Freedom and Ice Cream

Freedom and Ice Cream

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by Marci Cosens

his month marks eleven years since Francis “Frank” Hartmaier’s 1929 Model A Ford was gratefully and enthusiastically accepted into the AACA Museum Inc. collection. On permanent display, the rose beige Ford was owned and operated by Frank for nearly 80 years. Purchased when he was seventeen years old, he and the car were inseparable until his death in January 2009, at age 97.

As a pandemic and national emergency have kept most of us homebound in recent months and limited our driving substantially, we truly appreciate our own cars much more than ever. So this seems a perfect time to recognize Frank’s love for his car and his reluctance part with it during his lifetime.

Frank’s story has been chronicled numerous times in magazines and newspapers.

Ninety-one years ago — May 16, 1929 — the Schwenksville, PA, teenager picked up the car he ordered from the William Young Ford Agency in Pottstown. The Roadster, Serial Number A1533466, complete with rumble seat and optional spare tire, cost $560.

INC.

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Ironically, Frank ‘settled’ for buying the car to appease his mother. He initially was interested in joining a local flying club and taking lessons but, perhaps fearing that he was too young or could be injured, she refused to grant permis-

sion. The compromise allowed Frank to put the $305 he earned working at a local auto parts plant toward buying a car instead.

Eventually, Frank fulfilled his dream of obtaining a pilot’s license. Still, it is doubtful that he ever regretted the trade-off of delaying doing so to respect his mother’s wishes to acquire the Model A. The proof is the fact that he kept it for nearly 80 years!

Frank purchased his car just as the country was heading into the Great Depression. Ultimately he lost the job that allowed him to buy his car

but found employment delivering both the Pottstown Mercury and Philadelphia Record newspapers. He traveled over 700 miles per week in his Model A, throughout the depression years.

As World War II began, Frank found work as a machinist, and his car was part of many of his life events. He courted his future wife, Elizabeth, in the Model A Ford.

And in 1942, Frank drove her to the hospital in it to deliver their only child. By the time the odometer broke in 1944, he had logged 416,000 miles. Frank continued to use the car regularly for family vacations along the East Coast and Canada, until 1960.

In the late ‘60s, Frank restored the car.

It was the first of three restorations throughout his ownership, and the only times in which the vehicle was out of service. Although restored, it always retained its original Rose Beige color. Eventually, the odometer was repaired, but the unrecorded mileage during the period it was broken remains unverifiable. Best estimates put the lifetime mileage over 600,000 miles.

When presented to the Museum in 2009, the car was accompanied by notable documentation including the original Pennsylvania State Title registered in Frank

Hartmaier’s name. Surprisingly, the State did not require him to surrender it at the time he re-registered the car for antique automobile plates.

Frank’s car was never placed in storage.

He continued driving the Model A around his community until just months before his death. He also traveled to car events in Ohio, Michigan, and other states, with friends or alone, well into his 90’s. He never pampered his car or put on a pedestal; he appreciated it for the pleasure he derived from being in it.

Over the years, Frank was presented with many opportunities to sell his 1929 Model A Roadster. He rejected all offers, even some which were quite substantial. He always declared that his car was not for sale no matter the price. He was once quoted in a magazine saying, “You can only put money in a bank; you can’t ride around in that on a sunny day and get an ice cream cone.” Maybe Frank had the right idea all along. He knew what most of us are now learning while quarantined. The simple things mean the most. You can’t put a price on having the freedom to get into your car, drive around, enjoy the sunshine, and stop for an ice cream cone. It doesn’t

“You can only put money in a bank; you can’t ride around in that on a sunny day and get an ice cream cone.”

— Frank Hartmaier

get any better than that! ! n

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