[Jim/GA]

It depends a lot on how much money is at stake. If you are shelling out a lot of money for what is supposed to be a very high quality car, it is worth the "insurance cost" to go look at it or find someone to do it for you.

There are probably businesses that do this for old car buyers, I don't know, but unless the person they send out really knows Model A Fords, I'm not sure how much value they will be. I guess they would prevent you from buying a car that was a real obvious disaster.

You could ask here on the FB to see if anyone was near the car.

I would gladly go look at a car for someone, for a modest fee (mainly my expenses to get to the car and back) if it were not too far from me. I would take notes in advance from you about what the car is supposed to be, and then try to confirm those things in person. If you have a smart phone, tablet or computer that you can video chat over (Skype, etc.) I would give you a live video tour of the car as I saw it, and point out to you the concerns I have that you can then negotiate with the seller about.

Many details about restoration you need to take on faith because you cannot see them. The current seller may not have done much of the prior work, a previous owner did. This is where someone that is very familiar with the Model A could tell if it was running, shifting, steering, braking correctly.

Receipts for work done are good, but you are never sure about the quality of the work. The reputation of the person that did the work helps.

There are very few old cars that you will buy that don't need a little work once you get it home. That's part of owning an old car. Whether you inspect the car yourself or have someone do it for you, there will be things that surprise you that will need attention. Moderate your expectations (you're not buying a new car) and you hopefully won't be too disappointed.
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