Loss of friend

Lenny Baily of Lenny's VW in Elizabeth Pa was well known in the engine rebuilding circles.  He was also the Fire Chief of Elizabeth Boro and on the city council.

Last weekend, after being called out to a 1:15 AM fire in an abandoned bar behind his house, he suffered a massive heart attack and was immediately taken to a nearby hospital where he died.

Lenny did more for me in helping to restore my VW than any other single person or company.  He at one time had over an acre of scrapped and wrecked beetles from which I managed to pick off many rare and much needed original parts.

He rebuilt my stock 1300cc engine and it is stronger than any other stock VW engine i have compared it to.  South west Pennsylvania is a fairly hilly area.  There is not a hill around here that I can't climb in 4th gear while accelerating.  I like to amaze my friends by showing this feat off.  THey'll be struggling in 3rd gear and I'm in 4th going away.

He was a master in the engine business and was well known all over PA, OH, NY, WV, MD, NJ, VA and several other nearby states where his big red trailer was a regular feature at shows.  He never had to advertise but worked solely on word of mouth.  He had several east coast customers who regularly ordered 10-15 engines at a time for resale.

In his younger years he came up through Baja Racing and dune buggys before switching to more stock cars. 

He was one of a kind; a kind and gentle man who would help anyone in any way that he could.  He was my friend and I will miss him.  He was only 56 years old.

RIP Lenny