Like a lot of 17 year olds, Betty Parrish has goals and ambitions. What draws our attention to Betty, a Tennessee resident set to graduate high school in the spring of 2025, is that her ambitions revolve around a career in restoring old cars.
Fortunately, she’s got some internships and positions lined up with experienced, professional organizations and businesses in the industry to help her learn the ropes and get started directly in her career. Unfortunately, those internships come with expenses, such as travel, lodging and other bills. To finance her education, Betty’s grandfather, Stefan Ronnebeck, has listed this 1923 Ford Model T Runabout on Hemmings Auctions. Stefan promises that profit earned from the sale of the car, which Betty has worked on and maintained, will go to helping Betty secure her future in the industry.
Betty Parrish working in the family shop./All images courtesy of Stefan Ronnebeck.
We caught up with Betty recently, and she shared her story with us. Her experience with motor vehicles is apparently genetic. “It runs in the family,” she says. “Everyone in my family works on cars. I grew up building Airstreams for singer-songwriters. I went on to rebuilding tractors, selling them as a hobby.” After the tractors, Betty decided “Let’s change it up” and went on to vintage automobiles.
Betty has already restored a 1976 Chevrolet Corvette. Other cars that Betty has worked on include a 1955 Packard Patrician, a 1957 Ford Ranch Wagon, a 1934 Dodge sedan and a trio of Marmons: a 1928 Model 75, a 1927 Model L Roadster and a 1929 Marmon Roosevelt, which she describes as “such a beauty,” adding, “That was an amazing car.” Currently, there is a 1974 Corvette and a 1990 Jaguar XJS V12 that are in the process of being restored in the family’s dedicated shop in Tennessee that she shares with her grandfather.
Betty Parrish sanding the finish on a 1976 Chevrolet Corvette that she restored.
Her already in-depth experience includes body work with both fiberglass and steel, welding, mechanical work, paint, interiors, woodworking and seemingly just about every type of job needed to restore a vintage car. That ’76 Corvette was traded for the Model T, which Betty and the family are now ready to part ways with to help fund Betty’s future. In addition to her internship expenses, a portion of the funds will go to help her complete work on a 1979 Ford F-150 SuperCab long bed that will take her on some of her travels.
Betty has worked with the RPM Foundation, which helped her secure a navigator position in the organization’s X-Cup team for The Great Race in 2023. She’s also had recognition in various magazines and appeared on podcasts that cover the hobby.
Betty Parrish (left) and her friend Layla installing the crankshaft in a Ford 300-cu.in. inline-six engine that is destined for Betty’s 1979 Ford F-150 SuperCab pickup.
This 1923 Ford Model T is a former winner of a preservation award in the 1990s and presents as restored with a partial repaint and appears to be clean inside, outside, underneath and even in the engine bay. Betty has no qualms about getting behind the wheel of the 100-year-old car, telling us, “The Model T is similar to a tractor, and I grew up on tractors.” Betty says that she enjoys “the absolute beauty and originality” of the Model T, which she calls “90% original.”
“The profit that this Model T is going to bring will help get me to Indiana to start working,” she says. Proud grandfather Stefan shares that “Betty has an amazing talent and is not afraid to tackle any challenge.” It’s clear that Betty is going places and we definitely expect to see her name again as she makes this hobby her career.
Head on over to Hemmings Auctions and take a look at this 1923 Ford Model T Runabout to see what the high school kids are driving this year.
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