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MY COMMENTS ARE REGARDING the February 2021 article on the 1964 Pontiac Catalina (“The Wink,” HCC #197).

I grew up in Forty Fort, Pennsylvania, about a block away from this car. I remember seeing it parked behind their home on Wyoming Avenue. The car was always in nice condition. I was a few years younger than Joe [original owner Joseph Shedlawski], but remember talking with him once as I commented on the Pontiac. Even then I recognized that car as special to that family.

Mention was made of Lou Boch of Boch’s Auto Body, also in Forty Fort. His shop was small and set up behind his home on Murray Street. I lived just up the street and got to know Lou when my Saxony yellow 1968 Mercury Cougar XR-7 was hit in the passenger’s side. The insurance company paying for the repair would not pay to paint the entire car, and by then (approximately 1974), there would be a color mismatch. Lou let me do the grunt work on my car in exchange for painting the entire vehicle. I knew nothing about bodywork, and he patiently taught me how to sand and prep the car for paint. This began decades of friendship with Lou. Lou was a perfectionist and spent a lot of time on his restoration and custom work. I continued to help him during busy times in the shop, and I still use the skills today to refinish antique radio cabinets that require lacquer and toners. Same sanding between coats, and good spraying techniques.