Chevy Caprice is a tribute to family history

Ray Waletzko was born and raised in Grand Forks, N.D. He moved to California in 1983 after graduating from the University of North Dakota. He met his wife in San Francisco, and now has two daughters in college. His family has lived in Walnut Creek for 21 years. Ray’s 1970 Chevy Caprice originally belonged to his parents. It just came out of the body shop about a month ago.

My Ride is a 1970 Chevrolet Caprice 2-door custom coupe. When I was growing up in Grand Forks, my dad drove a pickup truck, but he wanted a weekend car as well. He purchased the Caprice from Rydell Chevrolet in Grand Forks. My folks would take it on summer vacations, mainly to the lakes in Minnesota and to church on Sunday.

After graduating from the University o,f North Dakota, I moved to California in 1983. Unfortunately, my dad passed away in 1986, and the Caprice stayed in my mom’s garage for the next 27 years. I would start the car periodically when visiting her, but all that inactivity created a few mechanical issues over the years.

On one summer visit, I took my wife, my two daughters, my sister and my sister-in- law for a drive in the Caprice around Grand Forks. After about six blocks the car died, and I had to have five women push me back to my mom’s garage. Needless to say, I’m repeatedly reminded of that short journey at family gatherings.

As my mom had very little means, one of the wedding gifts she gave my wife and I in 1992 was the title to the Caprice. My wife, as good-natured as she is, loved it. The Caprice and my mom were still in their original home until 2013, but my mom’s health was failing and I knew I would have to make a decision about what to do with the car.

I found an auto body repairman in Grand Forks who did restorations on the side. After checking references on previous restorations, I gave him the car and a deposit.

Over the next few months, my entire family was preoccupied with my mom’s health. After she passed away in 2014, I began to leave messages for the repairman asking for progress reports, but he never replied. Several months later, I found out he was in jail for drug possession.

We assumed the worst, that the Caprice was gone forever. After his release from jail, I had the sheriff in Grand Forks serve him with small claims paperwork. Working through the court system by phone and with no assurance that my Caprice was still in one piece, the car was eventually turned over to my brother and my deposit was returned.

My wife and I were in shock as we had assumed the Caprice was long gone. Within weeks, I had the car in our driveway in Walnut Creek for a restoration I could more easily supervise.

The 1970 Caprice is much like the Impala, but has several upgrades such as tufted upholstery, wood grain interior accents and a general emphasis on luxury. The exterior difference is that the Caprice has additional metal chrome on the side moldings and rocker panels.

In 1970, Chevrolet made over 500,000 Impalas but only 92,000 Caprices. My car was recently repainted in the original Autumn Gold, and we replaced the white vinyl top. We also had the carpet replaced, the chrome straightened, the engine compartment detailed and new white wall tires added.

The car has 71,000 original miles on it, with a 350 engine, two-barrel carburetor and an automatic transmission. Although it doesn’t have the power of a traditional ’70s muscle car, it does run great.

My ride has sentimental significance to me, as my parents are now gone, but my wife and daughters are enjoying the car now as well. They never got to meet my dad, so for me this is the next best thing.

The finishing touch on this very personal restoration was replacing the original North Dakota plates with new California vanity plates that read “MY DADS.”

Attention Bay Area drivers

We’re looking for submissions to the bi-weekly “My Ride” feature. We want to know what you drive and why. Send story ideas to cars@sfchronicle.com with the subject line “My Ride.”