1960 Glasspar Seafair Sunliner
As a child, Paul Scorza never knew that the very same 1960 Glasspar Seafair Sunliner he loved and admired would one day become his.
April 3, 2006
The phone call came unexpectedly and rekindled an old flame long extinguished. With the mention of
Peach, Paul Scorza's thoughts immediately went back in time, way back to himself at 5 years of age,
planted directly in the pilot's seat of Vic and Peach Bleibtrey's 1960 Glasspar Seafair Sunliner.
The big yellow boat had been christened "Peach" after Vic's wife. With Vic carefully watching, Paul
enjoyed the thrill of his life driving the giant runabout on the Hudson River.
Vic and Peach were good friends of my mother," says Paul. "We used to vacation with them on
the Hudson River. It was such an important part of my life."
Paul's whole family learned about boating, the Hudson River, and water-skiing behind the big
runabout. They experienced the Red Hook Boat Club, the fun on the water, the summers that they
never wanted to end. Something about the boat sparked a passion in Paul. He became emotionally
attached to the Sunliner. He came to know every part of it, how it behaved, all of its finer
points. It was one of Glasspar's finer products. Glasspar introduced the Seafair series in 1959
with a single model, the Sedan. It was a complete departure from the traditional Glasspar West
Coast curvilinear approach with a distinctly East Coast flavor.
When
the boat became an immediate success, Glasspar followed in 1960 with the Sunliner, an open
runabout, and the Phaeton, which was similar to the Sedan with an opening top above the cabin.
These would be the last Glasspar designs to come from the pen of company founder Bill Tritt, who
became disenchanted and departed from the corporate structure that had engulfed his operation.
Tritt's designs, while labor intensive to build, carried details that went far beyond where
the competition was willing or capable of going. There was a certain inherent quality and old-world
thought that went into each and every boat produced at the Glasspar plant in Santa Ana, California.
Forty years after Tritt parted with Glasspar, Paul Scorza received a call that Peach had been
spotted out in a field, near Tivoli, New York, not far from where his family used to vacation with
the Bleibtreys. "My mother was a big part of this boat when I was young," remembers Paul. "When she
heard that I had found it, she told me that I had to get it and restore it."
"I found who the owner was and worked out a deal," relates Paul. "I called Vic and told him
that I had bought it. We took an air tank out and filled the tires on the trailer. We drove it up
to the Red Hook Boat Club, about 10 miles away. He still couldn't figure out why he had ever sold
it. It was a great boat for him too."
The boat was in much better shape than Paul expected after exposure to the elements for the
last 10 years. "Thank goodness that it had been covered. It really protected the yellow gel coat.
There were four inches of standing water in the bottom of the boat, but after carefully checking,
the floor and transom were still solid."
Paul left the gel coat as original and used 1500-grit wet/dry sandpaper and rubbing compound
to bring back the shine. He also took out the marine carpet that Vic had put in and painted the
floor with polyurethane enamel the way it used to be. "It still has the original speedometer,
spotlight, and shorty horn," says Paul. "I removed the horsehair padding and replaced it with foam
when I redid the interior."
These days, the boat that had such a big impact on Paul as a child continues to leave a
strong impression. "I have a few boats, and this is the one that really hits home," says Paul. "I
have a 1955 Chris-Craft Continental and a new Sea Ray, but on a quiet, calm evening, Peach is still
the boat that I like to take out for a cruise on the lake."