ROLE MODEL

Dad’s 1931 Model A Coupe Inspires Son to Build His Dream Roadster

- ​​​​​​​Scotty Lachenauer

ROLE MODEL

Inspiration.

Or impact, encouragement, guidance—any way you define it, the lives we lead and the paths we take can be thoroughly directed by the people responsible for bringing us into this world.

Our parents are usually our first and foremost leaders in life, starting at birth and typically continuing even after they’ve leftus. They look over us and care for us, and it’s their daily directive that helps shape our lives. That’s why many of us follow our parents in so many ways, including our chosen careers and also our favorite daily diversions. Love of the automotive hobby is one of those qualities that’s commonly passed down from parent to child, and it’s typical to see sons and daughters follow their parents into the garage and learn from them what their parents taught them a generation earlier.

Nick Maneri Sr. and his son, Nick Jr., are from Mays Landing, New Jersey. Young Nick grew up under his father’s hot-rodding tutelage, learning the basics of auto mechanics by watching his dad wrench on one of the several hot rods he’s owned since his teens. “When I was little, I remember my dad’s Model A in my grandmother’s garage,” Nick Jr. says. “At that time, he also had a ’51 Victoria. I rode in that car and a ’35 cabriolet he still has. I was probably about 8 when he brought the Model A back home and pulled the body offto redo the car again. By that time, I was getting old enough to help out.”