Steve M's 61 348 horse Bonneville Cvt !!!!!!

[Belair62]

This is one of the most gorgeous cars in the world. Several years ago I saw an ad for a 61 Bonny convert needing restoration. I called on it and the owner was Steve Marini...a member of our site and owner of GM Sports salvage out in Hayward (sp) California.Steve is certifiably a lunatic when it comes to cars...he has some real cool and unusual stuff....Steve found this car sitting in a driveway in San Jose area I believe. I called on the ad and bought the car.It needed a total restoration but every single piece was factory...right down to the original exhaust. I got the car home and after changing oil and hanging a 1 gal gas can from the hood...it started up and ran smooth !!! This car sat for an untold number of years. The vacuum linkage still worked on the tri-power system. The PHS on this car was amazing...348 horse tri-power in which only a handful were built with the RM coded engine...plus it was a Bonneville convert 4 speed,leather hard back buckets,8 lugs and what was referred to as the Sport Shifter....I believe it was a Corvette unit with the reverse lock out pull-up on it....very rare. We believe this car was drag raced due to the fact it had tonneau snaps surrounding the interior and also had the funkiest hand made fiberglass gage pod mounted on top of the dash...the car actually moved under it's own power...the linkage worked,the cluth worked....the BRAKES didn't so it only went up and down my drive. Long story short, I collected a bunch of NOS for it including a complete set of side moldings,tail lamp housings etc...and ordered up a complete door panel set as well as the leather for the interior stiching...did I mention it was leather !!I knew this was to be the most stunning car when complete but later realised I would probably not be able to complete it in any reasonable amount of time so I talked to Steve again and he bought it back and treated it to a top shelf frame- off...the rest is history...and the pictures don't begin to describe this rare beauty. My knees still get weak when I look at this car....and I hope someday to own it again !!