- October 22, 2024
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Tom Rokosz and his wife, Gloria, had a tough decision to make.
It was 2020 and Tom decided he wanted to follow his passion to find a car like he drove in college, a 1964 Chevrolet Impala Super Sport.
Gloria was indifferent about antique cars, but she didn't want to give up her storage area. They had a three-car garage and their two cars occupied two of the spaces. Since a 1964 Impala would have to be stored in a garage in order to be insured adequately, the "junk" as Tom called it, would have to leave the garage.
"We had a big fight on that one," Tom said with a laugh. "My wife was not as sentimental as I was."
But Gloria did know what it meant to her husband, so the search was on.
Tom found and made his special purchase in 2022, and Gloria was able to watch him head out for his joyful rides around the neighborhood in the candy apple red car. He has never taken the car on a trip farther than Sarasota.
One of the reasons the car was special to him was because that was the model car he had early in his relationship with Gloria. When Tom, who now is 75, was an underclassman at Western New England College in Springfield, Mass., he met his future wife. She was two years younger and not a college student at the time, but she went to to a party at Tom's fraternity.
Part of getting to know Tom included his car rules — no eating in the car, no playing with any of the nobs — as like his father before him, he was meticulous when it came to his Impala.
As he says, he was proud of that car.
On Nov. 2, Tom's current Impala will be on display at the Knights of Columbus Car Show and Cookout at Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church. As Tom, who is a Knight, says, the best part of the show is listening to all the stories about the cars and what they mean to their owners.
Unfortunately, Tom will be without Gloria, who died last December.
It is the story he never wanted to tell. He drove Gloria's ashes to the church in the Impala. He haltingly talks about that ride, chokes up, and then composes himself to finish the story.
Tom said Gloria loved their Country Club East home and their church family. Tom said the Knights of Columbus members have been like brothers to him.
He said that bond makes the car show special.
"We get a lot of families," he said of the show. "We have shaded areas, the Knights are cooking, and we have a DJ."
Tom also loves that all the proceeds from the event go to St. Jude Children's Hospital.
He began to develop a love for cars and a respect for maintaining them when he was a kid, watching as his father, Edward, saved money in 1957 for a Pontiac Catalina station wagon.
"He kept that car forever," he said.
His father gave Tom his first car, a Willys Jeep, a war model.
"I was happy to drive anything at that age," he said.
When he bought the 1964 Impala, he did, like most drivers of that era, put an 8-track player in it.
"I had them stolen twice," he said of the 8-track players. "And one of the times they took the wheels, too."
That didn't stop him from loving his high profile "muscle" car, which had a 327 engine.
"It was just a classic car with a lot of chrome," he said. "I always had wanted to get one again."
He eventually found a guy in Pasco County who had one for sale. He said the car was immaculate.
"Every nut and bolt had been replaced," he said. "He had rebuilt the original motor and the transmission. When you look at the candy apple red paint, you can see gold specks."
He still drives the car about once a week, but he said he never has driven it in the rain.
"I just like going around the neighborhood, making a couple loops," he said. "I see people and they give me a thumbs up."
In showing the car, he opens the hood and stands in front of the spotless engine, and smiles.
"Wait until you see the trunk."
It was also spotless.
The car has an air suspension system that lifts or lowers the front or back end, because it is a popular model for those who like to jack up their car.
"This one does not bounce," he said.
