Ramblin' Wreck

The Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech is the 1930 Ford Model A Sport coupe that serves as the official mascot of the student body at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The Wreck is present at all major sporting events and student body functions. Its most noticeable role is leading the football team into Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field, a duty which the Wreck has performed since 1961. The Ramblin' Wreck is mechanically and financially maintained on campus by students in Ramblin' Reck Club.

The first mechanical Wreck was a 1914 Ford Model T owned by Dean Floyd Field. Until the current Wreck was donated to the school in 1961, most of the early Ramblin' Wrecks were owned by students, faculty or alumni. The modern Wreck has donned a number of different paint jobs and has had several restorations and modifications made to it. These changes were made by various individuals and organizations over the years, including Bobby Dodd and a Georgia Tech Alum at the Ford plant in Hapeville, Georgia. The upkeep of the Wreck has been the sole responsibility of Ramblin' Reck Club and the Wreck driver since 1987.

The Ramblin' Wreck has been the target of several pranks perpetrated by rival schools; the University of Tennessee once provided the Wreck with an unsolicited new paint job, and the University of Georgia has stolen the Wreck on at least two occasions. Several replica or "false" Wrecks are owned by alumni, or are used for display and do not run. The official Ramblin' Wreck is considered the only "true" Wreck, and no backups or replacements exist.

The term "Ramblin' Wreck" has been used to refer to students and alumni of Georgia Tech much longer than the car that now bears the name has been in existence. The expression has its origins in the late 19th century and was used originally to refer to the makeshift motorized vehicles constructed by Georgia Tech engineers employed in projects in the jungles of Central America. The Wrecks were constructed from whatever the engineers could find—mostly old tractor and automotive parts—and were kept running by the engineers' ingenuity and creativity. Other workers in the area began to refer to these vehicles and the men who drove them as "Rambling Wrecks from Georgia Tech."

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