Ramblin' Wreck - Travelin' Wreck

Travelin' Wreck

In its history, the Wreck has appeared at a number of away games and other events away from the Georgia Tech campus. Many of these trips resulted in damage to the Wreck or other interesting anecdotes.

The first away game for the Ramblin' Wreck was the 1961 game against the Alabama Crimson Tide. The Wreck was freighted by Southern Railway to Birmingham, Alabama. At the time, Alabama played its home games at Legion Field. Before the game the current driver Dekle Rountree decided to traverse the slope up to visit Birmingham's Vulcan statue. The trip to Birmingham was such a success, a trip to Jacksonville for Tech's Gator Bowl appearance against Penn State was organized as well. These would be the first road and bowl game appearances for the Wreck in its illustrious career.

In 1963, the Ramblin' Reck Committee and Ramblin' Reck Club organized another road trip for the Wreck. This trip would take the Wreck up to Knoxville for a game against the Tennessee Volunteers. After Tech won the game, the Wreck was stored overnight in Neyland Stadium. Administrators and Tennessee's Athletic Director Bob Woodruff promised Georgia Tech Athletics that the Wreck would be safe. They were wrong. Tennessee students broke into the storage area and painted the Wreck orange. They wrote "Go Vols" in the paint and covered the gold wheels with paint as well. After the incident, Georgia Tech sent a bill to Tennessee's Athletic Department asking for restitution. It was believed that Woodruff had aided the students in their efforts after he openly contested the officiating of the football contest.

In 1976, Tech students took the Wreck to Athens for the annual football game with UGA. After the game, the Wreck's police escort abandoned the car. The vehicle appeared relatively unprotected and was approached by UGA students attempting to vandalize it. The Tech students responsible for the car's safekeeping frightened the encroaching Bulldog fans away by producing a concealed 9 mm pistol.

The farthest trips the Ramblin' Wreck has ever traveled from Atlanta were the 1970 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas and Denver, Colorado, in 1990 for Tech's NCAA Final Four Appearance against UNLV. The Wreck was freighted by van 1,400 miles (2,250 km) to Denver Coliseum. Along the way, a television crew documented the trip and broadcast the Wreck's expedition during the Final Four promotions.

The last major roadtrips for the Ramblin' Wreck were to the 2004 Final Four in San Antonio, Texas, the 2006 ACC Championship Game in Jacksonville, Florida, and the 2009 ACC Championship Game in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium. The Wreck led the Yellow Jacket football team onto Alltel Stadium's field for Tech's first appearance in the ACC Title game, as well as performing the same duty in their second appearance and first win in the ACC Championship Game in 2009. The Wreck has also been to the Orange Bowl, Gator Bowl, All-American Bowl, Sun Bowl, Peach Bowl, Citrus Bowl, and Champs Sports Bowl.

On June 15, 2007, the Wreck was involved in an accident while being towed to a wedding south of Atlanta in a covered car trailer. The trailer failed while carrying the Wreck, in turn causing the truck and trailer to run off the road and into the roadside ditch. The Wreck fell over inside the trailer, causing damage to its side and roof. Despite the severe body damage (in excess of $30,000), the Wreck was repaired for the first game of the 2007 season against the Samford Bulldogs.