> ONE CAR, TWO BIRTHDAYS AND A WEDDING
The car: 1975 1/2 Chevrolet Chevelle
Laguna
The owners: Ed and Rose Valenciuk, Strathroy, Ont.
The story: Forty years ago we spent a couple of months choosing colour and options for our new Chevrolet Chevelle. We decided on a twodoor, family-sporty car, such as you often saw in TV dramas like The Rockford Files, which was my favourite show.
When we brought the car home on March 18, 1975, it was our oldest daughter’s first birthday. Nice, but not as dramatic as the birth of our second daughter on the front seat. Twelve years ago, she was married, and we have a picture of her in her wedding dress, sitting in her birth car.
There were only 1,017 of these built that half-year, and some were raced on the NASCAR circuit. The only Canadian driver and pit crew to win a NASCAR Winston Cup race was Earl Ross from Ailsa Craig, Ont., in a 1974 Laguna. The great Cale Yarborough won two of three consecutive championships driving a Laguna. In 1977, NASCAR banned the model for being too limited-production, not stock enough.
Our car was driven all year for its first decade. After 1976, we put in only synthetic oil. It has its original brake and gas lines, fuel tank floors and has never had a speck of rust.
While the engine is Chevrolet’s 350-cubic-inch V8, with four-barrel carburetor, it was rated at only 165 horsepower back then, with low compression and a single exhaust.
At 193,000 kilometres, the heads were taken off to replace the valve seals, and we found no piston ring wear. You could still see the crisscross hone marks on the cylinder walls.
At 482,000 kilometres, the engine was freshened with a roller cam, rockers and lifters. We added new Moog front-end components, aftermarket air conditioning, an Alpine stereo, chrome Corvette rims, and reupholstered the interior.
The swivel buckets are limited in their adjustments, but are more comfortable than those in our newer truck or our present family car.
In 2013, the Laguna received a disc brake rear with ceramic pads all around, and a 700R4 four-speed automatic transmission. We drove it to British Columbia and back, towing a tent trailer for 12,000 kilo- metres. The Laguna has driven us to Florida and back twice. At present it has 356,000 miles (573,000 kilometres) on the odometer.
Many people ask what the car is, as it has a hint of Oldsmobile Cutlass in it, and some Monte Carlo and Camaro. I’ve been told by our 10-yearold grandson that I have to keep it for him; I said that for his high school prom, grandpa would have to drive him and his date: NOT. Show us your candy: Got a cool custom or vintage car? Send us pictures of you and your family with your beauty, and tell us your story. The more photos the better — of the interior, trim, wheels, emblems, what you admire. Email wheels@thestar.ca and be sure to use “Eye Candy” in the subject line.