Help Complete the Rocket Car
Donation protected
The Rocket Car restoration team needs our help to complete this historic community project!
At this point, the crew needs $4,000 to button up the interior, complete the exhaust system, the breaking system, rubber gaskets to get all the windows fitted properly, and complete all wiring.
Fabricated in 1936 by Batavia native & inventor, Charles Thomas, the Rocket car was wise beyond its years with technologies that were decades ahead of the cars time. Low-set headlamps, hidden hinges, a dual cylinder, padded dash, four-wheel independent suspension even a rear view “camera” were all incorporated by the inventor who designed the car as part of his GM Institute of Technology graduate program in 1935.
By 1977, Gary Alt of Lockport found the vehicle rusting away in a field in Batavia, NY and decided to store it in his barn until a group of Batavians spearheaded a restoration project in 2015.
Enter, Dick McClurg. Dick and a team of dedicated collectors, enthusiasts and restorers approached The City of Batavia in September 2015 to propose that, if they took on the restoration, the city would accept the car as a gift for public display. With approval from the City, the group was able to bring the car back to Batavia for restoration by November of that year and began restoration work.
Daniel Strohl of Hemmings Daily notes, “Restoring the Rocket Car, however, has proven easier said than done. Mechanically, it remains complete, but rust ate away at the lower half of the car, necessitating extensive sheetmetal and body structure replacement. Josh Quick of the Quick Speed Shop has stepped in to rebuild most of the floor and its structure, and the team is just about finished with the car.
Learn more by clicking here
At this point, the crew needs $4,000 to button up the interior, complete the exhaust system, the breaking system, rubber gaskets to get all the windows fitted properly, and complete all wiring.
Fabricated in 1936 by Batavia native & inventor, Charles Thomas, the Rocket car was wise beyond its years with technologies that were decades ahead of the cars time. Low-set headlamps, hidden hinges, a dual cylinder, padded dash, four-wheel independent suspension even a rear view “camera” were all incorporated by the inventor who designed the car as part of his GM Institute of Technology graduate program in 1935.
By 1977, Gary Alt of Lockport found the vehicle rusting away in a field in Batavia, NY and decided to store it in his barn until a group of Batavians spearheaded a restoration project in 2015.
Enter, Dick McClurg. Dick and a team of dedicated collectors, enthusiasts and restorers approached The City of Batavia in September 2015 to propose that, if they took on the restoration, the city would accept the car as a gift for public display. With approval from the City, the group was able to bring the car back to Batavia for restoration by November of that year and began restoration work.
Daniel Strohl of Hemmings Daily notes, “Restoring the Rocket Car, however, has proven easier said than done. Mechanically, it remains complete, but rust ate away at the lower half of the car, necessitating extensive sheetmetal and body structure replacement. Josh Quick of the Quick Speed Shop has stepped in to rebuild most of the floor and its structure, and the team is just about finished with the car.
Learn more by clicking here
Organizer and beneficiary
Batavias Thomas Rocket Car
Organizer
Batavia, NY
Jeffrey Ackerman
Beneficiary
