The Aubins have lived in Lyndonville for seven generations, and their 1931 Ford Model A has been driven by their family for five. In the 1940s, Alphonse Aubin bought the car and named her Lizzie. Alphonse was a postal carrier in Lyndonville for two decades and used Lizzie to deliver the mail. Over the years, she became a familiar sight in parades and at Bandstand Park during the summer for Wednesday night military band concerts. But Lizzie hadn't been seen in Lyndonville for the past 35 years.

Alphonse's great-grandson C.J. Aubin inherited the car from his cousin Bryan, who kept her with him in Burlington; before that, she'd spent some time with his uncle Ricky in Wallingford, Vt., and Clifton Park, N.Y. Two years ago, C.J. brought Lizzie home to Lyndonville on a trailer, and many Aubins were glad to see her again.

C.J., who said he never considered himself a "car guy" until Lizzie came into his possession, has been restoring her with some help from his children, Zak and Ali. In the past year, they have logged 915 miles around town. Last fall, C.J. drove his kids to their first day of school in Lizzie, and she's ferried them to baseball and softball games at the high school and Fisher Field.

Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger visited C.J. at Aubin Electric shop in Lyndonville on a sunny Saturday to meet members of the Aubin family, hear some stories and hitch a ride with Lizzie.

Sollberger spoke with Seven Days about filming the episode.

How did you hear about Lizzie?

I got an email from C.J.'s cousin Jay Collier last fall. Collier shared the story of Lizzie and the Aubin family with me, and he also made a short video with C.J., which included old photos of the different Aubins who have owned Lizzie over the years. Last fall, a retiring postal worker in Lyndonville asked C.J. to give her a lift in Lizzie to deliver the mail along his great-grandfather's old route in her last few weeks on the job. That would have made a great video, but the timing didn't work out. So I got in touch with C.J. again this spring, and we made a date for filming.

It's amazing how long Lizzie has been in the Aubin family.

C.J. is the fifth owner of this car and the fourth generation of Aubins to own her. His children have helped a lot in the past year restoring Lizzie and getting her road ready. I asked Zak and Ali if I should include their generation in the title, and Ali was adamant that I should. You can tell how much pride they all take in this car. If you include C.J.'s brother's grandson Phoenix, who is two years old, six generations of Aubins have taken rides in Lizzie. And I am sure there will be many more to come.

The Aubins are an interesting family.

C.J. talked about how the Aubins are very handy. In addition to keeping Lizzie running over the years, they have a go-kart miniature train that is a replica of a diesel locomotive that ran in Lyndonville in the 1950s. I would also say the Aubins are excellent storytellers. Each of them told great tales about Lizzie and their family memories. I could not include all of them in the video, but it really helped bring the past to life.

What was it like driving in Lizzie?

My first reaction when I got in was, "Where are the seat belts?" Spoiler alert: There are none. Lizzie also doesn't have a radio, air conditioning or automatic windows. But as family friend Peter Hopkins says in the video, "She purrs." And she does. The sounds she makes are very interesting. And of course, the ahooga horn is a ton of fun. People notice you when you are driving in Lizzie. We got lots of waves from townsfolk. Lizzie feels very substantial. She keeps up with traffic and has a lot of pep. I'm still not entirely sure how C.J. starts her, but I think it may have involved magic.

Why did you cover this story?

My maternal grandfather was an engineer at Ford Motor Company in Detroit around when the Model As were being made. My paternal grandfather was a Ford mechanic, so I think they both would have been tickled to hear about my adventure with Lizzie. The Aubins are a tight-knit family, and I knew this would be an interesting story. Zak will be learning how to drive this summer in Lizzie, and he will probably inherit her eventually — although he joked that his dad might take her to his grave.