Pedro Checo: Not Just a Car, but a
Datsun
Pedro
Checo was a car buff, but in particular he was a Datsun
510 buff. As a teenager he owned a 510, and as he got
older he yearned for another. Three years ago, he finally
bought a 1972 Datsun 510 and began rebuilding it. He had
a feel for the innards of cars. He could fix
anything.
He joined the Datsun 510 Club, for it was a car with a
keen following, and his plan was to compete in drag
races. He entered two races last year, but the car needed
more power. So he installed a more potent engine and was
scheduled to get the horsepower measured on Sept. 30
before returning to the drag strip. Now the car sits idle
in the garage.
Mr. Checo, 35, who lived with Marmily Cabrera and
their two children, Jasen, 6, and Julian 1, in Queens,
was a vice president of investment operations for
Fiduciary Trust. He also had a son, Franklin, 17, from an
earlier relationship. He hated the name Pedro, and Ms.
Cabrera called him Frank, his nickname. At work, though,
they called him Pete. He was Pete by day and Frank by
night.
Something about cars seems embedded in the Checo
genes. Jasen has about 250 Matchbox cars, and every time
his mother takes him to the toy store, he wants another.
"It's fine with me," she said. "They're only $1."
.