The Ford Barn

Retson the Racer · 05-25-2025, 10:17 PM

I’ve got a little Sunday night mystery release for you guys! On tonight’s episode, we cover the mystery of the prototype 1931 “Three Window” Model A.

https://youtu.be/pdUTBS3VNKE

Chuck Sea/Tac · 05-27-2025, 01:45 PM

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing

rotorwrench · 05-27-2025, 03:23 PM

We just had a discussion about this car. Briggs and Murray were the only builders that made slant windshield bodies for Ford. Both had their own design teams but they worked from Edsel's ideas and likely drawings between Ford and one of the two body subcontractors. The Victoria Coupe and the 68C Cabriolet were designs that survived the cut but were similar enough to have been drawn up at about the same time. Ford already had several coupe designs and Henry wasn't big on change.

Synchro909 · 05-27-2025, 06:56 PM

Only two days ago, I was looking at a car that does not exist, at least not according to Ford's records. It is a RHD SW Fordor. In 1930 Henry sent a shipment of cars to Australia without them having been ordered. He didn't allow for the law here being different from the US. Dealers weren't selling many cars but only when they were able to find a buyer, they would order one from Ford who would assemble one from the last shipment with several items unique to Australian assembled cars. The dealer would pay for it and move it on to their buyer. If the car wasn't ordered, the dealer didn't have to pay for it so most of the cars sat with Ford unassembled. A new 1930 Model A, according to my information could be bought in 1933. Obviously, Henry wasn't going to make that mistake again. At their Geelong assembly plant, cars were assembled as required in 1931 from those 1930 cars. There are theories about how a SW 1931 car came to be but the most favoured is that a new (American?) manager decided he would like a SW and had one unofficially assembled.
The car I saw had those unique items, is RHD and a slant windscreen.
I figure you can't get rarer than "it doesn't exist".

rotorwrench · 05-30-2025, 05:22 PM

Ford USA was part and party to getting Ford of Canada off and running in 1905 I believe. International trade rules didn't allow Ford USA to sell cars to most Commonwealth countries with few exceptions so the way around was through Ford of Canada which Henry didn't own. Ford of Canada supplied new knock downs until Geelong was up and running but they still provided chassis, cowls, and a lot of other assemblies well up to the war and after for a time.

A person could purchase a car from Ford USA and have it shipped over to Australia as long as it made it through customs. Ford USA made right hand drive cars that they shipped to non commonwealth countries, South Africa was an exception for a time but Dagenham was up and running in 1931 as well.

ModelA29 · 05-30-2025, 11:42 PM

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Quote:

Originally Posted by rotorwrench

...... International trade rules didn't allow Ford USA to sell cars to most Commonwealth countries .

The Commonwealth would have set up their own rules - probably for each country. Ford setting up in other countries satisfied their desire for "home grown" products. I still want a English Model Y - 3/4 scale of a US car.........
It's all done in the name of protecting the home market and labor. People think this current tariff spat is new. England still requires US movie studios to spend the money in the UK on a "tax/profit sharing" basis. This is why US studios are filming a lot in the UK. They dropped their "tax" 25% a couple years ago and that generated an additional 5.8 billion in work from Hollywood studios.
People wondered why the Vega and Pinto were never sold in Japan. A strict car and engine size rule taxed (tariffed) them out of the market. The engine in the Vega was over 2 liters so it had a big penalty. The Pinto was about an inch too wide even with a 1,998 cc engine it would be taxed for being too wide.

rotorwrench · 05-31-2025, 10:34 AM

The model Y was Bob Gregorie's first design for Edsel. Edsel liked it so much that they upscaled the design for the 1933 and 34 Fords. Britain had a major tax problem with engines that were of too large a displacement and horsepower. This made it necessary to lower the displacement of the Ford engines. The 60 horsepower V8 was designed for this reason but it wasn't as popular in the USA market

05-25-2025, 10:17 PM	#1
Retson the Racer Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Lompoc, Ca Posts: 28	RARE 1931 Model A 3-Window I’ve got a little Sunday night mystery release for you guys! On tonight’s episode, we cover the mystery of the prototype 1931 “Three Window” Model A. https://youtu.be/pdUTBS3VNKE

05-27-2025, 01:45 PM	#2
Chuck Sea/Tac Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Between Seattle & Tacoma Posts: 2,411	Re: RARE 1931 Model A 3-Window Very interesting! Thanks for sharing

05-27-2025, 03:23 PM	#3
rotorwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 17,410	Re: RARE 1931 Model A 3-Window We just had a discussion about this car. Briggs and Murray were the only builders that made slant windshield bodies for Ford. Both had their own design teams but they worked from Edsel's ideas and likely drawings between Ford and one of the two body subcontractors. The Victoria Coupe and the 68C Cabriolet were designs that survived the cut but were similar enough to have been drawn up at about the same time. Ford already had several coupe designs and Henry wasn't big on change.

05-27-2025, 06:56 PM	#4
Synchro909 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 8,041	Re: RARE 1931 Model A 3-Window Only two days ago, I was looking at a car that does not exist, at least not according to Ford's records. It is a RHD SW Fordor. In 1930 Henry sent a shipment of cars to Australia without them having been ordered. He didn't allow for the law here being different from the US. Dealers weren't selling many cars but only when they were able to find a buyer, they would order one from Ford who would assemble one from the last shipment with several items unique to Australian assembled cars. The dealer would pay for it and move it on to their buyer. If the car wasn't ordered, the dealer didn't have to pay for it so most of the cars sat with Ford unassembled. A new 1930 Model A, according to my information could be bought in 1933. Obviously, Henry wasn't going to make that mistake again. At their Geelong assembly plant, cars were assembled as required in 1931 from those 1930 cars. There are theories about how a SW 1931 car came to be but the most favoured is that a new (American?) manager decided he would like a SW and had one unofficially assembled. The car I saw had those unique items, is RHD and a slant windscreen. I figure you can't get rarer than "it doesn't exist". __________________ I sometimes wonder what happened to the people who asked me for directions. Even at my age, I still like to look at a young, attractive woman but I can't really remember why.

05-30-2025, 05:22 PM	#5
rotorwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 17,410	Re: RARE 1931 Model A 3-Window Ford USA was part and party to getting Ford of Canada off and running in 1905 I believe. International trade rules didn't allow Ford USA to sell cars to most Commonwealth countries with few exceptions so the way around was through Ford of Canada which Henry didn't own. Ford of Canada supplied new knock downs until Geelong was up and running but they still provided chassis, cowls, and a lot of other assemblies well up to the war and after for a time. A person could purchase a car from Ford USA and have it shipped over to Australia as long as it made it through customs. Ford USA made right hand drive cars that they shipped to non commonwealth countries, South Africa was an exception for a time but Dagenham was up and running in 1931 as well.

05-31-2025, 10:34 AM	#7
rotorwrench Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 17,410	Re: RARE 1931 Model A 3-Window The model Y was Bob Gregorie's first design for Edsel. Edsel liked it so much that they upscaled the design for the 1933 and 34 Fords. Britain had a major tax problem with engines that were of too large a displacement and horsepower. This made it necessary to lower the displacement of the Ford engines. The 60 horsepower V8 was designed for this reason but it wasn't as popular in the USA market