Historic Hollywood car restored, on display Sunday
Historic Hollywood car restored, on display Sunday
Mark Dietzen’s vintage Texaco Station shop will host special cars from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Shown is the 1982 Chevrolet Camaro Commander sheriff’s car.
H.B. “Toby” Halicki is pictured.
Mark Dietzen’s vintage Texaco Station shop will host special cars from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Shown is the 1982 Chevrolet Camaro Commander sheriff’s car.
H.B. “Toby” Halicki is pictured.
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A Silver Creek resident with a passion and talent for restoring cars will be restoring memories on Sunday of a particular vehicle once used in the making of a movie filmed in the area in the late 1980s.
Mark Dietzen has restored an original car from the movie, "Gone in 60 Seconds II," that was filmed locally in 1989. The car will be on display along with other collectibles at his vintage Texaco Station shop, 103 Central Ave.
"The Fredonia Opera House was going to do a 'Gone in 60 Seconds' history show," explained Dietzen, whose father, Larry, drove stunt cars that appear in the movie. "The event was canceled so we decided to do an open house to reveal the car to the general public. I'm doing this just for fun as a hobby as I do not have a car restoration business."
Dietzen's 1982 Chevrolet Camaro Commander sheriff's car film was from an unfinished film project, a sequel to the 1974 cult classic, written, directed, and starred in by the H.B. "Toby" Halicki. Halicki was tragically killed during the filming of a water tower stunt. Dietzen purchased one of the stunt cars last year from Toby's brother, Ron.
"The car just sat for 36 years," says Dietzen whose restoration included floorboards, paint, brakes, a new engine and more. "The raccoons were eating it."
Now, however, the car is once again a star having received a special invitation to appear next summer at the Syracuse Nationals car show, one of the largest car shows in the Northeast if not the country.
Besides being a Hollywood car, the vehicle also represents a bit of Dietzen's family history as his late father, a former Dunkirk fireman, drove several stunt cars in the show.
The father and son shared a passion for hot rods, drag racing and participated in the Joie Chitwood Thrill Show, a legendary auto daredevil exhibition that toured the country for many years.
"We'll have a poster board with a history of the car on display that includes photos of my dad with the car," says Dietzen, whose hot rod shop resembles a 1951 Texaco gas station complete with vintage signs and fuel pumps.
Sunday's open house from 11a.m. to 4 p.m. will also feature a 1971 Chevelle, a 1988 Camaro, an award winning 1979 K-20 lift truck, a 1983 "wrecker" or tow truck, and more.
"My dad was into cars so I guess I caught the car bug from him," said Dietzen, the owner of the now closed Dietzen's dump truck service business.
Mark, 55, also worked as a New York State corrections officer and served as a fire chief for the 107th Air National Guard in Niagara Falls.
Sunday's event is free and open to the public. Parking is available on Washington Avenue as well as the Kuppel Tire parking lot.