GILROY
– When Larry Pierotti does something, he goes the whole nine
yards.
GILROY – When Larry Pierotti does something, he goes the whole nine yards.
Whether it be his 1950s nostalgia collection, his love for Corvettes or the Christmas lights he puts up every year, Pierotti spares no expense.
“If I do something, I go all out,” Pierotti said.
The garage is a blend of a corvette collection, consisting of two cars and a wide range of models and a ’50s diner.
The collection fills nearly every inch of space. Records hang from the ceiling, Coke signs adorn the walls and a table sits with food and root beer floats waiting to be enjoyed. To complete the collection, Corvette models line the shelves.
And to boot, two Corvettes sit in the garage: one red and one black.
Pierotti drives the black one mostly, a 1998 model with more than 105,000 miles on it.
The red car, a 2003 model, is the show car. It is rarely driven, except on some weekends and special events.
For six or seven years, he would attend car shows but grew tired of all the traveling and time consumption. But the cars are still in show condition and will turn heads.
“People will drive past my house, stop, back up just to look at my garage,” Pierotti said.
And to greet guests to the Pierotti home, a statue named Candy stands on her roller skates ready to take an order.
But the garage is only the beginning. Inside, Pierotti set up his dinning room and kitchen like a ’50s dinner. The kitchen has a soda fountain feel, complete with a shake machine and a hot fudge dispenser.
The living room has two soda chests: one Pepsi and one Coke.
The collection spills into the next room where more model cars, along with the remnants of a 49er collection, are displayed.
So where does all this stuff come from?
“My biggest mistake,” Pierotti says, “is when I found E-Bay.”
The collection, however, stops in those four areas. Pierotti’s wife, Paula, won’t let him expand to the rest of the house.
Pierotti says he always has loved cars. Growing up in South San Francisco, he would take his 1967 candy-apple red Ford Mustang and drive down the El Camino along with other hot rods.
Wishing to get out of the fog, Pierotti moved to San Jose and later to Morgan Hill, where in 1983 he discovered the South Valley Corvette Club.
He has since moved to Gilroy, where he currently resides.
In 1983, the club only had seven cars, and now 21 years later, the club has grown to 30 Corvettes.
Meetings for the SVCC take place about once a month at the home of one of the members.
The SVCC holds one of the largest Corvette caravans in the west, Pierotti noted. Starting from Gilroy in April, along with Corvettes from throughout California and beyond, the caravan heads down to San Simeon for a rally and raffle.
This past April, 194 cars joined in, by far the largest crowd, said Pierotti. Cars from Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Texas all took part in this year’s caravan.
Pierotti says since the meetings take place at homes, membership is limited. Currently, he says, there are four or five people on the waiting list to join.
Cars and ’50s diners are not the only obsession of Pierotti’s. In addition to the cars and memorabilia, Pierotti is known for his Christmas decorations. For the past few years, he has joined with his neighbors to set up a display that attracts people from as far as San Jose.
At first he was not enthusiastic about decorating.
“My wife would put up lights in the house and ask me to do some,” Pierotti said. “I told her I just didn’t want to do it. Even my neighbors were asking me to put up decorations.”
He eventually agreed and went at it with his usual enthusiasm.
“(My neighbor) Ron, who has moved, said to me, ‘I’ve created a monster!’ ” Pierotti said.
Pierotti says he has fun with until he gets the electric bill.
“Normally for winter, the bill is from $175 to $200,” he said. “After Christmas, the bill jumps to $375 to $450.”
