1954 Corvette woods find # correct!!

[John S.]

Hello All,
10 months ago I purchased a numbers correct 1954 corvette restoration project. Here is the story I received when I bought the car. In 1965, 48 years ago the car was purchased in Miami, FL and towed to Ft Pierce, FL where it was parked in the side yard of a house with a bad motor and body damage. Over the next 23 years the woods grew up around the pair of 54 vettes. In Oct of 1987 the cars were rescued and removed, In March of 1988 the car in the foreground was purchased by my buddy Tony. Tony started the restoration as a side job for himself and after 15 years of picking away at it lost interest and parked the car. In 1995 Tony did the title research by mail with the state of Florida and you need to remember the Internet was not really far along back then, he received the paper work, looked through it and put it away. Now fast forward to today, I just received the title information from Tony on Friday 23 and jumped online and did a lot of digging armed with names and addresses I have come to find out the original owner of the 1954 Corvette. She bought it new on May 10th 1954 in Cicero, Il
That owner would turn out to be Clarice Accardo the wife of Tony " Joe Batters " Accardo. If you haven't ever heard the name before, Google it!
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[Chris S.]

Re: 1954 Corvette woods find # correct!!

Kool !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Originally a red car ??

[John S.]

Re: 1954 Corvette woods find # correct!!

Unfortunately Chris I think it was white, I'm trying to get in touch with at least one of the early owners of the car to confirm. It was owned by 8 different people from 54 till 65. I believe the car has a very interesting story if she could only talk!!!

[Terry M.]

Re: 1954 Corvette woods find # correct!!

Hello All,
10 months ago I purchased a numbers correct 1954 corvette restoration project. Here is the story I received when I bought the car. In 1965, 48 years ago the car was purchased in Miami, FL and towed to Ft Pierce, FL where it was parked in the side yard of a house with a bad motor and body damage. Over the next 23 years the woods grew up around the pair of 54 vettes. In Oct of 1987 the cars were rescued and removed, In March of 1988 the car in the foreground was purchased by my buddy Tony. Tony started the restoration as a side job for himself and after 15 years of picking away at it lost interest and parked the car. In 1995 Tony did the title research by mail with the state of Florida and you need to remember the Internet was not really far along back then, he received the paper work, looked through it and put it away. Now fast forward to today, I just received the title information from Tony on Friday 23 and jumped online and did a lot of digging armed with names and addresses I have come to find out the original owner of the 1954 Corvette. She bought it new on May 10th 1954 in Cicero, Il
That owner would turn out to be Clarice Accardo the wife of Tony " Joe Batters " Accardo. If you haven't ever heard the name before, Google it!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]47941[/ATTACH]

I am trying to remember the name of the Chevy dealer in Cicero. It is the town toward Chicago from where I live. I can get the name in a couple of weeks, when school starts, if my synapses don't start working before then.

The dealership was on 22nd Street, sometimes known as Cermak Road. It would have been about 5105 Cermak Road IIRC.

[John S.]

Re: 1954 Corvette woods find # correct!!

Yes Terry, you are right. The dealer name itself is hard to make out on the micro fish copy, it looks like Berel or Beral or Deral. I called the library on Cermak because they are the historical society and she was going to look it up and call me back in a few weeks.

[Terry M.]

Re: 1954 Corvette woods find # correct!!

Yes Terry, you are right. The dealer name itself is hard to make out on the micro fish copy, it looks like Berel or Beral or Deral. I called the library on Cermak because they are the historical society and she was going to look it up and call me back in a few weeks.

The ultimate irony is the Cicero Library is on the location that used to be that dealership. I doubt any young person working there would know that though. Bergle or Bergel may be it. If worse comes to worse I have some connections with the Berwyn Historical Society (my wife and I were the founders) and there are city directories with that dealership listed. Both Berwyn and Cicero have been close communities throughout their history.

[Jeffrey S.]

Re: 1954 Corvette woods find # correct!!

