The Best Of Both Worlds

Father/son Duo Builds a Rad, Stock Appearing 1956 Corvette.

- Scotty Lachenauer

Robert Paglia of Freehold, New Jersey, remembers the stories his father told him while growing up in the suburbs. “He was a hot rodder and a street mechanic that had a ‘badass’ reputation, and he drag raced on the street back in the days when that’s what most car guys did for fun,” says Robert. It was these accounts of his dad’s life as a street racer that lit a fire in young Robert’s heart, and helped make him an active participant in the collector car hobby.

Since the time he could sit him up in the engine bay, Robert’s been helping his dad out in the garage. And following in Sr.’s footsteps, Robert was quick out of the gate, purchasing his first ride when he was only 10 years old. It was a 1972 Vega, and he financed it solely with his own communion money. Right away the twosome started to modify the Chevy compact, putting in a trick small-block Chevy and adding a nice shine to the street ride. His mom drove the hot compact until he turned 14; and then suddenly something else caught his eye. It was a 1967 Firebird 400 convertible, which soon became his next possession. The teenager worked on the Pontiac pony steadily over the next months until he earned his driver’s license and was able to put it on the street himself. Not a bad way to get introduced to the freedom a hot ride and some open road can give you.