Classic car raffle to benefit Sunshine Village

Date: 4/21/2010

April 21, 2010.

By Mike Briotta

PRIME Editor



CHICOPEE -- Are you sitting at home, perhaps due to the lack of a proper vehicle, pining for the bygone days of Mr. T and Rubik's Cubes? Are you missing the Cold War, and Ronald Reagan's trickle-down economics?

Heck, who isn't?

Don't worry; there's a V8-powered time machine that can magically transport you back through the decades to those totally radical 1980s, at least in spirit.

Anyone wishing to sit behind the wheel of a cream white, fully refurbished 1984 Monte Carlo CL should rush to any number of local businesses to pick up their $10 raffle tickets to paradise.

A maximum of 1,000 tickets will be sold for the vintage vehicle -- with the proceeds to benefit Sunshine Village -- but only one lucky winner gets to slide into the cloth-covered driver's seat. He or she may even have some old Van Halen cassette tapes to pop into the radio; a timely soundtrack for Sunday drives.

The CL package appears to have been a $385 cloth-seat option, on top of the $8,936 price tag for the base 1984 Monte Carlo. "Wire wheel" hubcaps were an additional $159 option on this one, which adds another layer of aesthetic appeal.

The $9,321 total sticker price of the vehicle in the mid-1980s would set you back nearly $20,000 in today's greenbacks, according to a currency-adjusting Web site. So the winner can tell all their friends they just picked up a classic car worth 20 grand. Well, sort of.

In its heyday, this road warrior was considered a rolling piece of Neo-Gothic architecture. Modern detractors may eschew the Monte Carlo's boxy style, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The vehicle even has T-tops for cruising on balmy afternoons. The Monte Carlo CL was given by an anonymous donor.

Irene Roy said she and her husband Don, of Don Roy's Auto Body, are excited to be part of the fundraiser. They also serve on the board of directors at Sunshine Village, and previously donated a silver two-door hardtop Toyota MR2 to the agency. The raffle for that donated vehicle in 2005 raised more than $8,000 for the group. Sunshine Village originated in Chicopee when a group of concerned parents and friends of children with disabilities, and supportive civic groups, all pooled their efforts and resources to improve and expand facilities for the recreation, care and training of disabled people. The organization was established in 1967 as a private, non-profit, charitable corporation.

"[We] are so happy ... to help with this second car raffle," said Roy. "We know how much Sunshine Village does and we are thrilled that we can once again support all the people that the agency helps."

The mission of Sunshine Village since 1967 has been to improve the lives of people with developmental disabilities. For more information on the group, please visit their Web site at www.sunshine.us.

The Roys were joined by many community members in the effort to make this raffle a success, among them the students at Dean Technical High School in Holyoke, who helped restore the car.

Don Roy added that the project was helped greatly by area businesses that also provided parts and labor, namely Baystate Auto Trim for the interior, Auto Techniques for tune-ups, and West Springfield Auto Parts for those hard-to-find replacement parts.

"It was in rough shape," Bob Celi said, the auto body department head at Dean Technical High School. "The roof under the T-tops was completely rotted out and that had to be fabricated out of metal. You can't get some of those parts and materials anymore. We also worked on the quarter-panels, doors, and A-pillars. We wrapped up our work a couple years ago, and I think the interior work was finished last year."

Celi concluded, "The kids put a lot of time and effort into this project. The kids [who worked on it] had never seen a car with T-tops before. I hope that Sunshine Village makes a lot of money from the raffle."

Raffle tickets may be purchased at many area locations, or by calling Sandy Walters or Lugene Banville: 592-6142. More information is also available at: www.donroysautobody.com.