Adams Center resident wins Morrisville State College’s rat rod

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MORRISVILLE, NY— Adams Center resident Ray Ortlieb is feeling pretty lucky these days.

The Lewis County Sheriff’s Deputy purchased only one ticket—the one pulled in Morrisville State College’s raffle to win the Automotive Club’s rat rod.

The “new” set of wheels, built by MSC automotive students, joins another classic car Ortlieb has at home. Ortlieb plans to register and drive the rat rod, a 1936, 1-1/2 ton truck whose cab is from a 1940 Dodge pickup. The engine, a 1980 Oldsmobile diesel, runs on biodiesel fuel. 

“I researched the car online and watched videos on it. It was a pretty cool project,” the proud new owner said. 

MSC automotive students also built a 1933 Ford hot rod from the frame up, which they gave away at the Syracuse Nationals in 2011. The hot rod kit was a donation from Factory Five Racing to MSC’s auto programs. 

Morrisville’s auto programs prepare students for automotive careers, aligning them with current industry.

Morrisville’s automotive facilities include an award-winning automotive technology building with nine state-of-the art laboratories, a showroom, and an auto body building with a lab containing superior air purification equipment, a laser device for measuring frame damage, and a Garmat Paint Station.

As the only campus with its own parts department and live service desk both run by students, students gain communication skills performing live work on faculty, staff and student vehicles. 

Morrisville State’s curricula are enriched with applied learning and pave the way for opportunity at both the Morrisville and Norwich campuses. An action-oriented, interactive learning lab, the college is a national leader in technology and has been lauded for its exemplary, innovative and effective community service programs. 

The college was ranked among the Best Regional Colleges in the North by U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges 2016 issue and was also recognized in the Top Public Schools, Regional Colleges North in the 2016 Best Colleges rankings.