Our long-time good
old-VW-friend Bill Silvestri's been a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
enthusiast for many years now...COMMON.GEAR presents:
"Springtime For Ghia!"
Connecticut's Bill Silvestri
Activates His Fine 1958 for 2006
(this page new as of 6/12/2006; minor update added as of 8/22/2006)
Quick Navigation Links For This Page: Background | Rob Kendrick Helps Out | Dust Off Run 2006 | Aero Diner Review | Funny Terryville '06 Scene
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Among his accomplishments in that arena, he's restored, shown, and even long-distance-driven (at least one Michigan run to the MVVC Fest) his magnificent cherry red 1968 hot rod Ghia--all with great success & enjoyment. In more recent years, however, he acquired an early specimen of this fine handbuilt Volkswagen--specifically one built exactly 10 years earlier than his '68. Though somewhat neglected at the time he purchased it, Bill's since been diligently going through it to get it mechanically in shape, and also thoroughly check the mechanicals to make sure it was properly safe and road-worthy. By the Spring of 2006, Bill was ready to hit the DMV and get the '58 Ghia officially registered for road use.
Being a pre-1960 model, Bill's 1958 KG Coupe sports the unique "low lights" (low-mounted headlights), and also special tail lights, among it's many unique features. The color scheme of Bill's '58 is a "classic" for this era of Karmann Ghia--bright red body and black painted roof--making it quite a sporty stunner. Doing some research on the actual color names, Bill reports he has a background folder of paperwork saved by the car's previous owner, which may provide some clues, when he has a chance to scan through it. Bill indicates that the exterior body below the beltline has been repainted, however the interior is original and a good match, and the exterior roof paint is also original. Some color clues were also found via some recent online searching. Browsing one specific Karmann Ghia info site (specifically within the category: "Sep.1957-Jul.1959"), a two-tone paint scheme was found that uses Brilliant Red (L353), and also a monotone scheme that uses Cardinal Red (L354): http://www.type-14.com/paint.htm . Computer experts always caution us not to place too much emphasis on how any particular color chip comes across on the monitor, so since the (apparent) scanned original brochure pages only show one two-tone black & red color combo (ref. http://www.type-14.com/images/CB58-03.jpg)--with the red being Brilliant Red--we therefore feel this tends to indicate that the red of Bill's car is L353 Brilliant Red (and the black most likely L41 Black).
The IMAGE ABOVE RIGHT is a shot from Bill's neighbor; in an e-mail dated 5/5/2006 that had this great shot attached, Bill wrote: "...This photo was taken last Friday by my neighbor Craig. I was driving the old Girl around the neighborhood and was flagged down by Craig and his three young boys (all car enthusiasts)...He happened to have a camera and took this shot. ..."
This page documents some images of Bill's wonderful 1958, as Bill had been working toward activating it for the Spring 2006 driving season--and was successful! So far, Bill's managed to have a great drive out to the Connecticut Volkswagen Association's "Spring Dust-Off," on April 30th, 2006, at Mansfield Hollow State Park, on a beautiful sunny day, and I'm sure there are many more fun outings in store. Mutual long-time VW friend Greg Mattesen, who lives near Bill, had planned to drive his '63 VW Beetle out to the Dust Off also, and brought his camera along, recording some great images from rolling on the road, at the Dust Off meet, and also a stop at a very cool vintage diner where they all enjoyed a bite to eat afterwards. Bill and Greg also brought along their daughters, Kristen and Amelia, respectively, and it turns out they were also instrumental in helping with the "action shots."
Between Bill's all-around mechanical and appearance efforts with his car (including some important info about Canadian VW expert Rob Kendrick's contributions to the project, that Bill provided in a follow-up e-mail), and Greg Mattesen's superb documeting efforts, with words and pictures, we found we had the ingredients for a nice photo-feature.
And finally, Greg the vintage diner enthusiast, had separately, unrelated to any of his antique VW pursuits, recently written a review of the Aero Diner for an online diner enthusiast web site--so we'll include that info here for some additional background.
So, we've loaded up--let's get right into it!
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Rob Kendrick Helps Out Getting the Ghia Road-Ready
Here is an excerpt of an e-mail follow-up from Bill, who wanted to make sure that some special Canadian VW friends received proper credit for the success in getting 'This Old Ghia' back onto the road for 2006:
"...Our great friends Rob and Nancy Kendrick (and dog Kafer) from Simcoe Ontario came down to Connecticut last October (2005) for the CVA fall foliage cruise. They came down in a 1978 Dormobile. While spending the weekend with us, Rob not only cooked up his famous shrimp scampi dish. He also helped me do a brake job on the '58 Ghia! We replaced all the hydraulic components and lines including the line that goes from front to back. The shoes and drums were in great shape so we did not replace them. It's nice to have good friends visit. It's even nicer when they volunteer to help fix our cars!..."
