Troy Malsam, of Columbus Grove, says he’ll never part with this 1970 Oldsmobile 4-4-2. It is full of memories as Troy and his father, Vern Malsam, brought it back to life with a frame-off restoration.
Submitted photos
COLUMBUS GROVE – It wasn’t the first time it happened. And it wasn’t the last.
Troy Malsam was driving a country road outside of Toledo when he noticed a beat up 1970 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 parked on the side of a body shop.
On went the turn signal of Malsam’s car.
“I stopped several times asking the owner if he wanted to sell it. He always said ‘no.’ Then one day he surprised me by agreeing to part with it,” said Malsam, 60, of Columbus Grove.
That was back in 1994, nearly 30 years ago. Malsam knew back then he was buying a car that would need a lot of work. The 4-4-2 was totaled and had been sitting idle for years.
He also knew where to go for help. His father, Vern, owned a Mobile service station in Leipsic, and working on cars was in his blood. Troy and his father had already done frame-off restorations on a 1971 Buick Skylark that Troy sold to put a new roof on his house. They also did another 4-4-2 that Troy sold to a friend. A third car would be fun.
“We made sure everything was done right,” Troy said.
From the Oldsmobile 455 big block engine placed under the hood, to the 8-track tape player on the dashboard, not a bolt was untouched.
When it came time to paint the car, Troy admitted, “I knew enough about body work back then to be dangerous.” He turned the painting over to Dave Ogle, who he called “one of the best.”
“We settled on silver with a black interior, pretty sharp,” Troy said.
He and his dad were in the process of restoring their fourth car, a 1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible, when his father passed away in 2012. When Troy finished the Cutlass years later, it ended up in a television commercial for Lima Memorial Health System.
Today, Troy still fusses with cars. But he guarantees one thing: The 1970 silver 4-4-2 will never be sold; it always will have a place in his garage.
“There’s so many memories working with my dad on that car,” he said. “I have a lot of his old tools from the gas station. I think of him whenever I use them.”
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