Original body style???

[Ayers1]

I was at a cruise in this evening and this pick up was there. It's a 29 Ford street rod and I complimented the owner on the nice job of stretching the cab. He said it was never stretched and came like this originally and was marketed out west. I have never seen a 29 pickup body like this. Was the guy full of BS or is this a style I have never seen? Thanks!

[dave in australia]

Not original Ford, but maybe a body manufacturer. There were plenty of companies making heir own commercial bodies for Fords.

[Ayers1]

I hadn't thought about that. He did say the rear window was made bigger than original but that was supposedly the only modification.
Thanks!

[David in San Antonio]

If the stretched cab allows for more legroom it could be the answer for many people.

[Ayers1]

Originally Posted by David in San Antonio

If the stretched cab allows for more legroom it could be the answer for many people.

It definitely would be! The cab was about 12 inches longer than a stock one. The owner was a little over 6ft tall and didn't have any trouble getting in and out of it.

[Bob C]

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Looks like the 6" extended cab corners that the vendors sold at one time.

[WTSHNN]

Its a recent stretch.

We know Ford didn't sell it with that stretch and side window.

Most independent body builders would have purchased a chassis which would come with a commercial cowl (no A pillar) and no other body components. The pictured hot rod's full cowl, doors, and the lower rear panel all appear to be FoMoCo.

It doesn't make sense for an independent body builder to buy a complete pickup from Ford and then stretch the rear corners and resell. Looking at a lot of independent bodies of that era they are custom built from the A pillar to the tailgate.

And the dismissive "marketed out west"...thats the BS.

[Ayers1]

It's nice to know that I wasn't completely uninformed. Didn't know you could get cab corners to stretch the cab, although it does make sense to do it like that. So it most likely was an original cab with new corners. It was a very nice job. I figured the "sold in the midwest and beyond" was BS but I don't know everything about the A's production so I give the benefit of the doubt.

[WTSHNN]

Ask away, it's the best way to end the old wives tales about these cars.

Here's a photo of a commercial cowl on the assembly line, you can see that the sheet metal ends at the gas tank. This is what an independent body builder would have started with.

[CHuDWah]

Also, the tailgate may be original but the box isn't, And pickup tail light was mounted under box, not on fender.

[Dave Mellor NJ]

It's fairly common to stretch an open cab pickup. I have a friend who did one but he never got a top

[Y-Blockhead]

Doesn't someone on the Barn have a lengthened cab?

[Brad in Germany]

There were many custom body manufacturers at the time, that offered many different variations of commercial bodies for the Ford Model A.

Here for example is an extended cab pick-up offered by Springfield Commercial Bodies:

....or this one offered by Martin Parry:


There were hundreds of such extended cab commercial vehicles, in all type variations, that were available as aftermarket bodies for the Ford Model A and AA chassis.

Brad in Maryland

[Ayers1]

Thanks Brad! Hard to believe there were so many variations back then!

[ModelA29]

AA body 89-A - some stretch but no window - https://aafords.com/wp-content/uploa....01.29p-q8.jpg


For anyone over 5'7" Howell's still sells the stretch corners up to 12" for $425 - https://www.fordor.com/category.cfm?...s&dept=2646rod

[Bob C]

82-A is the cab 89-A is the express bed.

[rotorwrench]

When I was a kid, my pop would purchase grain bed bob tail trucks from Tradewind Industries. They had a shop in Liberal, KS that was close to us but they also had a shop in Wichita, KS. They were one of many companies that built custom beds for the Ford truck chassis. Fords 82A cab was small so those folks that had local body and bed manufacturers would buy from them to get a vehicle that was better for their needs.

My Grandpop purchased his grain bed trucks from a Local IHC dealer. He used the International Six Speed Specials for quite a few years. They had a larger box and better gearing for hauling full loads of wheat than anything else he could get locally during the late 1920s.

[Ayers1]

@rotorwrench, that's a great story! Back then you could get almost any configuration to suit your needs apparently!