23rd INDUCTEE

Robert E. Anderson Inducted 2020 Bob Anderson was a dedicated Model A Ford enthusiast who served at both the local and national levels to improve knowledge and reveal original production standards of the Model A Ford. He served and held important positions in the Grand A’s Model A Ford Club of Grand Rapids, Michigan and in the national Model A Restorers Club (MARC) and the Model A Ford Foundation, Inc. (MAFFI). Bob Anderson was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada the same year as the Model A Ford, 1927. He grew up with the car and soon came to be the expert on its function and operation, and used that knowledge to serve the Model A community over the next 90 years. Bob lived in Hudsonville, Michigan, and was the owner and operator of the Marton Tool & Die Company in Grand Rapids, Michigan for 40 years. Using his interest in the Model A Ford, combined with his engineering and machining knowledge, he contributed immeasurably to the Model A hobby and in assisting his fellow members of the Model A Restorers Club (MARC). His always helpful nature and personable charm was most apparent when he was assisting other Model A’ers with their restorations, tune-ups, or in chat sessions with his willingness to provide whatever assistance was needed when someone had a seemingly insurmountable problem with his or her Model A. Bob was active in local Model A efforts and, in 1972, he helped charter the Grand A’s Region of MARC. Over his many years of membership in this club, he held many different leadership roles – including President, Treasurer, Director and Regional Correspondent. In addition to his commitment to the Grand A’s Region, he was also active at the national MARC level and was elected to the MARC Board of Directors. Here he served as the Director of Publications and Library and Director of Regions. In addition to his Board of Director’s role, he was also a member of the MARC Judging Standards Committee and a Fine Points car judge at numerous MARC national meets. Bob’s interest in the Model A Ford led to his joining the Model A Ford Foundation, Inc. (MAFFI) and he subsequently was elected to the MAFFI Board of Trustees. As a Trustee, he was heavily involved in the early planning activities that later resulted in the creation of the Model A Ford Museum. He also was selected by MAFFI to supervise the monumental task of sorting and indexing the Ford parts drawings stored at the Benson Ford Research Center in Dearborn. His engineering and machining knowledge and his many years of dedicated leadership here resulted in these valuable Model A parts drawings becoming available for use in the Model A community. The access to these drawings was a valuable asset -- not only to those involved in the preservation and restoration of their Model A but also to automotive historians interested in the elements of Americana that help to shape our world. The Model A Ford Museum at the Gilmore was a favorite benefactor of Bob’s leadership skills and generosity. His work here remains as a tribute to a man who gave of himself for a lifetime so that others could enjoy the Model A hobby and the history associated with it. His beautifully restored 1930 Model A Cabriolet was a generous donation to MAFFI and remains on display at the Museum in memory of Bob Anderson. Bob passed away on May 6, 2017 at 90 years of age. However, his legacy will live on through his contributions and dedication to the Model A Ford hobby.

24th INDUCTEE

Leslie (Les) Andrews Inducted 2020

Les Andrews has been a fixture in the Model A Ford hobby since 1964 when he purchased his first Model A. He is one of the very few who really epitomize the honorary title of “Mr. Model A.” His books on Model A repair are used by hobbyists worldwide. Les worked his entire career as a technical writer in the high-tech industry and as a contractor for the U.S. Air Force. He first got the Model A bug in 1964 and became active in the Model A hobby early on. He joined his local Model A club and the Model A Ford Club of America (MAFCA) in 1968. His love of mechanics and the elegant simplicity of Model A Ford led him to begin the restoration and maintenance of several Model A’s It wasn’t long before his talents were recognized by others in his club and he became the “go to” guy for advice on the restoration and repair of the Model A and its assemblies. As he became more active in his local club, he was elected President and also served on the board of the MAFCA Northern California Regional Group. His thoughtful guidance at the local level led others to encourage him to run for the MAFCA National Board and he was elected to serve on the Board four separate times. As a Board member, he served as the Advertising and Publications Director and as the National President. However, without a doubt, he made the most impact by serving four years as the MAFCA Technical Director. His expert advice has been recognized by Model A’ers far and wide. He served as the editor for How to Restore Your Model A books edition numbers seven, eight and nine – creating them in a 100% digital format. Following that, he digitized all of the earlier How to Restore books and several publications about Model A era fashions. Les Andrews gives willingly of his extensive experience and has contributed numerous articles for publication in MAFCA’s The Restorer magazine and has made technical presentations at many national and regional conventions. In addition, Les has been certified as a Master Judge and has coordinated the judging of Fine Point (Blue Ribbon) Model A’s at several national and regional meets. His contribution to Model A owners around the world is exemplified by the amazing efforts he put into the writing of three of the “bibles” of the Model A world. Les incorporated his expert knowledge as master mechanic of the Model A Ford and his career as a technical writer in the production of the Model A Ford Mechanical Handbook. This book was an instant success and provided the Model A owner with an authoritative source of information regarding all aspects of the Model A -- a resource that previously never existed. The success of this book led to a second publication, Model A Troubleshooting and Diagnostics and, later, a third book, the Model A Mechanic’s Handbook, Volume II. His three books have led to significantly more Model A’s being properly repaired, made more roadworthy and, most importantly, safer to drive. In Les Andrew’s words, the goal of these books was to offer easy assistance to the Model A Ford owner and to help extend the longevity of the Model A for today’s generation, their children and grandchildren. 25th INDUCTEE

Aldie E. Johnson Jr. Inducted 2020

Aldie Johnson was a prominent National Space Program Structures Engineer and a leader in the Model A Ford community. He established standards and procedures in two different national Model A Ford organization’s and also authored a Model A book which benefitted the entire Model A hobby. He was a devoted Model A Ford enthusiast, the leading expert on the Model A Ford Postal Truck body style, and a former President of the Model A Ford Club of America.

