Greg Leonard’s red 66 “Sleigh”
Some of you may not know Greg Leonard, but you've probably seen him, either in his 66 Super Sport or his bright yellow 56 Ford F-100 pickup. You'd know him right away. He's the one who's always clowning around. He will always make you laugh with a light hearted spirit that immediately makes him a good friend. You no doubt saw his contribution to the Holiday season Chevelle pictures. He's also a Chevelle club officer in 2008.
Well, you can only imagine the trouble he got into in elementary school. They were always on the lookout for Greg and he even got caught a few times, but there is one thing Greg is serious as a heart attack about and it's his cars.
Greg has never been a shy kinda' guy and, in fact, he tells the story much better than I ever could. The story started a long time ago. "Back when I was single" Greg told me, "I had a Harley and a 1990 Corvette convertible. Then I got married. The Harley was the first to go, but even though my wife isn't a car person, she did like the Corvette. Then along came our first child. Three days before our daughter was born, the Corvette was sold. Two days later, almost on the way to the hospital, we bought a brand new 96 Ford Taurus Wagon.
While the wagon was the perfect family car, it just didn't have the style of a hot rod. In 2000, my brother moved back to the Bay Area after 20 years in Las Vegas. Having grown up with him buying, fixing up, and selling cars, I was exposed to every kind of muscle car and hot rod there was....several of which pinned me to the seat from the horse power!"
"With my expert mechanic brother back in town and my daughter getting a little older, it was time to look for a muscle car to build. I was looking for a 70/71 'Cuda or Challenger. I was also looking at 65-67 Mustang fastbacks. I also considered Novas and Chevelles. Then, while my brother was looking for cars to fix up and sell, he came across a red 66 Chevelle. One look at it and I knew I had to have it!
During the 6+ years of restoration and working through the many kinks and problems that come from building a hotrod, there were a few times I thought about selling it and getting a Honda! Fortunately I stuck with it and it's now fully restored and all the kinks are worked out of it (yeah, I know I'm asking for trouble) I can get in and just drive and enjoy it!"
"There hasn't been a single time I've been in the car when I haven't had some kind of compliment. In the past year, I've been asked to sell it 7 times by people that just had to have it. As I told each of them would take way too much money for me to part with it. I've since added a 56 Ford F100 Pickup to my garage. It turns out that my 11 year old daughter has the bug as well and wants a 67/68 Cougar when she turns 16. Needless to say I'm keeping an eye out for one to build... MILD
of course! " You will often see Greg at a Club meeting or event. Be sure to say hi. He's easy to spot. He's the one in the Santa suit.