Martin Midura of West Lebanon works at Hypertherm developing laser cutting technology. He owns a number of antique vehicles that he inherited from his father, Walter Midura. The following is an edited interview.
People had to have some serious (courage) to take out a rig like this (Hupmobile). It handles like a Mack truck and stops really poorly.
Now we’ve got roads and rest stops, but back then, they would go out for 50 miles with nothing but dirt and mud. The manuals tell you to carry a pulley and a jack and all sorts of things for when you go in the ditch.
This car is what they call non-electric. You start it with a hand crank and a magneto generates the spark. It’s got acetylene headlights and the original sidelights are kerosene lamps.
In its day, it wasn’t known for speed but it was known for reliability and durability. It has about 13,000 miles on it total, which might not sound like much, but you’ve got to think about the time they were built for. In 1913 there were only about 144 miles of paved road in the whole country.
My dad got it 55 years ago before he was married and restored it. He was always into antique cars. My mom, I have pictures of her sandblasting on it when they were dating. As you can see, it doesn’t have a lot of room in it, so once us kids came along this car was put on the sidelines.
My dad was like a brother to me. I grew up in his garage, and I worked side by side with him since I was 12 years old. He said working on cars was a great hobby but a horrible business, and he told me to use my brain, not my back. So I went to college and got a degree in electrical engineering.
When I’m behind the wheel I feel a connection to my Dad. It’s almost like he’s riding with me. He passed away last year, and I had to do a bunch of things to get it going again. My goal was to get it roadworthy, and we’re going to have a memorial car meet for him this summer.
The gas mileage on this is probably 10 miles per gallon, and it cruises at about 35 mile an hour. I don’t polish, I just drive. I grease it and I go. That’s what I enjoy more than anything, it’s the driving.