STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Staten Island region of the Antique Automobile Club of America celebrated its 50th anniversary with a massive car show Sunday at the Nicotra Group’s Corporate Commons campus in Bloomfield.
The 450-plus vehicles on display spanned over 100 years of automotive history, from Henry Ford’s Model T, to the fabulous fins of the 1950s, the muscle cars of the 1960s, and the luxury barges of the 1970s and beyond. Various local clubs came to highlight their members’ love for Cadillac (the Verrazano Cadillac Club, Staten Island Cadillacs and Classics), Chrysler (NYC Mopar Club), Corvette (Richmond County Corvette Club), Pontiac (Richmond County Pontiac Association), and more (Staten Island Kar Klub, Legendary Muscle Cars). Members competed for hundreds of available trophies, including special awards for best paint, best interior, best engine, and best in show.
The President’s Cup was awarded to Mark DiPilato of Eltingville, whose 1971 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am was chosen as an outstanding vehicle by the club’s president, Paul Arena. DiPilato completely restored his car. “This is one of only eight hundred because of the factory 4-speed.
It was taken down to bare metal, and every nut and bolt in this car was refinished and put back,” he explained. Ray Ocello entered his 1926 Model T Ford in the show. He only became a car collector a year ago: “I always wanted an antique car and this actually was a birthday gift from my lifelong partner.
” Greg P.