Andy and Orlando were working on the road yesterday and the subject of old cars came up. Orlando asked what was the oldest model car Andy had ever owned. That was easy, the 1924 Model T Ford he bought when he was a teenager:
“New” Model T Ford, bought for $40 by Andy on 6/8/1950, after being painted Royal Blue with Aluminum trim by Andy and Jim Hogan. Andy drove this to the Gordon Ranch for his summer job.
Jim, AE and CP in Model T in front of 664 home
AE, CP and Jim Hogan in the model T
AE, CP and Andrew in Model T in front of their home.
He also bought the moving parts of another Model T. He and Jim used it to build a motorized raft on Holland Lake, where Andy’s family had a cabin. They all had a lot of fun with it.
First pictures of raft (Andy and Jim Hogan on raft). The paddles are bolted to the model T rear wheels and are driven by the Model T motor. All are mounted on big dead trees cut down and made into a raft.
Remodeled raft with raised paddle wheels and new rudder (the old one dumped AE into the lake where she lost her glasses).
Andy on remodeled raft.
Andy and Jim on remodeled raft with added splash guard.
Raft underway showing propulsion system. Paddles bolted to wooden spokes on rear wheels of the model T.
AE and Andy on raft before superstructure and diving board were added. Motive power was a model T engine and drivetrain with paddles added to the rear wheels.
Sunbathing on the raft (1954?)
October 26, 2019
I just LOVE these pictures! Andy was a good looking guy! (still is.)
he didn’t look old enough to drive in the first picture. then as they went along I see that he was. aren’t old pictures wonderful? 😀 thanks for sharing!
did you know him then?
I met Andy in 1961, in the Stanford High Energy Physics Lab. I was a summer student and he was a graduate student. When I was introduced he was immersed in building the electronics for his Ph.D. experiment and he had a handwritten sign above his work bench. It was an upwards arrow with the words, “This way is up.” I mean, how romantic can you get?
LOL!!! love his romantic sign! xo
bet you knew right THEN that he was ‘the one.’ 😀
What cool photos and memories. Working with old cars sure taught a whole generation of guys how to build and make things work. I suppose the current generation are doing the same thing with computers but coding isn’t nearly as much fun to look at in photographs.
That’s a good observation. It would be interesting to know. I suppose some video games and hacking are developing skills too. 😀
Wow, that was some car and the raft is quite the construction. Looks like they had a lot of fun with that
Yes, Andy’s eyes light up when he talks about it.
I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this…so glad you has photos to go along with the story.
I’m glad. Andy gets the credit for scanning in all our photos years ago, so I’ll tell him.
Oh, memories! Thank you so much!
Do you know if it’s possible for me to copy today’s blog? I’d love to have it.
Thanks.
And lots of affection for putting this together and being you!
AE
Thanks for the affection, it made my day. 🙂 Andy gets the credit for scanning in all our photos years ago.
yes love the story book with pictures…you can see why Andy went on to be within the “maker industry” what happened to his friends?
Jim ended working for the Forest Service.
Spectacular!
🙂
What a wonderful old car. And what an ingenious motorised raft. I occasionally see lovingly-tended vintage cars on the local roads, and they’re a glorious eye-catching novelty compared to all the modern identikit cars.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a vintage car here. But it may be I just didn’t notice. 🙂