Still Cruising
If Don Salera takes a trip down memory lane this Father's Day, he'll be riding in style. The Zelienople man tracked down, bought and restored his grandfather's 1946 Chevrolet 3100 pickup truck.
Now that it's back, he plans to keep the truck in the family and eventually turn it over to his grandson, Cole. Since Cole turned 1 year old in May, Salera will have plenty of time to enjoy the vehicle his grandfather, John Drozdowski, used to deliver flowers for Harris Brothers in Pittsburgh's Market Square.
“He was in the Navy and when he got out, he bought the truck new,” Salera said.
“He liked flashy cars. He had a 1957 Chevy Belair. He could work on cars, but he wasn't a gear head mechanic.”
Salera remembers both his grandfather and the truck as he was growing up in Kennedy Township in Allegheny County.
“I will say he was always at our Little League games. He would always come to see me and my brother,” he said. “He would buy the kids pizza and slushies.
“He loved what he did. He did a lot of weddings and floral arrangements,” he said. “I remember the car and the truck. They were flashy.”
When his grandfather died, Salera said he asked for the truck, but since he was only 10 years old at the time, his request was turned down.
Since his grandmother, Frances Drozdrowsky, didn't drive, his grandfather's vehicles were sold.Time passed. Salera got a degree as a chemist, and for the past 22 years has worked at the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Plant as a staff nuclear specialist.He had children of his own, and when his daughter, Brittney Mospan, became pregnant a year ago, Salera began researching his family history.That research led him to try to track down Granddad Drozdowski's truck.He had the vehicle identification number, and after about two months' worth of research, he tracked the truck down to a farm in South Carolina.“It had been sitting there, it had some rust,” he said.
He bought the truck and sent it to be restored in Virginia.“I had the whole thing redone. Restoration took about eight months,” Salera said. “They took it off the frame. The in-line 6 (cylinder) engine is the original. It's the same motor. That's the way I wanted it.”Following its restoration, which included the original red-and-black paint job, it was delivered to him in June 2020.“I had it delivered. Forty-five miles per hour is its top speed. You don't want to take it on long trips,” he said.Restoring the truck to its original condition meant dealing with its original equipment.“There are no seat belts, there are no power brakes. We don't know how good we've got it,” Salera said.“My wife won't drive it because she can't turn the wheel,” he said. “And she's a little reluctant because it has no seat belts.”There's no radio, heater or air conditioning, although there is a crank on the dash that allows the drive to open up the windshield like a window. The cab itself is cramped.The single windshield wiper on the driver's side descends from the roof.Under the hood, there's only the engine and the radiator, but none of the added machinery and belts that are found in a modern vehicle's engine compartment.The radiator is cooled by air directed up by an incline behind the grill.Most parts are easy to find through specialty dealers, such as Chevys of the 40's. What's harder is to find regular motor oil because most brands are synthetics these days, he said.His grandfather opted for a 4-speed manual transmission instead of the standard 3-speed.Salera, who learned to drive and who took his driver's test in a manual vehicle, said driving the truck didn't require much of a learning curve.“It's actually kind of easy. The clutch is pretty nice,” he said.The truck sports antique license plates, which means a lot of its missing modern safety features are forgiven and the truck itself doesn't have to be inspected.
But it's not as if the truck is on the road a lot, Salera said.“I keep it at the house. We take it out for a spin to get ice cream,” he said, adding he enjoys the smiles and thumbs up he gets from people when the truck passes by.Mostly, the truck sits under a tarp at Salera's house or in the winter in a garage at his in-laws' house.He said he's going to take the truck to a few shows and car cruises. He's interested to see if the 3100 can win any prizes.Ed Schnur, treasurer of Rodfathers of Butler car club, when asked about vintage truck owners in the club, said, “There are some, not a lot.”He said two members of the 45-member club have cars dating to the 1930s and 1940s.Schnur said the Rodfathers are looking forward to having its annual Cruise-A-Palooza Aug. 15 in downtown Butler.But car show prizes are beside the point for Salera.“The ultimate goal is to pass it on to my grandson,” he said. “When he turns 18, the truck will be nearly 100 years old.”He said his son, Dane, knows about the truck and also knows his father has a fishing boat that he plans to give him.“It was basically a goal of mine to pass it through the family. I have an interest in classic vehicles, and this was a good way to start,” Salera said.“We'll probably take it out on Father's Day. My dad is still alive, but he's not a big car guy,” Salera said.Speaking of the truck, he said, “If I have my way, it will stay in the family until I don't have decision any more, when I'm with my grandfather.”