Aldie was born on April 8, 1925 in Moline, Illinois. He grew up in Davenport, Iowa where he graduated from Davenport High School in 1943. He joined the U.S. Army in 1943 at the height of World War II. After his discharge he re-entered and graduated from Iowa State University in December 1947 with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering.

He began his engineering career in Newport News, Virginia at the government’s predecessor to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). After nearly 10 years with NASA he moved to Massachusetts to where he continued his space structures work with government contractors for the emerging national space program. He became Vice President of Operations at Teledyne Materials Research Corporation and, concurrently, was President of the Society of Experimental Stress Analysis. After nearly 40 years of space vehicle development, he retired from Teledyne in 1985.

In 1977, Aldie located a vehicle that had once been a 1931 Model A Mail Truck in a barn in New Hampshire. As an expert woodworking hobbyist, he decided he had the skills to restore the truck to like-new condition. He bought the truck and began extensive research to locate and study the original vehicle construction plans. He restored the Model A Mail Truck to award- winning originality, winning many awards at a number of local and national car meets.

Once the Mail Truck was finished, he realized he now possessed knowledge that needed to be shared with other Model A enthusiasts. He undertook the exhaustive task of researching and writing a 180-page book titled The Ford Model A Mail Truck. This publication has become the “bible” for both restorers and historians interested in Model A Ford postal vehicle. His interest in Model A’s continued to grow and he became a vital member of local and national Model A hobbyist’s organizations. While he was restoring his Mail Truck, Aldie was active in the local Minuteman Model A Ford Club, where he held various leadership positions. He was elected to the national Board of Directors of the Model A Ford Club of America (MAFCA) where he served as MAFCA Treasurer in 1987 and President in 1989.

He was elected as a Trustee of the Model A Ford Foundation, Inc (MAFFI), in which he subsequently became a key individual in the planning for, and financial efforts involved in, the creation of the Model A Ford Museum, which was opened a year following his death. Aldie Johnson passed away on September 23, 2012. Following his death, his wife, Wilma, donated Aldie’s famous Model A Mail Truck to the Model A Ford Museum.

26th INDUCTEE

Albert Kahn Inducted 2020

As the Ford Motor Company’s industrial architect, Albert Kahn’s design of the Ford River Rouge Plant created the foundation base for, and fostered the resulting production of, the Model A Ford. Kahn was born on March 21, 1869 in Rhaunen, Kingdom of Prussia. In 1880 he moved to the United States and, as a teenager, worked as a draftsman at the architectural firm of Mason and Rice. In 1895, he founded his own firm, Albert Kahn Associates. Here, he developed a new style of construction where reinforced concrete replaced wood in factory walls, roofs and internal supports and beams. This resulted in significantly larger clear spaces to allow Ford to better arrange production and assembly operations. The Packard Motor Company’s factory, which he designed in 1903, was the first major application of this principal. Henry Ford was impressed with the design and success of the Packard plant and became very interested in Kahn’s industrial designs. In 1909 he had Kahn design the Ford Motor Company’s Highland Park plant, which was the largest automobile plant of the day. Here, Ford consolidated the production of the Model T Ford and perfected the automotive assembly line. Later, to allow the production of the new Model A Ford, Kahn designed the impressive Ford River Rouge complex – which grew into the largest private manufacturing complex in the world, with a labor force that peaked at 120,000 workers. Although the prototype assembly line had been developed in Ford’s Piquette and refined at the Highland Park plants, the Rouge Plant was the next level in the perfection of the process. Albert Kahn had designed the Highland Park plant so he knew specifically what Henry Ford wanted in the new, huge, River Rouge Plant. For the first time, raw products -- coal, wood, and iron ore -- were taken into the plant at one end, and finished vehicles rolled out of the other end of the huge complex. Work began on the new plant in 1917, and the first automobile to roll out of this completed complex was the Model A Ford. Each of the cranes, overhead conveyors, furnaces, stamping machines, and moving assembly lines, had to be planned, functionally integrated, and designed on paper before the bricks and mortar could be laid down. Albert Kahn produced the factory, and that factory produced the Model A Ford. Kahn’s other building designs include the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, the Fair Lane house for Henry and Clara Ford and the Dearborn Inn -- the world’s first airport hotel. In addition to his extensive industrial and factory design efforts, he also designed Ford automobile showrooms in New York, Washington, D.C., and Boston. In 1934 he designed the famous Ford Rotunda building for the Chicago World fair which was subsequently moved to Dearborn. In 1939 he provided the design for the New York World’s Fair Ford Pavilion. When World War II began, Kahn’s firm designed the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant and the Willow Run Bomber Plant, where the Ford Motor Company mass-produced 8,685 B-24 Liberator bombers. It has been estimated that Kahn received as many as 1,000 commissions from Ford for the design of buildings and industrial processes. It is believed that the stress of his work contributed to Kahn’s death in late 1942, following a brief illness. He passed away on December 8, 1942 at age 73. Albert Kahn has been recognized as the foremost American industrial architect of his day. The architectural firm he created is still in business in Detroit managed by his grandsons and great grandsons.