Mr. Blister...

[WILMASBOYL78]

Met an interesting guy this weekend near our upstate retreat...I've been meaning to stop and check him out for the last couple of years and I finally did on Friday. His name is Don Dezalia and he operates Dezalia and Sons Automotive in Schroon Lake, NY....he is an old time drag racer and gearhead...he was working on a 63 Vette when I pulled in the yard and next to that was a 66 SS396 Chevelle...so we got to talkin' shop and I found out the Chevelle was an original 9,000 mile L-78 car that Don bought new!!! 4.88 gears from the factory...still has the original M-21 and factory shifter. He worked in a Chevy garage and was a weekend drag racer. Eventually the L78 was replaced with a crate LS-7...car runs 11's. He has been all over the norhteast...Lebanon Valley, Utica-Rome, etc...he campaigned the car as Mr. Blister....thoughtsome of you "old timers" might recall the name. He also races a 90's vintage Camaro on a regular basis...it also runs in the 11's....he has lots of photos and cool vintage stuff...I plan on making more visits to see some of his collection. It was cool finding a big block muscle car guy 2 miles from our house. I told him that he would be on the Yenko Site and he said ..."what's that..??" http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif


wilma http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/3gears.gif

http://www.yenko.net/attachments/340085-tn_DSCN1119.JPG

[Novadiecast]

Do I see tow hooks and a tow bar in front of that chevelle?

[x Baldwin Motion]

[ QUOTE ]
Do I see tow hooks and a tow bar in front of that chevelle?

[/ QUOTE ]

that's exactly what I just said !!

[mockingbird812]

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif

Thanks Wilma! http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif

[WILMASBOYL78]

Yes, boys...those are tow hooks and a tow bar sitting on the ground....oh, I forgot to mention...Don and his buddies actually got together and built an 1/8 mile track in North Hudson, NY...way back when. It is long gone now...the "greenies" would never allow drag racing in the wilderness....some spotted owl might have a nervous breakdown http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Chris_69_SS]

He races at my home track Napierville. Last I saw him he was running a newer style camaro. Before that an 80s malibu.

[syclonegs2003]

I vividly remember this car.. I was looking at the cars in the lot at Ti-Motors (Ticonderoga, New York) in August 1968 and saw this red 66 Chevelle SS396 that had white shoe polished numbers on the windows.. I had been looking at a new red 68 Camaro SS396 there when a guy in the lot told me that the Chevelle SS was Mr. Blisters car and that he raced it at North Hudson drag strip and won often and was unbeatable on the street... I asked the guy if the new Camaro SS396 would beat the Chevelle and he said hell no. I never did meet Don but always remembered that car. The guy also told me Mr. Blister was inside the service bay talking to a mechanic.

[Crush]

You can tell by the way he is dressed, just a brick and mortar type of guy who loves to wrench and go fast as time allows.
Cool story!

[wheelhop]

Wonder if he ever dated Suzie Chapstick

[PeteLeathersac]

'

Sadly 'Mister Blister' Don DeZalia Sr. passed away 5 or so years back.:flag:
His son/grandson kept the '66 but '63 Roadster went to another 'Vette enthusiast.
:beers:
~ Pete

.

[WILMASBOYL78]

Since I started this thread, I thought I would chime in. We still have our farmhouse just down the road from the garage. He was quite a guy from the stories I have heard...real car guy :3gears:

Tom

[jasonL78]

Nice Tom. I seen that car last summer in Schroon while at my brothers camp. Now I need to look him up.

[syclonegs2003]

Yes, I was born and grew up in Putnam Station, NY about 8 miles south of Ticonderoga and this car really stuck with me all these years. There were several hi-performance muscle cars of the 60's in Ticonderoga at that time. After graduating from Clarkson University in 1973, I relocated to south east Michigan to work for National Steel Corp. When I first moved here, I was amazed at the number of muscle cars here on all the streets and many were racing often. Early 70's here in s/e Michigan was the hey day for muscle cars and factory backed racers on the streets. I to this day, am still the proud owner of some early 70's GM muscle cars.