Mario M. Cuomo Bridge: Where did Andrew Cuomo get that Corvette?

ALBANY -- A flurry of last-minute phone calls helped land the vintage car Gov. Andrew Cuomo used to christen the new Hudson River bridge named after his father.

Cuomo on Thursday took the ceremonial first trip over the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge in a rare 1955 Chevrolet Corvette, the same make and model that helped lead the opening of the Tappan Zee Bridge more than six decades ago.

But the car itself wasn't secured by the governor's office until this past weekend, the product of a game of telephone that stretched from a Mount Kisco car dealership near the governor's home, to a Long Island restoration shop, to the Bronx-based attorney who actually owns it.

"They were building this bridge for five years," said James Newman, the car's owner. "Four days before it opened, they were trying to find a car — and they did it."

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The governor's efforts to secure the Corvette for the opening ceremony traces back to Arroway Chevrolet Cadillac, a Mount Kisco dealership located a mile and a half from the home Cuomo shares with longtime partner Sandra Lee.

Cuomo, a classic car enthusiast, has been known to frequent the dealership, helping cut the ribbon on its showroom and handing out awards at its classic car shows.

Richard Engelhard, a Pawling resident who owned a Corvette shop in Patterson for more than 40 years, said he was contacted by Arroway president Lou Roberti on Friday.

Roberti told him Cuomo's office was seeking a '55 Corvette to take the ceremonial first trip in.

Engelhard then reached out to Dominick Salvemini -- owner of Vette Dreams, a Corvette restoration shop on Long Island -- after hearing Salvemini had done restoration work on Newman's car.

They told him the governor's office was searching for someone with a '55 Corvette.

Salvemini knew of three '55 Corvettes -- an accomplishment in itself, given there were only 700 made.

Newman's was in the best shape: A mint-condition, harvest gold car Salvemini spent more than two years meticulously restoring down to the period-specific, harvest-gold paint that long ago went out of use.

So Salvemini put Roberti in contact with Newman.

By Wednesday, Roberti had sent an enclosed trailer to Newman's Long Island home and took the car to Arroway, where it was kept overnight before Thursday's ceremony, Newman said.

On Thursday, Cuomo drove it across the Rockland-bound span of the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, the $3.9 billion twin span that will replace the Tappan Zee between Rockland and Westchester counties.

Cuomo was accompanied by Armando "Chick" Galella, a 96-year-old World War II veteran who drove the Corvette in the Tappan Zee's opening ceremony in 1955.

"It's in more-than-perfect, mint-perfect condition," Newman said of the car used Thursday. "It's a beautiful show car, and it really looked great on the bridge."

Newman, who was on vacation, was not able to attend Thursday's ceremony. His son, Devin, and Salvemini attended on his behalf.

He said he had no qualms about letting Cuomo, himself an owner of a 1975 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, use the car free of charge.

"The governor's a big car guy," Newman said. "That's why I let him do it. He respects the workmanship, he respects the cars, which is nice."