Century-old Olvera at MATO

In 2000, Sandra Stitzel's husband, Frank, gave her a 97-year-old "boy" for her birthday.

The gift was actually a 1903 Olvera antique automobile, and it has been making the rounds at car shows ever since. The car, named "Ollie" by the Green Valley couple, will be part of the Caballeros de Yuma's Midnight at the Oasis car show this weekend in Yuma.

Stitzel's husband bought the car from a friend who worked in Matamoros, Mexico, when the Stitzels lived in Brownsville, Texas.

These automobiles were originally built in Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico. Stitzel isn't sure how many were produced in 1903, but she believes that it will be the oldest car in the show.

"Chances are good that it's the oldest; they didn't have Model-T's in 1903."

Indeed, it is the oldest car ever entered in Midnight at the Oasis since the show began in 1993, said Mary Cordery, executive director of the Caballeros de Yuma, sponsor of the show.

They have entered the car in other shows since they've been in Green Valley, which is near Tucson. "Almost every other place we go, we are the oldest car."

The Stitzels don't measure the vehicle's gas consumption. They have another measure: "We get one parade per gallon," Stitzel said.

She said that much of the body is made of 100-year-old wood, so it had become damaged because of the dry humidity and other parts of the car were rusting by the time the Stitzels wanted to purchase it.

"They were going to turn it into toothpicks," she said.

Rather than calling the car "restored," she prefers to say that it has been "preserved."

The car has a horseless carriage license plate because it was manufactured before 1915, and has a tiller that moves to the right or the left to steer the car. These were replaced by the modern-day steering wheel in automobiles produced about a decade later.

"Ollie goes 22 miles an hour but it's a little scary, with no windshield, no dashboard or seat belts, and primitive brakes," Stitzel said.

"It has one spark plug that is equal to 10 burros of power."

Although "Ollie" always attracts attention at the car shows, Stitzel said she and her husband haven't had any offers to buy it.

"We've never even thought about it."


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MATO SCHEDULE
-All events at Ray Kroc Memorial Complex

-Tonight
4:30 - 10 p.m. - Concert and dance featuring Big Johnson with the Horndogs at 4:30 p.m. and Rockola at 7 p.m.; gates open at 4 p.m.

-Saturday
9 a.m. - 4 p.m. - Show 'n' Shine - entertainment, vendors, midway rights, children's activities and food and drinks

9:30 a.m. - Pinewood Derby

1:30 p.m. - Open Division of Pinewood Derby

11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. - Racing legend Mario Andretti signs autographs

7:30 - 11:30 p.m. - Concerts featuring Survivor at 7 p.m., Loverboy at 8:45 p.m.

-Sunday
9 a.m. - 1 p.m. - Show 'n' Shine - entertainment, vendors, midway rights, children's activities and food and drinks