When will we get t the last one?

[ivoryjohn]

Surfing through wish bay looking at all the Model A's for sale I couldn't help but be astounded at the number of original cars still available waiting for their first restoration.A guy would think that we would be getting down to the last few original untouched of Henry's babies and starting to restore the restored cars cars for the second or third time by this stage of the restoration game. We have been pursuing tired iron to rebuild and make shiny for what now...fifty years and there are still cars and trucks to be had in original rust.

What happened during those famous scrap metal drives during the wars that supposedly ate all the old cars and trucks? Seems the iron mongers missed a whole bunch of potential tank material..It make you wonder it there was some kind of underground railway to aid escaping Model A's running from the scrap man. How did they explain those big lumps under canvas out in the pasture?

Maybe it is my modern take on a car's useful life being way less than it used to be before they are junk. Today you measure a cars life in dog years. By the time they are ten years old most materials other than the little metal they contain is deteriorating due to ultraviolet light rot. Planned obselesance it is called. Model A's were only eleven years old at the start of WWII and not even teenagers. Maybe there weren't many Model A's that were candidates to the junk man's pile. Now they are eighty and still giving all to the people that love them.

How many years will it be before this forum will be mostly about correcting the mistakes of earlier restorers?

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by ivoryjohn

What happened during those famous scrap metal drives during the wars that supposedly ate all the old cars and trucks? Seems the iron mongers missed a whole bunch of potential tank material..

I believe it was that they worked and worked well. they were reliable and easy to work on. No reason to scrap. As you said, they were not that old when the scrap drives were going on.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Adding to what Mike said, I feel it was a different era when most everyone could tinker with something mechanical and could make necessary repairs. Today our vehicles have self-diagnosis systems yet folks generally do not have the skills, tools, nor the desire to see if they repair it themselves.

[pat in Santa Cruz]

they were also not sent to scrap because they got good mileage in an age when fuel was rationed. A typical large car from the 20's/30's got 5-8 mpg. Even a medium late 30's car like a plymouth got about 12-15. Ford had 'em all beat, and when you got 10 gallons a week on rations, then guess which car was kept around.

[Ross/Kzoo]

Originally Posted by pat in Santa Cruz

they were also not sent to scrap because they got good mileage in an age when fuel was rationed. A typical large car from the 20's/30's got 5-8 mpg. Even a medium late 30's car like a plymouth got about 12-15. Ford had 'em all beat, and when you got 10 gallons a week on rations, then guess which car was kept around.

All that and the fact that there was much more metal in those large cars and repair on the larger cars was expensive and parts not readily available like the A.

[Greg Jones]

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The Model A got a lot of folks through the Depression, and then World War II. They are still out there, yes, but not anywhere near like they used to be. Don't know when the last one will be pulled out of the barn, but in my area I just moved to there are at least 6 originals tucked away within a 10 mile radius of me.

[roccaas]

Barns, lots of Barns

[BCCHOPIT]

mine was parked in 1957 after he got out of high school.
It was his $95 high school junk box.
I was talking to a guy this summer that parked next to it every day at school