COMING FULL CIRCLE

Young man’s hot rod passed down to another young hot rodder

- Scotty Lachenauer

In the spring of 1967, Tom Lichty dug down deep into his shallow pockets and bought the car of his motor-driven dreams. At the time he was a 17-year-old high school senior in Paradise, Pennsylvania, working part-time at Shirk Chevrolet right there in town. He was a young man ready to make his way in life; and to get wherever he was going, all he needed was a cool ride to call his own.

Young Tom was a motorhead through and through, and by working at Shirk he became exposed “up close and personal” to the many products the Bowtie brand had to offer. Right away, the Corvette model just grabbed his attention, and soon became “the car” he would seek out as his first main squeeze. And who can blame him? Not us!

So Tom started looking for a deal on a good used Corvette. One he could afford on his tight budget, and one he could definitely customize to make it his very own. He spotted an interesting ride in the local want ads and decided to clear the needed time to check it out. It was in nearby Mt. Joy, and the one-owner Corvette was sitting on a used car lot. So he grabbed his parent’s car and made his way over in a hurry to inspect it in person.

The car in question was a base model 1959, built with a 283/240hp powerplant, with a single four-barrel up top. It was a stunning but well-used car to say the least, dressed in quadruple black and looking pretty much the way she left the showroom; minus some of the typical wear and tear that eight years on the road would bring. Tom was just smitten from the moment he saw her, and knew he had to have her to call his own. So he made an offer on the car, which was accepted. With a handshake, Tom quickly became a new Corvette owner.