Hank and Nancy Miller
Frank Orlando
Russ and Marilyn Carr
this beauty. Hank spent almost 40 years in
various professions in Silicon Valley. Today,
a few health issues do not keep Hank
and Nancy from enjoying life and this
beautiful car.
On another day, on a country road
between San Martin and Morgan Hill
sits a wonderfully restored four-door ’29
Ford Model A, not something one would
expect to see at the end of a gravel road.
With a career designing farming equipment
behind him, Frank Orlando now has a new
challenge. In addition to his ’29 Model A,
and a ’64 Falcon convertible, he restores
tractors. Two large sheds in back are
92
jammed with all types of tractors in various
stages of restoration and readiness. One he
restored with his son; another one, in the
early stages of restoration, is a project with
two grandsons. Frank not only restores
these workhorses, he also participates in
tractor pulls and has trophies to verify his
efforts. The tractor he uses for the pulls has
a whooping 40 horsepower engine!
Frank’s ’64 convertible was his commute
car when he designed farm equipment
in Madera. Frank enjoys telling how he
surprised the workers when he jumped
into the tractor seat and ran it through the
tests for the new equipment. They did not
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
JULY / AUGUST 2015
“Antimacasssar”
expect “the engineer” to be able to handle
what he designed! Frank’s ’29 Model A is a
“Fodor” in Ford speak. It is similar to one
he worked on in high school in Wisconsin.
Frank Orlando is one of those unique
individuals who can study and engineer a
tractor from the ground up. When he can-
not find a part, he makes it. There is a little
mischief and twinkle in his creative eyes!
The last stop on this quick journey to
meet some of the men and women of Valle
Del Sur took me to a house in Jackson
Oaks with spectacular views. The garage
of Ray and Kathy Fairchild houses a ’30
Packard, a ’66 Mustang and a ’71 Honda
gmhtoday.com