It is a known fact, that everyone remembers their first car. For many enthusiasts, that first car is still part of the family, while for others, all that is left are the memories. There is even a third group in this path down memory lane, and those are the guys that eventually recreate their first car. Casey Curtis might not have his first car, but he does have the memories – and a replacement. Casey told us, “My first car was a ’75 Vega that I got in 1981. I fixed it up, and learned how to do paint and body work on that car.” That is actually the impetus to his chosen career. Since that first car got away so many years ago, he decided he wanted to build another one.

• 
• 
• 
• 

The car right after Casey pulled it out of its 20-year slumber.

The hunt for the perfect car started in 2013. It took a lot of searching, but he finally found this one in Indiana. Casey says, “The owner said he didn’t have any pictures, because it was buried, but he did say it was rust free. It was in a garage attached to a house, and was covered with all kinds of household stuff. Three of the tires were flat, and I was shocked I didn’t see any signs of mice. The inside had some mold in it, but it was all original.”

• 
• 

The interior is all original, and just needed a good cleaning.

Casey continued, “The guy I bought it from got it from the original owner. It only had 35,000 miles on the odometer when I got it. The second owner’s wife was driving it when the engine gave out.” Instead of installing another four-cylinder engine, the second owner installed a rebuilt ’69 327 small-block in it.” At the same time, he also installed a set of heavier-duty springs that he removed from a V8-powered Monza. Apparently, the second owner and his wife only drove the car for roughly 100 miles, and then parked it. He told Casey that his plan was to was to tear it down and paint it. That plan never materialized, as he took interest in other cars, and the Vega sat buried in the garage for 20 years until Casey I found it.

As soon as Casey got the car home, the first thing he did was pull the engine. The reason for yanking the “motorvator” was so the body could be repainted. According to Casey, “After I pulled the engine, I cut the front bumper to create a split bumper.” The body had some bumps and bruises, but once he stripped the paint, there was only one small hole in one 1/4-panel. He fixed the bumps, bruises, and small rust hole, and painted the car himself. The color is a custom mix that his paint supplier and friend, Caleb Flannery blended.

The engine ran fine, so I just repainted it, and reinstalled it.” Casey doesn’t have any specs on the engine, but the previous owner told him when he picker it up that it still had break-in oil in it. When Casey was ready to start the engine, he pulled the distributor out, primed the oil pump, cleaned the points, and it started right up and sounded great. The rest of the drivetrain is stock.

Casey finished by telling us, “This car is so much fun to drive and take to car shows. There are not many left on the road, and you just don’t see them.” We have this feeling that Casey won’t be selling this one any time soon.

Do you want to read about more Home-Built Heros? All you need to do is click here. If you own a Home-Built Hero, we want to hear about it. Since we’ve started the Home-Built Hero series, we have received more than a few candidates, but we are still in need of more. If you want to see more cars built by you the readers, send us a few pictures of your car showing the engine, interior and exterior, along with all of the pertinent information, and we’ll make you Internet famous. You can send your submissions to [email protected].