I drove it through four more years of Ohio State. It didn't get much TLC during that period but it sure saw a lot of good times. It was driven back and forth through Ohio and Indiana, once to New York and once to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for the ritual spring gathering. When I graduated the LaSalle went into my father's garage with the promise that I would retrieve it soon begin its restoration. "Soon" came four years later. In 1968 I lifted the body using a small cable winch, jack stands, 4 x 4's, firewood logs and the rafters in my garage. I disassembled the chassis and body and then sand blasted, primed and painted the frame and the underside of the body. The engine was rebuilt by a "reputable" Detroit shop (a bad job — strong vibration and overheating) and I began the process of accumulating knowledge and parts.

I reassembled the chassis and the body was set back on the frame. Then the process slowed while I moved East. In 1970 a friend, who makes his living as a psychotherapist (a message there, I think), and I flew to Detroit with a big toolbox and lots of bravado. We drove the car, with no fenders, bumpers, headlights, etc. (all of which had been shipped East in the moving van that carried our household) across the turnpikes to Connecticut. During the two-day trip we were told frequently that we couldn't legally drive a car in that condition. One Pennsylvania toll booth operator told us emphatically that we couldn't drive "that thing" on his turnpike. We fully expected to be pulled over by the PA State Police after that encounter, but nothing happened.

Our only confrontation with the law was a fleeting one in Pittsburgh where we stopped the first day. Our time estimates were off and it was getting dark as we reached Pittsburgh. In fact, it was pitch dark as we approached one of the tunnels that give access to Pittsburgh (remember there were no headlights). Standing at the mouth of the tunnel was a motorcycle cop, motorcycle at the ready. As we rumbled into the tunnel I could see the horrified look on his face. I can only assume that he was so shocked he was slow to react, because we got through the tunnel, drove into a gas station, parked around back and took a taxi to our hotel. We didn't see the cop again. The next day we reached CT without incident.

Between 1970 and 1975 the process proceeded in fits and starts as I reworked the engine again to eliminate the vibration, moved to St. Louis taking the entire car West in the moving .van, and ultimately put it in a warehouse while I moved to Europe. In 1983 it came back East (in a moving van, of course) to sit in my garage for three more years. In 1986 I decided I would never find the time to complete the restoration myself, considered getting rid of the LaSalle and then decided that after sticking with it for 26 years I would have it professionally restored. That process is another story. The time and cost estimates were dramatically overrun but the result is stunning. My early work had long since deteriorated so the job was done over, bolt by bolt, from the ground up. We went so far as to have a silk screen made to print the unique patterned trunk lining material in the 1939 LaSalle. The car is not worth what I have invested in it, but it has been my car since I was 19 and that makes it worthwhile.

It was restored by Kent Bain and his team at Automotive Restorations in Stratford, CT. At Hershey this fall, the first and only time it has been shown, it was awarded a First Junior.