Golfdom, July 2014

Continued from page 27 Mopar addict For the past three decades Kealy has bought refurbished sold and collected late 1960s and early 1970s Dodge and Plymouth muscle cars in the collecting vernacular Mopars Ive been into Mopars since I was 18 years old and Im 54 now Its been 36 years and Ive owned a whole bunch Ive owned big and small block Mopars 6 pack Hemis One of the coolest cars Ive owned is a 1970 340 Duster with the racing stripes down the sides In the more than 30 years that Kealys been as he calls it addicted hes owned 30 cars Among them a 1970 Challenger TA a 1970 426 Hemi Challenger in Plum Crazy Purple and a 1964 Dodge model 330 with a 426 max wedge that he bought refurbished and sold for 52000 I put half of that in my sons college fund he says All of them have been street legal race cars He buys them fixes them up and sells them Right now he has two cars in the garage His baby is a 1969 and a half Dodge Super Bee 440 6 pack 4 speed that hes had since 1993 Hes keeping that one He even races it a few times a year at drag race tracks The Super Bee is all stock My best time is 1287 seconds at 108 mph he says Kealys also in the process of refurbishing another 1964 Dodge 330 with a 426 Hemi When hes not building a car hes hunting for a new project or hunting down rare parts at swap meets and car shows related to the Mopar subculture Regardless of what kind of car if its a Chevy or a Ford Buick or Pontiac theres always people who are into that stuff just like Im always on the lookout for stuff Kealy says Its the same addiction that all kinds of people have Born to Tinker My college roommate is another superintendent and he had a girlfriend with an Alpha Romeo Spider We used to kid him that the only reason he dated her was to drive her car says Randy Long superintendent for nearly 24 years at Thornblade Club in Greer S C He never forgot that car I had always wanted one since my days at Clemson When I decided to get a car that was the one I wanted Long says He did internet searches and found a 1973 Alpha Romeo convertible in Los Angeles I wanted to buy from an area that wasnt prone to rust I knew I couldnt repair rust he says While on vacation in Las Vegas in 2004 he hopped a quick flight to L A bought the car and had it shipped home For the next two years he refurbished it He and a friend stripped it down to bare metal and one Saturday night took the car to the golf course maintenance shop to paint it He drove the car sideways across a lift table and blocked it up to lift the car off the ground In one night he did the base coat and a clear coat a brilliant red Then he finished it off with a process called cut and buff Over the next eight years Long and his wife Dianne took the car out on Sunday drives through the mountains on the Blueridge Parkway and joined with country club members on convertible car road trip rallies around the state All the while he continued to work on the car replacing fuel systems and electrical systems With any classic car theres always a little tinkering to do Thats part of the fun Long says In 2012 he sold the car I had too many things going on too many projects I wanted the space in my garage so I decided to let somebody else enjoy it he says Before the Alpha Romeo Long used to build and refurbish motorcycles Since he sold the car hes been working on a 1947 Cushman twowheel scooter But he still misses the Alpha Romeo Im looking at a picture of it right now on my bulletin board I miss it I may possibly do another one I loved the motorcycles but theyre too dangerous Ill finish up the Cushman and set it aside maybe look into a different car next time Id love to have a 1950s Corvette he says Who knows Love at First Sight Sean McDonough who has been the superintendent at Broadmoor GC in Seattle since 2004 owns a 1975 Ford F250 Cus Continued on page 30 28 Golfdom July 2014 Golfdom com photos by randy long alpha romeo Istockphoto com Now that Randy Long has sold his 73 Alpha Romeo hes searching for an old Corvette to restore cool cars