Throughout 2006, we’ll be catching up with collectors whose
engines and stories appeared during our first year of publication.
We kick off with Alan New, whose engine appeared in the premier,
January 1966 issue of GEM. – Editor
Alan New was just a boy when he first became interested in
restoring gas engines. Forty years ago at age 11, he and his
6-year-old brother Jimmy were featured with their engines in Gas
Engine Magazine. Alan owned a 1-1/2 HP Stover Model K and Jimmy
owned a 2 HP Fairbanks-Morse Model Z. Both engines were open crank
and hopper-cooled. Though the photo was just a glimpse into Alan’s
life, it spoke volumes about his passion and what was to come. Now
51, Alan regrets selling his Stover engine while in high school,
but he’s made up for it over the years. Today, he owns more than 20
engines.
Alan grew up with engines. His father, who still very much
enjoys the hobby, started collecting in the late 1940s and was
always buying, selling and trading. Alan and his family made a list
of the engines they remember growing up, and it amounted to around
50 steam engines, 100 tractors and nearly 500 gas engines. His
first restoration, a 1-1/2 HP John Deere, was at age 12.
He loves this hobby so much that he has passed it on to his son.
“Some families play sports together, my family collects antique
engines,” Alan says. “That is our sport.” Alan and his son Andy are
always working on each other’s engines and tractors. “It’s really
neat when I’m in the house and I hear a gas engine popping in the
distance or hear Dad’s OilPull fire up out in the barn,” he says.
“I know Andy’s up to something.” Andy’s girlfriend is also very
interested in engines, owning a Stover herself and joining in on
the engine work with Alan and Andy.
Alan said he couldn’t imagine his life without this hobby. “For
one thing, the antique machinery is wonderful,” he said, “but the
hobby is really about the people. Some of the most wonderful people
in the world are in this hobby.”
Contact engine enthusiast Alan New at: County Road 900 S.,
Pendleton, IN 46064; (765) 778-3163.