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Dust-Off Run 2006 - Words & Photos by Greg Mattesen
"...Bill and I got together to go to the CVA Dust-off. It was a gorgeous day for a ride out to Mansfield. We met at Bill's around 8:30, and left shortly afterwards. Both girls (Kristen and Amelia) rode with me in the '63 since I have seatbelts and Bill's '58 Ghia does not.
We had a nice ride out to Mansfield along the route 2 expressway and route 66. Bill's '58 looked and ran great--I could hardly keep up with him on the highway, and he was certainly going fast enough to avoid using the "slow vehicle" lanes. I tried to snap a few photos of Bill's car in action, but they have some windshield glare. The one of the front of the car was taken by either Amelia or Kristen; this was on the route 6 expressway in Columbia.
We arrived at Mansfield Hollow between 9 and 9:30. There weren't many cars there yet, but quite a few showed up over the course of the morning. Roland, there was a white Ghia convertible that reminded me of yours (although it was a '69 and had an autostick). Another low-light Ghia showed up shortly after we did and was able to park next to Bill's car; it was also a '58! I got a chance to chat with Clay and Mary Smith, Kevin Norton, Jeremy Clayton, Milt MacDonald, Charley Roessler, and Eric Tuller (I hadn't seen Eric in years--like 10 or 12 probably--he's doing well). It was a great morning for a car show: it was warm and sunny, although the traditional "Dust-off wind" kept us from taking off our sweatshirts.
We all decided to leave around 12 to go get lunch at the Aero Diner. The place was packed, so we were unable to park in front for a photo op. We also had to wait a few minutes for a booth, but once seated we enjoyed a nice meal.
The diner is in great shape, the service was good, and the food was good. I would say that it's a little expensive for a diner, but we all enjoyed our lunches and the atmosphere, so it was worth it. Kristen and Amelia both had gigantic vanilla milkshakes. Afterwards we did our best to get a good photo of the cars with the diner in the background..."
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Aero Diner Review - Excerpt from "Roadside Online," written by Greg Mattesen
(from http://www.roadsideonline.com/index.php?id=C0_1_1)
"...My family and I were driving through North Windham today and were pleasantly surprised to see that the former South Windham Diner is back up and running. It is now located on route 6 east of Willimantic and is called the Aero Diner (no doubt in reference to the nearby Windham Airport). I stopped to take a few pictures and to peek inside to see what it looks like. The place looks great; they've done a very sympathetic restoration both inside and out. Outside they've retained the original stainless steel with salmon-colored trim and the original vestibule. The diner rests on a nice new block foundation with glass block corners, and a great-looking vintage-style neon sign tops off the diner. A large kitchen addition has been added to the rear, but it doesn't take away from the diner itself. Inside, it looks like they've used boomerang-pattern formica extensively (which I remember this diner having back in 1993 when I ate there once). The interior color scheme is primarily black and orange, and it looks like there is an additional dining area at one end. We stopped by around 12 pm on Sunday, and there was a line out the door. The sign on the door advertises hours from 5:30 to 10:00 pm 7 days a week. It's great to see that the diner has made such a nice transition from its old location; it had always been one of my favorite local diners, and I had worried that it would be demolished when its former location was sold..."
And to finish up, here's one more photo (BELOW) by Greg from his and Bill's stop at the Aero Diner (361 Boston Post Road, North Windham, CT, 860-450-1959) following their run to the CVA Dust Off 2006. That's Greg's 1963 Beetle posing here in front of Bill's 1958 Karmann Ghia. Cool vintage cars and cool vintage diner--great job guys and thanks once again!
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And
a Funny Scene captured by Roland Metz at the "Connecticut
Bug-A-Fair" VW enthusiast event in Terryville, CT,
8/20/2006...
(this section added as of 8/22/2006)
Bill drove his '58 Ghia to this year's Terryville, Connecticut event, with Greg once again as his driving partner. There they met up with fellow Karmann Ghia enthusiast, New Yorker Roland Metz, who had his camera handy to record this scene. A spectator on the driver's side of the car evidently fails to appreciate the antics of Bill (as The Car Owner, pointing out the car's finer points) and Greg (as The Judge, "not wanting to hear it"). Great shot guys! Click HERE for a great shot of "The Three Musketeers" from that same day.
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