Restoring Old Cars Is His Passion

By Jake Schwarzman | Posted October 17, 2024

For Vietnam veteran and Montgomery Township resident since 1995, Larry Szur, cars have always been a passion. Szur’s father was a mechanic, always owning fun cars, mainly Ford, Mercury, and Edsel convertibles. His father’s passion for tinkering was passed on to Szur, who enjoyed working on cars along with his father or friends since an early age. Szur continued in his father’s footsteps and worked as a diesel mechanic for the Department of Public Works in New Brunswick, from 1972 until his retirement in 2019.

Larry Szur

Szur owned many different cars throughout his life, starting with a ’55 Ford at the early age of 15, followed by a big block ’62 Ford, and then a ’65 Pontiac GTO just before he was drafted into the army. Szur was stationed in Fort Sill Oklahoma, where he was able to take his beloved GTO. Szur blew the motor and pushed the car a mile from the barracks to the motor pull, where he rebuilt the motor on his own. Szur kept the car for a little while longer until he was shipped out to Vietnam for a year.

While he was away, his father sold the GTO. Upon returning home, Szur’s father surprised him with a ’67 Corvette convertible he purchased with the money Szur had been sending home during his service. Szur only kept this car for a couple years however before selling it off. “I would have kept it if I knew then what I know now. I could have retired 25 years ago.”

Throughout the early 70s to late 80s, Szur went through a plethora of cars, including a ’70 Chevy Nova SS, a ’65 Corvette he restored, a ’67 Nova SS, his uncle’s pickup truck, a ’37 Willys he kept for a while, and a ’77 Camaro. All of these cars were merely predecessors to Szur’s true treasure however.

In 1989, Szur was headed home from a swap meet in Englishtown when he spotted a first-generation Camaro in a tow yard. Szur couldn’t resist pulling over to inquire about the vehicle. Szur was informed that the vehicle was simply a parts car, that it was completely stripped, but it still had a title. Szur’s wife bought him the car for just $400, although Szur was on a long road ahead of him with the restoration. The car needed just about everything gone over and redone. “The most enjoyment I have with cars is completely redoing them.”

From 1989 up until 2017, the car was slowly put back together, starting with all of the bodywork. Larry put new floor pans in it, a hood, quarter panels, doors, glass and new-old stock fenders he sourced asynchronously with connections from Chevrolet. Szur even straightened the frame, which had been hit at some point in the car’s life. Szur did this by welding a chain to the car and tying the chain to a tree, while his youngest son David pulled on the other end of the car with his Duramax pickup truck. “You name it, we’ve re-done it.”

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The car started its life as a six-cylinder, but Szur had different plans. The 454 Big Block motor currently in the car was built from scratch by Szur. The block, heads, carb, crank, pistons and a slightly larger cam, were all bought separately and assembled by Szur.

Szur’s oldest son Larry Jr. helped build the car along the way. He built the Muncie M22 transmission in the car from scratch. “Transmissions are his specialty.” Larry Jr. also did the paint job with yellow Napa, single stage paint. “My son painted quite a few cars and he really got good at it.”

Szur says he enjoys some local car shows in the area, including Hopewell Cruisenight, the Somerville car show, and the Freehold Car Show, although it’s not what he enjoys most. Even driving the car is not where he finds the most pleasure. He says it heats up a lot in traffic, gets poor gas mileage and people like to ride his bumper. Restoring cars is where his heart is. “If anything happened to this (Camaro), I wouldn’t have the ability to repair it anymore.”