[njsteve]

Sad news to report.

On Saturday September 7th, 2019, Enrico "Rick" Stein, the original owner of my 73 SD455 passed away. He was in his late 80's and had suffered a fall and broke his shoulder earlier this year. Complications set in recently.

He lived one helluva interesting life - owning most of the rarest musclecars back in the day when they were brand new. He even bought a brand new 1967 green and tan L88 Corvette roadster which he owned for a total of two days before returning it to the dealership because he was too tall (6'8") to drive it without leaving the door open to clear his left knee.

But he is best remembered for this 73 SD455 Formula and his amazing level of attention to the entire process from inspiration to ordering, to reordering, to threatening to throw the Pontiac zone rep from his five story office window if he didn't authorize the order of this car. He had a photographic memory for all things automotive and was a master mechanic back in the day, owning a string of high performance tune up shops.

His wife Lenora reached out to me yesterday to thank me for reuniting them with their old car at the 2016 MCACN where they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary next to their old Firebird.

Having no kids of their own, Rick and Lenora had "adopted" our family over the past six years and we had a continuous email string of car gossip, family vacation stories, high school wrasslin' tips for my son (Rick was a former unlimited weight class wrestler in college) and just random thoughts and remembrances about his old car. They were an amazing couple. I will surely miss Rick and his opinions on everything that in his opinion, needed opinions expressed upon.

In celebration I just took out Samarkand for a joyride. Samarkand was the name he and Lenora gave the Firebird back when it was new - it is a mystical city in the mountains of Uzbekistan. It was the name they had on all their record breaking powerboats over the years.

Of course, the town just decided to seal and gravel the road outside our house this afternoon.

Rick would have appreciated the irony. And yelled at me for taking his car out on those crappy New Jersey roads.

God speed Rick.

[RicksGTO]

sorry to hear of his passing, what a great car guy! The car was a great legacy and you have done a great job of reuniting him with it and preserving it as he would have done.

[weranc55]

Very nice guy and was so excite to see his old car. . Sorry to hear of his passing.

[johnta1]

Sad to hear of his passing.


His wife must have been around 6' 3" ?

[OVERULD]

Neat guy; sorry to hear of his passing. Thanks Steve for sharing his story with us and for being a good caretaker of both his old car and his legacy.

[Pepi]

Sorry to hear about his passing. It is great that you were able to meet him and learn so much about him and the car. Also that you guys kept in touch and communicated so much and not just about the car.

[bird72]

RIP. It was fun to read of him during car story you did. He really dug that car. I would say you brought a man much joy later in life, and you are commended for that gift you gave him.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Sorry for the loss of your friend, Steve.
All the guys who bought these cars new are my hero's .

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by bird72

RIP. It was fun to read of him during car story you did. He really dug that car. I would say you brought a man much joy later in life, and you are commended for that gift you gave him.

His wife said the same thing a few years back, I remember when I first hunted him down (it wasn't that hard since he had such a unique name and there was only one result in Google with a phone number too!).

I left a message on their answering machine and within ten minutes, I had a call back from Rick. He just kept repeating "YOU FOUND HER, YOU FOUND HER!!! He sounded so happy.

What a guy!

[njsteve]

The old girl with new shoes on. I decided to buy a set of the reproduction Goodyear Steelgard GR70x15 radials. These would be an acceptable 1973 radial to replace the undriveable Firestone 500s and the 35 year old Goodyear Eagle STs that the second owner installed in 1985.

Enrico would be proud.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Those tires look damn good on that car.

How well do they drive and whatnot ?

[njsteve]

They ride very nicely. Very smooth and bump-free. Not like the 35 year-old Goodyear Eagle ST's that the second owner put on the car in 1984. I went to the local cruise night this evening and had a relaxing time. 99% of the spectators walk right on by and have no idea what the car is. A couple a knowledgeable Pontiac guys came over and we all talked a while.

[Pepi]

The ones that walked by probably thought a Trans Am wanna be, missing the spoiler and flares.

[Tellyshavilli]

Originally Posted by njsteve

The old girl with new shoes on. I decided to buy a set of the reproduction Goodyear Steelgard GR70x15 radials. These would be an acceptable 1973 radial to replace the undriveable Firestone 500s and the 35 year old Goodyear Eagle STs that the second owner installed in 1985.

Enrico would be proud.

Looks very good!! Good choice.

[keith k]

Originally Posted by njsteve

The old girl with new shoes on. I decided to buy a set of the reproduction Goodyear Steelgard GR70x15 radials. These would be an acceptable 1973 radial to replace the undriveable Firestone 500s and the 35 year old Goodyear Eagle STs that the second owner installed in 1985.

Enrico would be proud.

They look great on the car!

[njsteve]

In case anyone is in the market, I have placed an ad for the 73 SD455 Formula in the marketplace section.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...14#post6102014

Hopefully I'm not breaking any rules by linking to my own ad.

Thank you,

Steve