The Los Alamos Teen Center has been holding a Community Car Night on Wednesday evenings at the Ashley Pond parking lot. The neat thing about the event is that all ages of drivers and all types of vehicles are welcome in varied stages of condition and renovation. Just drive on over, park and open the hood. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Matt DeSimone tinkers with his 1981 Mercedes Benz 300D with an inline 5 diesel, rear wheel drive. DeSimone said he bought it from the former store manager at the Los Alamos Co-Op Market five or six years ago and has been working on it on and off since just getting it ready to take him to work. ‘It’s an old car, a classic. It’s a diesel sedan; you don’t see these anymore,” Simone said. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
The rear end of Matt DeSimone’s 1981 Mercedes Benz. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Not often you see car engine hoses taped with duct tape. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Curtis Schultz, left, brought along his 2002 Ford Excursion with a V10 gas engine that can tow very large trailers. It has three rows of seats and can transport nine people comfortably. ‘My son does competitive snowboarding so we can take it up to Colorado and there’s loads of room,” Schultz said. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Curtis Schultz shows the huge amount of space in his vehicle that makes it perfect for road trips. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Amanda Bonnie found her 1997 Miata on EBay and drove to Tucson, Ariz. to pick it up. She said it wasn’t running when she got it so they had to tow it home. In fact, a lot of the engine parts were in the trunk. The Bonnies used to have a Miata -an earlier year but the same generation. ‘We built a kit car out of it and we eventually sold it but I always wanted a Miata again after that.” Bonnie said. She said it’s not hard to find parts for the car because it is still really popular. ‘The only hard thing right now is prices are up in genera. Parts are not hard to find but they’re expensive.. The car has its own custom electronic control unit so she can connect her laptop top to it . Bonnie said her husband was really into cars when they met which got her interested in it. ‘I’m an engineer which means I already have that hands-on thing going,” she said. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Dave Bonnie brought his beautiful red 1999 Corvette out for the occasion. Each fender hides a turbo charger He calls it his COVID project. “I busted my shoulder last spring and this is my rehab project. I did this all one-handed while I was recovering. I got the motor out and rebuilt everything the best I could and put it back. I got it running again,’ he said. ‘This is my dad’s old car.’
1999 Corvette owner Dave Bonnie brought it out for Tuesday’s event. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Dave Bonnie showed off a signature from 1999 that he found inside his 1999 Corvette. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Los Alamos Teen Center Director George Marsden brought along his 2006 Forester. Marsden said the only work he really does is take care of it to keep it going, however he started going up a friend’s place to camp near Angel Fire that has a rutted out dirt road to get in to it. ‘I decided to get a two-inch lift kit and springs that are a little bit longer in the back so that even if it’s loaded it rides flat. I already had the base roof rack and then I spend $100 on Amazon and added a basket which is mostly used to carry over-sized baskets for camping’. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
A 1965 Mustang 289belonging to Malcolm Olsen was a big hit at Community Car Night. ‘My dad bought it fresh out of high school and had it at my grandparents’ house for 30 years after he got it – just barely functional. Two years ago, we brought it down from the Jemez and starting fixing it up,’ Olsen said. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Malcolm Olsen with a 1965 Mustang that has been in his family for more than 30 years. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Front end view of a 1969 Ford Torino 428 Cobra Jet brought to the event by Damien Sundby. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Inside the engine of the 1969 Ford Torino shows the work that has been put into it. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
Damien Sundby proudly sits inside a 1969 Ford Torino he and his grandfather restored together. His grandfather is the original owner. ‘We actually restored every single thing on this car,” Sundby said. “It took about 2 1/2 years.’ Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
David Randleman stands next to a 1969 Ford Mustang Grande 302 automatic with an electronic ignition and new style air conditioning. ‘It was my wife’s daily driver all through college until we had too many kids to fit in it,” Randleman said. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com
The rim-blown horn in the Randleman’s Mustang. Photo by Maire O’Neill/losalamosreporter.com