Non-Authentic Paint Schemes
 

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See my avatar!!

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I like it.

Tastes change over the years. Enjoy.

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looks good. I went a little off book on mine. Nearly no one who sees it on road will even know. I dont think any of the originals included the belt line and I couldn't look at that detail without including it in the top paint. My car revealed only one shade on the body during the stripping. I got it with a gaudy metallic blue done in the 50s or 60s.

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Non-stock color and pinstripe instead of black beltline.

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'Stock never goes out of style'

..one thing to remember,Mr Ford converted his product into cash,from that point he was on to building the next unit he could convert to cash.A fine point restoration stands no closer to his goal than a chevy powered chopped top hot rod does,he met his goal making a product the public would buy and use as they saw,or see,fit,nothing more.

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If changing colors is the worst one could do then I am in deep doo doo. Work in progress and now doing reassembly.

Cheers,

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Jeff,


really like that color choice.


though I am a blackwall man...........

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"There was a bit of a pause in the color parade when the market crashed in 1929, Tutt notes — colors got dimmer, more depressing, in somber greens and grays. And when cars were colorful, fenders were often painted black in a melding of the practical and the aesthetically pleasing: Dinged fenders could be easily and cheaply painted with asphalt paint, saving on repairs."
https://www.consumerreports.org/cons...so-boring-now/

Best not to look like a rat with a gold tooth in the Depression I guess ...
They went the other way here and dumped the US colours for brighter ones due to sluggish sales.

Ford advertising 1929 said "But colour selection cannot be determined by a layman, and thus, in the endeavour to produce articles in colour, which reflect the modern idea, most industries have failed".

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Like this:

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I am not so sure Tutt knew what he was talking about. Go look at other marques of vehicles of the same vintage and you will see quite the contrary. Ford built to his socioeconomic market, ...and people who drove Fords then were likely considered more frugal -and modest.

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I just couldn't bring myself to change the color, just to be a "correct" hobbyist.
After making sure it would go, and then stop.. with a new interior instead of a 5 gallon bucket to sit on, the budget has just about reached a reasonable limit.!
I still get waves and nods of approval, (and I suppose a jealous look from some
that wish they had one), even a few top ten trophies at local car shows.
I'm a happy Model A owner, trying to stay within my means. kb

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Cave - I like it!!

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Ford lost no time reading the market after the debacle of the T and the A.In ways, the model a was a failure.It didn't hold the market as long as planned,and the depression only highlighted its shortcomings with the public.There is a good argument in Ford not recouping his investment in retooling for the A during its run.In fact,they lost money from '29 to '46,almost the full run of the 'A' platform..war contracts were 'cost plus a dollar'.By mid 1930 it was clear something needed to be done,and Ford finally followed the market instead of leading it,with yearly model changes beginning in '32.Color was not going to save Ford,the only thing that did was the profits from the model T..it carried them for almost 20 years..

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You are correct in that the A was somewhat of a failure as far as ROI was concerned however I am now wondering, was there any US-manufactured vehicle during that same or later era whose production that lasted any longer? It appears to me that technology was advancing pretty quickly where a vehicle was obsolete within a few years with regard to styling and mechanical advancements.

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One way to address "conservative" is to perhaps view this as the resulting world wide shifts from Victorian/ Edwardian styles to Modernism and more subdued palettes. Some examples may be the Kahn designed Ford plants with minimal ornamentation (brick, glass, steel, concrete) and resulting cost savings.
Influential folks could order cars with special colors and as with fleet sales, etc.

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The A was the last mass produced design till the Volkswagen type 1.Styling and marketing took the place of sound engineering principals as the driving force behind sales.
One needs to look no further than the 'A' platform,the traverse spring/torque tube design lasted 20 years,through all kinds of styling changes sales and marketing drove the bigger engine push and body design changes but the base design held fast.Engineering took a back seat to sales,Vw fought that trend till 1968,the type 1 till 1967 was the last automobile 'controlled' by the engineering department,sales and marketing had no input,they sold what engineering designed.
Whats interesting about the A is that it endured,its simplicity was its savior.When later cars couldn't be fixed in the backyard they met their end,the very driving force behind their sale...new,modern complex devices..caused their downfall..

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When I restored my 31 Slant T/S I chose Ford commercial colors to get a better selection of colors. Of course, you can have the car judged, but that wasn't planned any way.
My upper body color is Cherokee Gray and lower body color is French Gray and Hessian Blue pinstripe and wheels.
I've received many compliments on the car.

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A hamburger that tastes like cardboard has been shown to appeal to a wide market.