Most larger public libraries have old phone books that you can research. See if they have ones from the 50's or 60's and look up car dealers. Worked for me at the Great Neck, Long Island library. You could also go to the planning department of Cicero for some help. They usually have records back to the beginnings of their department..
Jeff

[Terry M.]

Re: 1954 Corvette woods find # correct!!

Most larger public libraries have old phone books that you can research. See if they have ones from the 50's or 60's and look up car dealers. Worked for me at the Great Neck, Long Island library. You could also go to the planning department of Cicero for some help. They usually have records back to the beginnings of their department..
Jeff

John,
If it turns out you need that kind of leg work, let me know. It would be no problem for me to visit the Cicero Public Library for some research for you.

[Ara G.]

Re: 1954 Corvette woods find # correct!!

John, I live in West Palm and go to Ft. Pierce occasionally. It's rural up there, so it's no surprise those gems were wasting away up in a field up there. I wish I had known! LOL...Nice find, and car looks GREAT. Kudo's to you for saving another one of our "loves"....ARA

[George W.]

Re: 1954 Corvette woods find # correct!!

WOW John you did good; what a story. Terry will figure it out for you.
I have been to Cicero.

[Mike F.]

Re: 1954 Corvette woods find # correct!!

Bergl Chevrolet? http://forgottenchicago.com/forum/1/...age=1/_subject_

"In reference to the mob car dealer, Bergl Chevrolet, which was located on the northeast corner of Cermak Road and 54th Avenue, was the preferred supplier of mob cars."

[Terry M.]

Re: 1954 Corvette woods find # correct!!

Apparently so.

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedi...s-il-430889387

Edit add: Google is a wonderful thing:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/chi...79#fbLoggedOut

Edit add 2: More about Joe Bergl and the dealership. At the end is dealership information.

http://www.myalcaponemuseum.com/id155.htm

[John S.]

Re: 1954 Corvette woods find # correct!!

Nice job Mike and Terry, Thanks!!! That's it Bergl Chevrolet, now that adds another twist to the saga of the car. After it was purchased in Cicero New by Accardo it was traded in 4 months later at Orange Motors in Miami Fl. Orange Motors was owned by Papa Joe DeMaria and his signature is on the back of the title. The car was sold the same day Sept 15, 1954 to a Mr. Paul DeLucia otherwise known as Paul Ricca and 6 months later he also traded it in at Orange Motors and once again the deal was signed by Papa Joe DeMaria and again the date in and out on the title is the same day March 29, 1955. I'm still trying to figure out the connection with the next owner how was H. Philip Ammidoun. He owned the car for 1 year 6 months but he traded it in to a company called Auto Wholesaler signed off by Steven J Clausi and on the same day Sept 14, 1956 it went to Leonard John Feitelson who owned it 3 months and traded it back in at Auto Wholesaler signed off again by Steven J Clausi and on the same day Dec 28, 1956 the car went to Armond Jette who owned it of 5 months and traded it in to Auto Wholesaler signed off by Louise Clausi, I'm guessing that's Stevens wife, and on the same day May 9, 1957 the car went to Harry G Saams. Now Saams owned the car for 7 years 10 months and from here the car no longer passes through any extra hands, it goes directly to the next purchaser. Saams sold the car to B. L. Carroll III on March 15, 1965 and he sells it 7 months later on Oct 16, 1965 to Capt. John Ard of Ft Pierce where the original post starts and the car is parked in the side yard for the next 22+ years. I have come to find that numerous people approached Mr. Ard to purchase the car over those 22+ years and were told it wasn't for sale!!

[John S.]

Re: 1954 Corvette woods find # correct!!

John, I live in West Palm and go to Ft. Pierce occasionally. It's rural up there, so it's no surprise those gems were wasting away up in a field up there. I wish I had known! LOL...Nice find, and car looks GREAT. Kudo's to you for saving another one of our "loves"....ARA

Ara
Lets try to get together the next time your in Ft Pierce

[Ara G.]

Re: 1954 Corvette woods find # correct!!

John, I would very much like that. My email is nyrfan@bellsouth.net. Cell is 561.445.0232