Getting to Know You

Roger Noll

• Classic Cars you own(ed)
• Where are you from?
  • Born in Pleasant Mills, Indiana, live in Fort Wayne.
• Year you joined HVTC
  • In 1999.  (I had actually joined a few years earlier, became president in 1999.) 23 years!!!
• What made you want a Thunderbird?
  • I grew up watching the TV program '77 Sunset Strip'.  Where

    handsome Private Eyes drove Thunderbird Convertibles.  I

    thought they were the most beautiful cars ever made.  I knew that someday I would own one.
• What was your first car?
  • No surprise, a 1962 Thunderbird hardtop in Corinthian White with blue interior.  It had mag wheels, raised white letter Wide Oval tires, and no fender skirts. Crank windows, and no A/C, but she was mine!  I paid $895.00 for her, my Dad co-signed a loan for me and I paid her off in 6 months.   I was 18 years old, the start of the craziness.

     
• If you could meet anyone from the past or present, who would it be and why?
  • Probably Abraham Lincoln.  He seemed like a decent guy.
• If you could only drive one car for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
  • That is a hard one, maybe a 1957 Thunderbird Restro Mod

    with up-to-date options.
• Do you have a name for your current car or previous cars?  What is the story behind them?
  • Just some of them, 1978 Diamond Blue Thunderbird was named

    for the lady that I bought her from,  1962 Chestnut hardtop was

    Trixie T-Bird, 1964 Black hardtop was Twilla T-Bird, 1963 Landau

    was Tootsie T-Bird, 2002 Inspiration Yellow was Chikita, 2004 Merlot

    is Eddie Merlot.  There were several in between that were nameless.   Also these ordinary cars including a 63 Catalina Sport Coupe, a

    62 Buick Special Convertible, a 66 Lemans Convertible, 70 Javelin,

    73 VW Beetle, 74 MGB Convertible, 75 Ford Elite, 77 Chrysler

    Cordoba, 79 Fiat X/19, 81 Toyota Sport Truck, 82 Plymouth Sapporo,

    85 Chrysler Lebaron Convertible, 91 Chrysler 5^th Ave.  94 Chrysler

    LHS, 88 GMC Pick-up, 97 F-150, 2009 F-150, 2016 F-150.  I probably forgot a couple in there somewhere.
• If you could eliminate one car from having ever been produced, what model would you pick?
  • Pontiac Aztech (the ugliest car ever built)
• If you could have any one person as a chauffeur, who would you hire for the job?

• Helio Castroneves (Indy 500 Driver)

• If you could invent a vehicle that could run on any substance as an alternative fuel, no matter how crazy, what would that fuel be?
  • Leaves from my 10 Oak trees