2022 Midsummer Issue

22
A 1940 Ford owned by Bob Sellitto gets a safety
inspection at this year’s Father’s Day Rod Run.
Classic Connections
Story by ELLEN WILKOWE
Photos by KAREN FUCITO
The parking lot outside of the former
Bowtie Cinema at the Roxbury Mall
resembled a tailgate party in full swing, except
there was no big game or concert to follow the
hype.
In this case, the tailgate was the show and the
classic cars on hand with their proud owners
were the performers.
Anthony Vassallo of Mount Arlington could
vouch for that.
“The car is the show, not me,” he said,
referring to his 1960 Chevy Impala. “I happen
to be the owner and operator of the car. The car
has its own personality.”
There were plenty of personalities on wheels
and on foot, courtesy of the North Jersey Street
Rod Association, of which Vassallo is a member.
June 7 was the club’s first cruise night of the
season, which will run every Tuesday (weather
permitting) through September 13. The music
and camaraderie just come with the cruise night
territory and on this recent Tuesday evening, a
picturesque Jersey summer sky just added to the
ambiance.
Spirits and gears were high as long-time
club members and passersby gathered to talk
shop and bring each other up to speed on their
personal lives.
The club informally rolled onto the scene in
the ‘60s, the result of a group of friends with
a fervor for hot rods. The club established its
name in 1969 and was formally incorporated as
a nonprofit in 1975 “to promote the interests
of the members as owners of street rods and to
provide social occasions and events where the
common interests of the members could be
enjoyed together,” as per the group’s website.
The club currently boasts 44 members, with
membership ranging from 25 to 75 over the
years.
Club historian and member Roland Utter of
LAKE HOPATCONG NEWS Midsummer 2022
Roxbury is a cruise
night regular since
joining the club
in 1987. He had
his 1923 T-bucket
street rod in tow,
which is in need of
TLC.
“That was a fiveyear
project within
the club to build
it,” he said. “And we’ve used it for parades.”
Utter’s interest in street rods, specifically the
rebuilding of them, began in Roxbury High
School and never really stopped.
He went on to become a mechanic and found
a labor of love by working on Oldsmobiles and
Buicks, which he identifies as his dream cars.
For now, he is restoring a 1985 Avanti. It
is number 42 of 100 made that year. Utter
distinguishes himself as more of a builder than
a buyer.
“There are a lot of people who are buyers and
not that many builders,” he said. “People who
don’t have the ability or knowledge to restore
will buy them. But I like to build things and
restore them. I’m one of a few of them left.”
The club appeals to him for the fellowship
among the members as well as the charitable
aspects. The organization operates under two
titles: the North Jersey Street Rod Association
and the North Jersey Street Rod Charities
Group, which is registered in New Jersey, Utter
said. The charitable arm reports once a year
to Trenton and is also licensed for raffles and
50/50s.
“We’ve always been supportive of a child
or family that needs money [due to medical
expenses] that insurance companies won’t
cover,” he said. “We keep nothing.”
After a two-year pandemic hiatus, the Father’s
Day Rod Run—the club’s largest fundraiser—
returned to Horseshoe Lake Park in Succasunna
to record-breaking crowds and cash.
Tom Harvey with his 1972 Chevy Nova.
photo courtesy of Tom Harvey
Hundreds of classic cars turned out for this year’s
Father’s Day Rod Run at Horseshoe Lake Park.
“It was one of the best shows we ever had,” said
Tom Harvey, the club’s president. “We had 325
show cars,1,500 spectators and raised $22,552.”
The fundraiser’s recipient, 3-year-old Jonas
Carvalho and his family were on hand and Jonas
even took to the stage, Harvey said. Jonas was
diagnosed with Wilms tumor, a type of childhood
cancer.
The Carvalhos were presented with a check in
a separate ice cream social two weeks after the
fundraiser.
Having lost a child to cancer 40 years ago, Harvey
keeps the club’s cause close to his heart.
He became a club member 10 years ago, but his
drive for muscle cars and street rods manifested in
his youth. “I used to race a 1955 Chevy Nomad
Wagon around a quarter mile track,” he said.
He parked his passion temporarily when he
started a family and a plumbing business. After
seeing his four kids into adulthood, he reconnected
with his love of cars through the club and has held
the office of club president for the last eight years.
“We’re like one big family,” he said of the club.
Jill Dorr of Wharton can attest to that.
Since joining the club three years ago, she has
come to view the members as an extension of her
father, who passed away in 2018.
“It was like a room full of people with the same
sense of humor as my father,” she said, referring
to her first meeting. “There were jokes all around.”
Born into classic car culture, Dorr recalls
a childhood full of weekend car shows and
motorcycle rides. She also remembers her father