A grandfather, grandson duo work through life and loss together
By Sophie Pappas
In an unsuspecting barn just off a country road in Zionsville sit the remnants of a life well lived. Car parts, license plates, broken shards of pottery all line the walls and floors of Stephen Schanke’s big, wooden barn, but it is unlikely that he’d want it any other way.
“I’m an engineer at heart,” Stephen said. “I’m sure [people]don’t care about all of this, but to me, well, I love it all.”
Stephen, 70, is a long-time Zionsville resident, and it is in his barn where he and his 12 year-old grandson, Chase Schanke have been working tirelessly for more than two years on a project non-engineer types would find impossible.
They restored a Ford Model A, by hand, and only had to purchase tires and a few extra nuts and bolts.
“Everything else I already had,” Stephen said. “And if I didn’t have it, I built it.”
It is now one of only five working Model A’s in the state.
Manufactured in the 1930s, this Model A has played a big role in Schanke family history. Now, after being restored, it holds big part of their hearts.
Stephen was gifted the car at age 12, from his grandmother in Wisconsin. At 16, he started driving it to high school and by 18, the car broke down and was put into storage.
“It sat for 47 years,” Stephen said.
During those 47 years Stephen, a former IBM engineer, never had time to repair the car, much to his son Mike, and Chase’s father’s, dismay.
“He was always asking me ‘Dad can we go work on the Model A?’ but I never had time, I was always too busy,” Stephen said. “Life just caught up with me. I regret that now.”
Years passed, Mike grew up, and started his own family. Then, in 2010 tragedy struck when Mike was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. This was right around the time Chase was interested in having his grandpa pull the Model A out of the garage.
“By 2011 and the time Mike passed away, I wasn’t going to let life get in the way again,” Stephen said. “I think I really did have time with [Chase’s] dad but life got in the way. With Chase, every second he wasn’t in school we were working on this.”
Chase, who lives in Brownsburg with his mom and attends Brownsburg Middle School, was eager to work on the car with his grandpa.
“We took the whole car a part,” Stephen said.
When Mike was nine years old, he had dropped a board on the gas tank of the Model A. During the repair process with Chase, Stephen let Chase fix the tank his dad had broken.
“I’m a car guy,” said Chase, who was the first one to drive the Model A once it was finally capable of being turned on. “We didn’t even have seats in it yet, so we sat on buckets, but then grandpa fell out the side door because I didn’t know how to drive.”
“He let the old man fall out,” Stephen said, laughingly. “But it is kind of difficult to drive, because you’ve got to do what they call a double-clutch.”
Now, the Model A can be revved up to 60 miles-per-hour and it’s fresh coat of dark navy blue paint shines in the midst of the Schanke barnyard.
“I have a lot of regrets in life,” Stephen said. “I regret not doing this with Mike. But Chase and I did this together, which is the best part of this whole story.”
What’s next for the Schanke duo?
“We are going to rebuild a Model T next,” said Chase Schanke, 12.
Grandfather Stephen Schanke purchased a storage unit with the remnants of a Model T. The pair hopes to start putting it together this year.
About the Ford Model A
- Ford Model As were built from 1927 to 1931
- They were the second successful vehicle for Ford Motor Company
- They helped establish Henry Ford’s reputation as an automotive entrepreneur
Timeline of the Schanke Model A
- 1930- built
- 1958- Stephen and his father brought the car from Wisconsin
- 1959- Stephen, at age 13, painted the car red
- 1961- Stephen started driving it to high school
- 1963- The car broke down on the campus of Purdue University the day after Pres. John F. Kennedy was killed
- 2009- Chase convinced his grandpa to pull the car out of storage
- 2010- Stephen’s son and Chase’s father, Mike, was diagnosed with terminal cancer
- 2011- Chase and Stephen started to actively repair the car after Mike’s death
- 2014- Car is fully restored and running
