Long We’ll Remember

This is the car Larry Sears bought off the street in Little Italy in 1968. If you were the owner, he would love to hear from you at sears@case.edu. Larry Sears spent about three years restoring his college car, which is again being seen on campus.

By Larry Sears, as told to Robert L. Smith

In 1968, in his junior year at Case Institute of Technology, Larry Sears, ’69, lived with a group of fraternity brothers in a house in the Coventry area of Cleveland Heights. His walk to campus took him down Edgehill Road through Little Italy.

“I would pass this sad, banged-up little car, parked near the intersection of Edgehill and Overlook. It was a red, two-seat, 1957 MGA roadster. Surprisingly, it wasn’t that badly vandalized, but after a few months it was clear that it wasn’t going anywhere. There was a Phi Delta Theta sticker on the car, so I went to the fraternity house, asked around, and found the owner. He had taken a job, I recall, in Denver, and he certainly wasn’t going to get there in that car. I offered him $75, which I didn’t have but I was able to borrow it.

“I managed to free up the stuck brakes, and I reattached the carburetors, which were in the process of being stolen. The accelerator cable was gone, so I replaced it with a string which I operated by hand. I was able to carefully drive the car a few blocks back to my house.

“With my limited resources, which included spray cans of Rust-Oleum to disguise the duct tape, I was able to slow the car’s deterioration and keep it running for a number of years.

“I had a great time in that car, and it provided the ultimate cheap date. Once, when I was particularly cool, I spun around a corner and the door flew off and slid across the intersection of Cornell and Murray Hill. Another time the exhaust system fell off; I’m sure my date enjoyed sitting next to it as I drove her home. (Probably as much as she enjoyed sitting next to me.)

“A couple of years later I met Sally Zlotnick (Mather ’72), and she eventually married me. By then the car’s frame had pretty much rotted away and its demise was in sight. Busy with family and career, I disassembled the car and put away the pieces in various locations. Eventually, much of the car ended up being stored outside for almost 40 years.

“Five years ago, I decided I needed another project and it was time to restore ‘Nigel’, which is what a British sports car should be named. I did all the work myself, with the exception of applying the paint, and completed the restoration in about three years. I certainly would never have put in all that effort if I didn’t have a nostalgic connection to the car.

“It came out very nice, and I drive it whenever weather permits. It’s about 4 ½ feet wide and 4 feet high, so it certainly doesn’t take up much room.”

Are you still driving your college car? We’d love to see it. Send a photo to Robert.Smith@casealum.org

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Join us for a whole weekend of recreation, reminiscing and reconnecting Dean’s Coffee & Chat – Innovation ShowCASE – Case Alumni Awards Presentation Deans’ Brunch & Parade Watch – Sears think[box] tours Grand Classes Reunion – Class of 1968 50th Reunion