t was just a friendly evening out for Ray Tapp and his wife Olla in 1979 when they joined a friend at a dinner sponsored by the Contemporary Historical Vehicle Club (CHVA) in Cartersville, Ga.
"They were such nice, friendly people that we joined," he recalls. One thing led to another and when his friend suggested that since he was in the club, he ought to get an antique car, Tapp agreed and decided to advertise in the club's newsletter for a car he'd always liked - a Model A Ford. As it turned out, the ad turned up a 1930 town sedan - completely dismantled! While anyone else might have been dismayed by the thousands of parts, Tapp, who had owned his own body repair shop in Acworth, Ga. since the early 5O's, decided to take on the daunting task.
"All the parts looked good so I bought it for a $1,000, brought it home and put it together," he
remembers. Of course, it did take a year and "quite a bit more money" before he had it in
running order. But the four-cylinder, wooden framed luxury model has been running ever since
and has garnered Tapp awards and offers for as much as $12,000. Now, 18 years later, six vintage
vehicles are parked around the Tapps' modest ranch house in Acworth, including the black and
brown 1930 Ford, a black 1931 Ford Cabriolet convertible, a maroon 1948 Lincoln Continental, a
black 1949 Buick Super, and a red 1965 Buick Special convertible. The Tapps became active members
of two nearby car clubs: CHVA and the Model A Restorers Club, and they've participated in
innumerable driving tours, local and national shows, and what are known as weekly "cruise nights,"
where vintage car owners gather 
at a public place to show off and socialize. The basement is
full of trophies. "I like it all," says Tapp, 66, a quiet, low-key individual who projects
patience and competence enough to clean thousands of old car parts and put them together into a
running whole. "I like the building, the driving, the touring and meeting a lot of people and
seeing a lot of different places." And Tapp's wife Olla has been right there beside him, too,
even in his little shop in the garage. "After she saw all the pieces becoming a car, she got
interested in it. She helped and cleaned parts."
he two have been adventurous enough to drive their vintage vehicles to antique car shows all
over the country. After towing his beloved sedan to Kansas for his first national show and
having it shaken up badly, Tapp vowed "if a car won't run, I won't take it. "The next year, they
drove the 1931 convertible to Colorado Springs in only four days. Another year, they drove a
1936 Ford to Canada and back, and last year they drove the 1965 Buick to Kansas and through the
Dakotas and Wyoming. Tapp says he isn't afraid to drive the interstate highways in his cars,
noting that all of them will run 50-55 mph, even those from the early 30's. Of course, the maroon
Lincoln is a 12 cylinder so it has plenty of speed to spare.
sn't it uncomfortable? Tapp jokes that, "the only thing that's uncomfortable is when we stop and the air isn't working." That's not air conditioning he's describing; instead he points out that on the early Fords, even the windshield lets out on a hinge, which allows air to circulate in the floorboard. And, oh yes, the windshield wipers on the early 30s models will stop working on a long, steep hill "until you let up on the gas." Luckily, he says he's never had a breakdown he couldn't repair with the spare parts he always takes along. On long trips, vintage car owners know they have to be prepared to repair anything that would leave them stranded on the road. As for safety features, there are none - not even turn signals on the early 30's models. And times have changed so much since hand signals were commom driving behavior that Tapp doesn't use them because most people misinterpret them for a wave or a point.
While there are many car clubs and enthusiasts around the country that like to update old cars
with the very latest equipment, even air conditioning and souped-up engines, the clubs that Tapp
joined encourage their members to do no modifications and to restore vehicles as close to the
original as possible. And these days, that's become much easier to do than it was when Tapp
began his hobby in the late 70's. As more and more people have become involved, more suppliers
have sprung up. For instance, he points out that the tires on the first car he restored, the
1930 sedan, came from a New Zealand company. Now a Chattanooga, Tenn. company also has the molds.
And since there was an 8-month wait in 1979 to get the horsehair seat covers that would have been
original to the car, he went up to South Carolina for the fabric and made them himself. Now
there's a company in Massachusetts that specializes in complete kits for just about any vintage
car interior.
ach of Tapp's cars recalls a special memory related to either its restoration or how he acquired
it. For instance, the two 1930's models have wooden frames, which were the biggest challenge to
restore because "I wasn't a woodworker." He adds, "I am now." Both of those cars were completely
dismantled when he got them. The 1948 Lincoln, the last of the V-12s and one of just 800 hand
built that year, was dismantled also. It was too big to put together in his little shop at home
so he worked on that at his business. 
He proudly notes that it took seven red cowhides for the
upholstery, which he sewed himself. Costing less than $3,000 in those postwar years, it now
would fetch about $60,000.
The 1936 Ford is the plainest of his cars but it's Tapp's favorite because it handles so well and "it's the kind of car I grew up with." As a basic model, it has no luxury features, not even arm rests on the doors and very little chrome. He found it at a vintage car museum in Tennessee and since it was the only one that didn't run, the curator didn't mind parting with it. Tapp cleaned the motor and it's run like a top ever since. The 1949 Buick is the only car he didn't have to do anything to. It had had only three owners and 61,000 miles on it when he acquired it in the 1980's.
So does he want to add to his collection now that he's been at it for nearly 20 years? Well, he allows he'd love to find a 1936 Ford convertible coupe...in one piece.
This article first appeared in the August, 1998 issue of
©1998 Southeastern Publishing