A Tiger for a Tiger: A couple’s gift to Auburn spirit

Joe Brackin ‘80 jokes that when he was dating his wife Roberta Marcantonio, he knew their relationship was serious when she let him drive her car.

Roberta purchased her beloved roadster — a 1966 Sunbeam Tiger — in 1980 after graduating college and settling into her career in Atlanta. Since she and Joe married 27 years ago, the couple has been committed to keeping the roadster in top shape, fully restoring the car’s mechanics and appearance.

“I knew Joe loved cars when we started dating, even if I made him wait a while to drive mine,” Roberta said. “And we joked a lot about that. In fact, the best man at our wedding said that Joe married me for my Tiger and I married him to have an engineer to work on it.”

When the couple retired on the South Carolina coast in 2019, they began making estate planning decisions, including philanthropic giving to Auburn. As they considered what they wanted to do with their prized Tiger, it became clear that it could be used to bring joy to the Auburn Family by another Tiger: Aubie.

Tiger time

Growing up in central Alabama in the ‘60s and ‘70s, loving Auburn was a family thing for Joe. And a part of that love for Auburn was the idea of Aubie.

“I grew up an Auburn fan, just like my whole family was,” he said. “My brother-in-law was a 1968 graduate in civil engineering, and I remember going to a football game with him and my sister when the Haley Center was being built.”

Whether from going to games with his family or getting souvenirs from his sister’s trips to Jordan-Hare Stadium, Joe amassed a collection of football programs featuring the cartoon Aubie, originally imagined by Phil Neel in 1959.

When it was time to choose a college, the choice was easy. And during Joe’s last year at Auburn, student leaders brought Aubie to life.

Restoring a classic

When Roberta bought the Tiger, she was determined to keep her dream car for as long as possible. After she and Joe married, they decided it was time to start restoring the roadster.

“It ran OK, and was in pretty good shape, but the paint was starting to get worn and it needed some work,” Joe said. “So, when we married and moved to South Florida in the late ‘90s, we had the conversation that, if we’re going to keep this car for the long haul, let’s freshen up the paint and do other things to preserve it.”

One thing led to another and once they started, they weren’t sure where to stop.

“I started taking things off to get the car ready for a paint refresh, and next thing you know, the car is in pieces and the engine is out,” he said. “We decided at that point that we might as well rebuild the engine so that it will last forever.”

Over the next two years, they found specialists to help them meticulously restore the Tiger to showroom factory condition — including replacing the wood details in the dashboard, repairing the upholstery, rebuilding the engine block and refreshing the original midnight blue paint job.

“The color happened to be the perfect Auburn blue,” Roberta said.

Giving back

Helping new generations of the Auburn Family is something Joe holds close to his heart.

After graduating with his degree in civil engineering, he had a non-traditional career working in structural analysis for aerospace companies, and later software structural analysis at Siemens. He credits the well-rounded engineering education he got at Auburn, along with the college’s Career Development Office, for the opportunity to interview with companies like Lockheed Martin and Boeing before graduation.

“I was set to work for the highway department, but instead of working on roads and bridges, I worked on airplanes and rockets all over the country,” he said. “The great engineering faculty and education I got at Auburn helped lead me to places I never would have dreamed of.”

He also recognized the sacrifices his parents made to give him the Auburn experience.

“Auburn was very important to my parents, and they worked hard to get me through school at a time when scholarships and financial aid were rare,” he said. “When they passed away, we decided to start a scholarship in their memory as a way to give future Auburn engineers the same support they gave me to earn an education.”

Joe and Roberta established the Bob and Lydia Brackin Endowed Scholarship in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering and created an annual scholarship in his parents’ memory as well.

When the couple retired and began looking at long-term estate planning, they established the Joe Brackin and Roberta Marcantonio Endowed Scholarship in the College of Engineering through planned gifts.

As the question of the Tiger came up, it was Roberta who decided that they should bequeath it to the Aubie Program.

The couple left the roadster to the university in their estate plan but are already working with the Aubie Program, Student Affairs and Ginn College of Engineering to determine how the groups can collaborate to care for the car long-term, including engineering students being part of the car’s care and connecting with the Aubie Program.

“We put a lot of love, time and thought into the Tiger, and we like the idea that Aubie will be able to use it to help share what is so special about Auburn,” she said. “We know the College of Engineering has smart folks who can help ensure that the car stays in great shape so that it’s an asset for the Aubie Program for many years to come.”

“We want Aubie to be able to use the car while we’re still around,” Joe said. “Our plan is to give the car to Auburn when we are no longer able to enjoy it. Until then, we love the idea of driving it to campus around events when Aubie can use it to ride in style.”

Joe and Roberta brought Tiger to campus for the Auburn Football game against the Georgia Bulldogs, and drove Aubie to take photos with fans in front of the Melton Student Center the Friday afternoon before the matchup.

“We want Auburn fans to get used to seeing Aubie with the Tiger and rallying around it,” Roberta added. “This is a wonderful way to connect our love for Auburn with the larger Auburn spirit in a way that many people get to enjoy.”