What do you remember about cars from your childhood?  Do you have a vivid image of one in particular?  For some people the family car was purely utilitarian, making it possible to get from the suburbs to town or to run domestic errands.  But many of us remember the family car as something much more important than simple transportation. 

For those of us who grew up thinking the car was a very special thing, it is exciting just to be around models from the past. Perhaps an early attachment to autos is the major reason people buy and restore old cars.  Then many old car owners join clubs to spend time with other people who have antique and collectible vehicles.  In Mexico, there are numerous car clubs in major cities and smaller towns.  The members plan events like rallies and car shows, often including their whole family. 

In the process of planning for the Concurso de Motor Sports weekend In San Miguel, I attended the awards ceremony for the Guanajuato Independence Rally.  The annual rally celebrates Mexico’s independence and runs across the entire state, stopping in places of historic importance in the revolution of 1810.

2008 marks the 19^th year the rally has been held. Competitors brought their cars from places as far away as Houston, Texas and Saltillo.  Fathers and sons, brothers, husbands and wives, fathers and daughters, and best friends had competed as pilots and copilots on the rally route and were waiting to see who had won prizes. 

But before the prizes were awarded, we heard a story from a car owner who lives in Irapuato.  It is a true story.  It is about a remarkable coincidence and it is about a family.  It brought tears to my eyes that day and I think it will touch your heart.

Luis Fernando Michel Barbosa loves old cars.  As an architect. he has a keen appreciation for beautiful design. He has restored and cherished several old cars. Sometimes it has taken him years to bring an old auto back to its original condition.  Slowly he locates all of the right parts, the right tires, the original colors the model was available in.  He may need to have parts custom made if he can not find them.  It is slow and painstaking work. 

In February 2005 his friend Juanito Ortega, from the classic car club in Irapuato, asked Michel to take a look at some old documents he had just found.  They had come with a junk car Juanito purchased for spare parts. 

So Michel read through the old papers.  Immediately he offered to buy the car even though it was in terrible condition.  “If you want it, it’s yours,” his friend Juanito replied. MIchel could not believe his good luck! 

More than 10 different people had owned the car.  Their names were listed on the documents. In the list, he had found a very familiar name, Fernando Michel Alvarez.  He had just purchased the car his father had owned in 1958.  The 1955 Ford Fairlane Victoria was the car he had learned to drive in as a teenager.

“My father bought it when I was 7 years old and sold it when I was 13. My father’s name was on the documents: Fernando Michel Alvarez”, he told us.  “I had many fond memories of this car. I was taken to school in it, we took vacations with it, and in those years we had so much fun with our family car.”

When he looked back through family photos he found one of his two brothers, Javier and Oscar, posing against the Ford with the family house in the background. It was one of the first photos Michel ever took with a camera. And 44 years after he captured his brothers posing next to the Ford, he took another photo just like the first one.  It has the same brothers standing next to the Ford parked in the driveway of the family house. “What a privilege for me”, he said. 

After buying the car, which was in terrible shape, he started restoring it using photos and original documents from Ford brochures to put it back into the original condition. All during the process of restoration, his mother was a consultant about the upholstery and finishing on the interior.  She had used the car more than anybody else, going shopping and taking her children to school.

It took several years to restore the car.  He spent long hours researching specifications for original mechanical work.  Some parts had to be custom made for the car but throughout the whole process he always had the feeling he was working with an old friend.

Today, the 1955 Ford Fairlane Victoria is back on the road where it belongs. It has the original colors, interior, dash board, tires, and other details are exactly as they were before.  During the three years of work, Michel brought his father to the shop to see the progress.  “It was one of the best things life has given me a chance to do,” he explained.  “I was able to show my father his old car once again.”

But the greatest achievement for Michel was to bring back into his family the car his father bought for them. “It is the car where I learned to drive, the car my brothers were taken to school in, and the car my mother used.  We all went on trips in it, too”, he explained.

Then he added, “It was my father’s way of showing his deep love for his children, a car that became a part of our family history. Or as my granddaughter likes to call it--el coche del bisabuelo.” (Greatgrandfather’s car).

On Saturday October 18^th, this car will be on display at the Concurso de Motor Sports Car Show at the Cardo parking facility from 11 until 3 pm.  Michel Barbosa looks forward to showing you his father’s car and answering your questions about it.