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Drive on
400-race winner brings family museum vehicles to parade
When that beautifully restored 1939
Ford Deluxe two-door convertible
drives by in the Northville 4th of July
Parade this year, only a few insidersill
be able to call the car by her name:
Georgetta.
The vehicle is named for driver Jack
Roush, Jr.'s grandmother and was
christened for his father, Jack Roush,
Sr.'s mother. Roush Sr. will also be driv-
ing a vehicle in the parade this year,
“The General,” a 1941 Ford “Fordor”
SedanArmyAir Corps Staff Car replica
in olive drab. Wife, Pauline, will join
Roush Sr. in that vehicle purchased
fromaMaine dealer in 2003.
It's a recreation of what a 1941
USAAC car would have looked like -
corresponding to the blackout version
Ford Motor sold to the U.S. military.
The car has been kept as close to stock
as possible, with the total production
for the 1941 model year at Ford about
600,000 units, with just under 4,000
built to thismilitary specification.
Georgetta, will be driven by Roush,
Jr. with wife, Laura, and at least three
of their four children, daughters 11 and
16 and sons 5 and 9 along. “The 16-year-
old might be doing something else.
She's a little harder to corral,” he said.
The car he and his family display in
the Northville parade was purchased
in 1991 and underwent a full restora-
tion while also being kept as close to
stock as possible.
Its engine is a 91A flathead V8 pro-
ducing 85hp, with production of the
model year only 9,120 units. The 1939
Deluxe Convertible was the first Ford
vehicle to use hydraulic brakes and the
last Ford with a factory “Rumble” seat
on the rear.
The 1939 convertible ran in a cross-
country, coast to coast, road rally
known as the “Great Race.” in 2000,
2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008.
“It was more for accuracy,” Roush
said of the road rallies, which feature a
specification booklet with directions.
“They're kind of crazy.”
TheRoush name is a familiar one in
the automotive business andmaintains
a large automotivemuseuminLivonia.
Roush, 45, came to his family's
namesake automotive business in 2008.
The University of Colorado
graduate in business informa-
tion systems took some time
first in another business.
“I had a tech startup with
some friends of mine. We had
our own software,” said
Roush. In the 1990s, that firm
focused on search engine
solutions for websites, send-
ing code via email.
Growing up in a racing and
automotive family has been a
fine experience, he said.
“Honestly, I just don't know
any other way. It's just what
our family is about. It was
really a cool way to see the
country as well,” he recalls of
travelswithhis dad.
Of the parade, Roush Jr. noted, “It is
a lot of fun.”
The family has lived in Northville
since 2005 and has been in the parade
off and on for several years.
“I've always loved Northville,” he
said. “We love it. I love that they do
have parades.”
The safety of the community
Jack Roush Jr. shows the car he'll drive in the Northville Fourth of July Parade.
Jack Roush Jr. pauses by the vehicle his dad will
drive in the Northville Fourth of July Parade, not-
ing his father's interest in World War II.
