner drove from his home in Warrenville to the site last summer to take a few photographs of his car against the backdrop of the dealership where it was bought 42 years ago.
Gerstner grew up in Evergreen Park and graduated from Brother Rice High School in 1965.
He bought the car two years later as his main mode of transportation. While keeping it street legal, though, he also wanted to make it faster so he could drag race it.
So Gary, his brother and his father took out the stock engine, a 396-cubic inch engine that produced 325 horsepower and put in a 427-cubic inch Corvette engine that produced more than 500 horsepower.
When not using it to get from point A to point B, Gerstner liked racing his Chevelle with the heart of a Vette at the U.S. 30 Dragstrip in Indiana and the Oswego Dragstrip.
But it was his everyday chariot too. He took the car down to school at Athens College in Alabama and drove it faithfully for more than a decade.
In the late '70s, when gas octane got too low and emissions standards became more stringent, Gerstner had to park his muscle car. The engine needed to be retuned to run with lower octane gas and meet new emissions standards.
"I liked racing it but it was always going to be a street-legal car. I just couldn't find the gas to drive it. I'd have to go to a gas station that sold racing gas," he said.
At the time, Gerstner was starting a family. So the engine retuning had to wait. In 1982 though, his cousin in Wisconsin offered to spiff Gerstner's car up with a new coat of paint. He drove it to Wisconsin and it promptly sat there for the next 14 years.
He laughs about it. But it was one of those occasions where time got away from him and his cousin. And even though he wasn't able to drive it, the thought never crossed his mind to sell the car. In the early 1970s, his brother sold a 1969 Chevy Nova Supersport - another car that would become a classic - when he decided to go back to school and regretted that decision ever since.
Gerstner got his newly painted car back in 1996, but put it in storage for another seven years. In 2003, he began rebuilding the engine in earnest so it could run on lower octane gas. And he made a few other modifications, such as installing a fiberglass hood with hood scoop. But much of the car is still original.
His restoration was finished in 2008. Since then he's taken it to several classic car shows and competitions. At the Nickey Chicago Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals show in November, Gerstner's car scored 979 out of 1,000 points to win the show's Concourse Award.
He and his car also have been featured in muscle car magazines.
While many of his friends have gotten rid of classic muscle cars in the past only to spend much of the rest of their lives trying to get them back, Gerstner doesn't have to feel those pangs of regret. And now with the disappearance of the dealership where he bought the car, he has even more incentive to hang on.
http://i47.tinypic.com/29p4rro.jpg
Former South Sider Gary Gerstner bought his 1967 Chevelle Super Sport from Jack O'Donnell Chevrolet in Midlothian, which became the Sunrise dealership
http://www.southtownstar.com/neighborhoodstar/oakforest/1980999,011010OFbeatcol.article