When my grandfather Karl was about my age, he spent a year working at the Duesenberg factory in Indianapolis, from 1929 to 1930. He saved his factory uniform. In 1948, he bought the foundation of a Duesenberg Model A, and began to restore it.

It was a long process, and my dad helped him. My grandfather got most of the way before he died in 1988. About 10 years ago my dad said to me, "Let's finish this." We completed it in the summer of 2010—62 years after my grandfather started the job. If you look at all the subtleties of a 1923 Duesenberg, they're all correct on the car.

We took it to a car show in Michigan. I'm the same body type as my grandfather. (I was even named after him; my middle name is Karl.) His uniform fits me like a glove, so I wore it to the show. Nobody had worn it since he took it off in 1930. Others were wearing blazers and ties, but I had this uniform on, covered in decades-old oil stains. People went crazy. And the car won two awards.

Now, when I'm wearing the uniform and driving the car, it's the ultimate feeling, like my grandfather is up there looking down on me.