The Sooner Model A Club Of Oklahoma

 

It is with a heavy heart that I share this remembrance of longtime member and friend Bob Bordwine.


I will remember Bob particularly fondly, as he was the first Sooner Model A Club member that I met in person. He stopped by my now-late grandfather’s house to help me get his car running after it sat for nearly 15 years.

 

He and my grandfather had a lot in common — both went by Bob, both were retired Lieutenant Colonels in the Air Force, and both had a passion for Model A Fords. Oh, and they both enjoyed making light of my youth and relative inexperience with antique cars.

 

I’d struggled for weeks to get grandpa’s Model A started — it would crank, but it would’t fire. I’d tried everything, so I called for backup — and Bob came to the rescue.

 

He arrived one afternoon with a small tool bag, which he set down on the running board. “What seems to be the problem?” he asked. I recounted my weeks of frustration and all the things I’d tried.

 

He pulled out a few tools — a wrench and a screw driver I think — and adjusted this, tapped on that, and after about 2 minutes, he stood back and grinned.

 

“Try it now,” he said. I turned it over and the engine sprung to life.

 

“You were close, but not quite there,” he said. But I knew it would have taken me two more weeks to do what he had accomplished in two minutes.

 

Bob then pulled out a blank Sooner Model A membership form and handed it to me. I’d already joined, but I liked how direct that gesture was. You’re one of us now, he seemed to say. Go ahead and make it official.

 

Bob is gone, but a lot of his knowledge and spirit will live on in Sooner Model A. He was a mentor to many of us who learned how to rebuild a carburetor, repair a steering gear or just enjoyed shooting the breeze with him early on a Monday morning.

 

Fifteen Model As led the procession to the graveside ceremony at Bob’s funeral. A fitting tribute to a man who was so special to Oklahoma City’s antique car community.