I actually rode in the original Ramblin’ Wreck to grammar school for several years before Dean Dull purchased it for Georgia Tech.
The Model A Ford was purchased in its original unrestored shape by my family’s neighbor, Ted Johnson, who was chief pilot for Delta Airlines. The car was for his son, Craig, who along with me attended Georgia Military Academy (now Woodward Academy) in Atlanta.
Capt. Johnson didn’t have the time or expertise to restore the car, and so he sent it to a professional, Ken Johnson (no relation), who finished restoring it in the spring of 1958.
Craig Johnson drove this car to the Academy, and I was one of his riders. I paid around $2.50 per week for gas. Being the youngest of the group, I had to ride in the rumble seat.
After graduating in 1959, Craig Johnson entered Florida State University, where he was on the track team. He drove the car to a track meet between Georgia Tech and Florida State and parked it outside of Grant Field. It was there that Dean Dull noticed the car, and the rest is history.
My father, also a pilot, later encouraged me to buy a 1926 Model T Ford. I paid $225, and we restored it together. I drove every day to the Academy and later to Georgia Tech, where I attended from 1964-68. The car served me faithfully, making many runs to the Varsity, Agnes Scott, fraternity events and more.
I remember vividly that gas was 30 cents per gallon, and the tank held eight gallons. You could fill it up for less than $2.50! But there was a downside. With the Model T, you never knew your gas mileage, because it had neither a gas gauge nor an odometer.
In 2007, my wife and I participated in the Georgia Tech Alumni Travel program to China. On one of the visits to an old Chinese home, the people there seemed perplexed about our group and our Georgia Tech apparel. Finally our guide asked and translated their question: “Why, if you say you are from such a technically advanced institution, do you have an old car as your symbol?”
The answer is a story that I know all too well.
Twitter