By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Ninety-year-old Mae Schlotz took her first spin Wednesday in the Model A Ford that had been sitting in pieces in her Grand Rapids garage for 55 years.
The 1929 car had been lovingly restored by her nephew, Lon Schlotz, and family friend, Daniel Rochte. The retired mail carriers from Grand Rapids took painstaking efforts to bring the Model A back to life.
The car showed up at Schlotz’s house when she was working as a counselor at Buckeye Girls State in 1966.
“I had been saving money for a new kitchen stove,” she recalled. But her husband, John, had different plans.
“He said, ‘I hope you don’t mind. I took your stove money and bought a Model A,’” Schlotz said with a grin.
Joining Mae for the inaugural ride in the Model A was Mary Vollmar, who had bought the car in 1963 as her first vehicle at age 18. Vollmar’s dad started refurbishing the car, but ended up selling the unfinished project to John Schlotz three years later.
“It sat in the garage for 60 years,” Mae said.
So their nephew, Lon Schlotz decided to give the old car another shot at a new life. When he and Dan Rochte pulled it out of the garage, they found that John had tinkered around and collected many parts for the car – many of them duplicates.
“He just loved to go to swap meets,” Rochte said. “He worked on it for 60 years, and then he passed away. Lon did what he always wanted to do.”
“We promised Mae the first ride,” Rochte said.
After the men pulled the car out of the garage, they figured they should try firing it up.
“It blew out a bunch of buckeyes through the exhaust,” Lon Schlotz said.
The amateur auto restorers used as many original parts as possible, and managed to find replacements for the others. It was truly a labor of love for Rochte and Lon Schlotz.
“The hardest decision to make was what color to make it,” Lon Schlotz said. He finally decided on a maroon shade used on many 1929 Model A’s.
The three-speed Ford has its original seats that have been recovered, the original headlamps, and turn signals – which amounted to the driver’s arm stuck out the window.
The gas tank sits right in front of the dash, so it’s basically in the driver’s lap – something changed for safety in later models.
The throttle could be used as “cruise control,” new shiny running boards were added, and the loud “ahooga horn” leaves no doubt that an antique car is on the road.
The float gas gauge still works. But Lon isn’t sure how many miles it can get per gallon.
“I have no clue,” he said.
The Model A can top out at speeds up to 65 mph.
“But I don’t know if I’d want to go that fast,” Lon said.
And as for a smooth ride, well, it’s all relative.
“You get a little vibration,” he said.
As Mae and Mary prepared for their first ride in the car that one bought with big plans, and the other inherited from her husband’s dreams, Rochte reflected on John Scholtz.
“I really wish he was here,” he said.
“I’m just glad he got it and is keeping it in the family,” Mae said of her nephew.
And in case you’re wondering – Mae did finally get a new stove.
