Community Corner
A Classic Car Lover and His Jalopy
A La Grange resident has a passion for rebuilding and driving classic cars, but there's one in his garage that his wife and neighbors might not miss.
About two years ago Kyle O’Connor, a La Grange resident and Lyons Township High School grad, had his garage torn down to make room for a new one that could accommodate some of his classic cars. The new garage is 19 feet tall and has an automatic car lift on one side that allows O’Connor to house two cars on one side of the garage and work on the car from below, too.
“When I was a kid my dad had a gas station in Maywood and he would fix cars to flip them and make money,” O’Connor told me. He went on to say, “I have three older brothers and I pretty much learned how to fix cars from them.” He doesn’t have as much time as he’d like to work on his cars, but enjoys the hobby and his time spent on restoring cars.
He currently owns three classics, although one is fondly referred to as a jalopy. He purchased his ’75 Firebird Formula at a car show years ago already restored. This is his fun car that he likes to drive for in good weather. The only time this car is out of the garage is when he is working on his current project—a ’65 GTO that he is restoring. He would like to finish the car in eight months, but knows with his current schedule that won’t happen.
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When I asked O’Connor about finding parts for the car he said, “I always try to get original parts but that is not always feasible. The Internet is a great place to search and find parts. Sometimes I have to resort to reproduction parts, but that’s my last resort.”
I thought that the two cars were his only "classics" but O’Connor quickly smiled and pointed to an ’85 Chevy Silverado that was rusting and appeared to have seen much better days. He acquired the Silverado in ’98 as his runner car for transporting larger items in the back of the truck. It is apparent that this "jalopy" means as much to him as his true classics. When I took pictures of the cars he specifically asked me to get some shots of the truck so he had memories once it finally breaks down.
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I was going to write this column in the spring but recently heard that the jalopy might be going to the junk yard. When O’Connor blew the muffler, the neighbors thought a bomb had gone off. At one point, he thought he might have blown the engine. He’s still holding out hope that the jalopy has a few more miles left in her. His wife, Lori, on the other hand, is ready to throw a party and take pictures when the junk yard shows up to tow it away.
