Bobby Unser learned how to build cars by working on them as a child growing up in Albuquerque, N.M.
So when the three-time Indianapolis 500 winner came to the Saratoga Automobile Museum last weekend, it was only fitting that he met a new generation of children learning everything there is to know about building cars.
Three members of the museum’s 14-member Sam’s Garage project were in attendance last Friday as Unser spoke to members of the media. Behind Unser was the automobile that Sam’s Garage built a gleaming Ford Model A` Huckster that looked like it had rolled off the assembly line.
`It was fun,` said 16-year-old Ben Wagner from Scotia-Glenville High School. `We started from an old, rusty frame and built it up from scratch.`
For Unser, seeing the result of the teens’ work was gratifying, especially since he learned about what made cars work back when he was a boy helping his father at the family garage.
`My eyes go to different things like the wiring ` things that people wouldn’t normally see,` said Unser. `They did a great job building it.`
The project took several weekends for the Sam’s Garage crew to complete. And since none of the original parts were still in stock, the team had to make the parts they received fit together.
`They learned that they weren’t going to slap this thing together. They had to hand fit everything,` said Hank Ashton, a museum volunteer who oversaw the Huckster project.
`It was a lot of fun,` said 14-year-old Jack Glogowski, a student at Saratoga Springs High School. `I’ve loved cars all my life. My dad [former Albany-Saratoga Speedway racer Tommy Glogowski] used to race cars, and I just branched off of my dad.`
Unser is best known for what he accomplished on the track. Besides his three Indianapolis 500 wins, he dominated the annual Pike’s Peak Hill Climb (13 wins including seven in a row), he won 35 Indy Car races (fourth all time), earned the pole position in 49 races (third all time) and was a two-time national champion.
Unser said the secret to his success was his determination to be the best race car driver.
`I knew that for sure,` he said. `I didn’t know how I was going to get where I wanted to go, but something kept telling me to keep going forward.`
Meeting some influential people helped Unser, too. He got his break at the Indianapolis 500 through Parnelli Jones, whom he met at the Pike’s Peak climb in the early 1960s.
`He thought I was good enough [for Indy],` said Unser. `I didn’t think I was good enough, but I gave it a shot.`
Away from the track, Unser worked with several automakers including Ford and General Motors on designing engines for race cars, as well as everyday cars. Unser’s `Toronado` engine was used in Oldsmobiles. He also designed tires for Goodyear that were used on both race cars and regular vehicles.
`I can design pretty much anything you see here [in the museum], and I’m all self-taught,` said Unser. `I learned a long time ago that if you hang around really, really smart people, you can learn a little something from each of them.`
That concept played into the Sam’s Garage project. With help from the Adirondack A’s Club ` a group dedicated to the restoration of Ford Model `A` cars ` the 14 area students learned the ins and outs of building a car. One of the few things they didn’t get to do was apply the varnish to the Huckster’s wooden body.
`It was tough, but it was a fun challenge because we got to learn a lot from our instructors,` said Corinth High School student Laura Earls, the lone girl on the Sam’s Garage team. `It was a relief, and we felt great that we accomplished such a big task [when the car was finished in May].`
Unser said that desire to learn and grow can apply to any field, not just auto racing.
`It’s having the motivation to want to do something,` said Unser. `First of all, everybody should want to work. It doesn’t matter what the job is ` you should want to do the best job you can. Young kids can do the same things I did when I was a kid working in my daddy’s garage. It’s just a different car these days.`
The Sam’s Garage crew will get another shot at building a car, though their next project is much more in line with Unser’s racecar heritage than the Huckster project.
`I think we’re going to give them a hot rod to work on,` said Ashton.
For more from Bobby Unser, check out the latest `Sports Scraps` blog entry at
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