Ramblin' Wreck set to return for first home game

As Tech kicks off another football season at home, the Ramblin' Wreck is being prepared around the clock so that it can lead the Jackets on to the field once again for yet another home opener. The car has led the team out on to Grant Field for nearly 300 football games and regularly makes appearances at other Tech sports games.

The Wreck is a 1930 Ford Model A Sports coupe. It was originally a 1914 Ford Model T. The model in its current form was donated by Ted Johnson. It made its first appearance in a football game on Sept. 30, 1961 when it came out to a crowd of more than 40,000 people. The team defeated Rice University that day, 24-0, and the Wreck has led the team out on to the football field ever since.

This summer, the Wreck was involved in an accident while being transported off campus that could have endangered the streak. The damage was extensive, requiring a considerable amount of work to repair it to its original condition. It has been a race against time with the repairs and has required multiple parties to become involved.

"The body work was pretty extensive. They put in about 500 hours of work at a professional body shop that specializes in race cars because they were the only people who said that they could do it. Our original goal was to save as much as we could, but they basically saved the whole car," said John Bird, driver of the Wreck and the driver transporting the Wreck during the accident.

On June 22, Bird and his brother were on Insterstate 75 at the time when the trailer had some sort of failure and caused the truck and Wreck to become disconnected. There were no other cars involved and no one was seriously injured.

Since the work done at the body shop, the Wreck was transported to an upholstery shop. The shop is doing some of the final touch ups on the Wreck before it makes its return to campus where it will undergo even more work.

While it has been confirmed that it will take the field for the game against the Bulldogs, the Wreck may or may not serve at its full capacity. The car will certainly make an appearance with the team and come out on to the field.

"It will probably be 100% by game time. We've pulled all nighters for four straight nights now. The body shop guys worked on it nine-to-five for a week when they got it with about four or five guys. .... It's just one of those things where if you want to do it properly, you have to have a lot of time. So that's what we're doing, we're putting a lot of time into it," Bird said.

The Wreck has undergone some changes have been made to its interior and some parts that could not be salvaged have been replaced with a different look. Tech fans who were expecting the old Wreck may be in for another surprise when they first see it on game day.

"It will be ready. It's a matter of when and what it will look like. It's not on campus yet. It's been over a 100 days since it's been on campus, it's not back yet. Once it gets back we still have to work on it," Bird said.

The work has been done primarily through donations and the help of the Alumni Association. Numerous alumni were involved with doing some of the hands-on repairs for the Wreck and many former drivers had taken a part in the process of restoring the car.

"There wasn't too much the Alumni Association really could have done. We didn't need money as much as we needed time. It's been more [about] time than the fight to get money. People have been very willing to donate to us. What [the AA] has been doing is directing people for how to help us in a non-financial ways like finding parts we need," Bird said.

In all, the costs of the repairs to the car may total more than $40,000. The group involved with its repaired only paid around $22,000 and the rest came through donations paying for parts, labor and paint jobs. The money has helped in the repairs of the car, especially since insurance was not able to help in any part of the job.

Tech fans have been trying to contribute any way that they can, offering financial help as well as anything else that they could do. In one case, a whole other car was offered to replace the Wreck.

"An alumni and his son, a student at Tech, offered their entire car to substitute the [Wreck]. They wanted to just paint it gold and leave it gold after we had restored the car properly. I told them that it was pretty gracious. I was amazed when I saw that," Bird said.

The outpour and support for the Wreck has allowed the Ramblin' Reck club and Bird to allow for full restoration of the Wreck.