My Ride: Prospect man racked up speeding tickets driving his 1965 Chevy Che

“I drove that car from Loehmann’s up to Town Plot and I practiced up on Highview Street in Town Plot, ‘Lover’s Lane.’ I went up and down that hill with my friend Tony Durso, who taught me how to drive a standard,” he said.

It took “a couple of months” for him to get comfortable driving a stick shift, “and then I was out on (Interstate) 84 racing it. Constantly. Back when you could actually stop the traffic and have a race,” he said.

The Chevelle was a mid-sized car that Chevrolet introduced for the 1964 model year. The Malibu was the top-of-the-line model with the SS being the “Super Sport” version that was Chevy’s entry in the muscle car category. Mirabelle’s car has a 283-cubic-inch V8 engine and four-speed manual transmission.

“Lot of speeding tickets," he said. "I’ve got one ticket in every state going down to Florida. Every year I went, I caught a speeding ticket. My last year I drove down there I thought I’d make it ’cause I was down in Georgia — it was the last state I had to go through  —  and I said I made it for the first time. And when I went back on the highway in Florida, I got picked up. I wasn’t on (the) Florida highway for a mile and I got another speeding ticket.”

The Chevelle has survived for six decades relatively unscathed.  

“Some woman hit me back in ’67. I was afraid at the time because I had just started working at the post office and it was the boss’ wife that hit me, so I was worried about that," Mirabelle recalled. "I didn’t get hurt, she fixed the damage and it was cool. Other than that, I’ve been pretty lucky. No accidents.”

Five years ago, the Chevelle was restored top to bottom.

“Cost me a pretty penny to do it, too,” he said. “I did it from ground up. I did everything. Replaced anything that needed to be replaced. Even the engine.”

Mirabelle couldn’t explain exactly why he’s kept the Chevelle for so long.

“I really don’t know, but I would never drive it in the winter. I’d always put it in storage for the winter and I did that forever. And then I just kept keeping the car and just taking it out in good weather,” he said.

Now, though, it may be time for the car to be passed on. It’s not driven much, partially out of a concern that it might get damaged. And, at 79 years old, Mirabelle said he's getting on in years and doesn’t have as many friends as he once did engaged in classic vehicles.

“They’re not out here any more with the old cars, either," he said. "My sons don’t have an interest in it.”