Your Model A

[1955cj5]

I have been an owner since 1962, when I was about 7 years old......my dad brought this old ccpu home, he had seen it for sale on a downtown street for $125....he had the four of us kids put on the title.

It was a mixture of '29 and '30 parts. Mostly wheels radiator seats and small stuff. A 4-speed AA gearbox and boiler plate for a bed floor.

It went to Andy's Model A Clinic for some refurbishment, my brother remembers $800 being spent at the the time. It got paint, a new top, 21" wheels and new tires. Andy made it run and stop.


It spent lots of time in the barn and on occasion we would take a battery out of one of the tractors and drive the Model A. I knew nothing about it. The shifting must have been a nightmare...

But the A survived and eventually came to me two years ago.

Several books, many hours of repair and lots of help from friends and those on the barn and its a pretty good driver now.

[Synchro909]

Heck, this thread is being added to faster than I can read them all!
After a fire destroyed all of my cars a few years back and nearly took my wife as well, I swore off cars altogether but the love of old cars didn't die. A while later, I was missing the companionship of others with the same interest so I said to my wife (who is into the scene as much as I) that we should get another car, this time already restored, mechanically good and ready to rally, oh, and it must be easy to keep on the road. There was no thinking needed - it had to be a Model A. I now have 3 and I've driven that first one about 40,000 miles, most of it with camper trailer behind through the outback. I needn't say more.

[glenn in camino]

Back in 68 I was talking with my best friend, Steve and he was telling me that his uncle in northern Calif. was giving him an unrestored 1930 Model A station wagon. Steve was planning to restore it. That rekindled my interest in Model As and I began looking for a tudor as I had a growing family that would need a safe back seat. In October of 1968 I found a 1928 Model A Tudor advertised in the LA Times. I went to see it and it was running but was definitely restored. I drove it, drove it home, and spent the next 2 and a half
years restoring it to show condition. I scored a first place in the first 2 local shows I entered My life was changed forever. In 2004 we moved from Orange county to Camino in Northern California. I built a large, heated, garage next to my house and now have 6 Model As that I work on almost every day. We go to all the National meets, where I've won many trophies. I still have my 28 tudor and have updated it with all the correct 28 parts

PS. My friend, Steve never did finish his Station Wagon and it was sold soon after Steve passed away Its being restored now somewhere in Southern Calif.

[montanafordman]

I inherited my Model A from my grandfather. I took an interest in his derelict coupe stashed in his garage when I was very little. I would climb over piles of stuff in his unused garage stall to get at the coupe and just sit inside it (and get filthy in the process). He always said it would be my car from day one.

My grandfather bought his 1931 coupe as a basket case in the early 60s and finally got around to getting it running and having a neighbor paint it when he retired from farming in the late 80s/early 90s. He never had the resources, connections or knowledge near him living in rural Montana to see the car to much of a finished state but it suited him to putter around his no-stoplight town on Montana's hi-line.

My grandfather passed away in 2008 and I stored it at my dad's cousins farm until I could bring it home in 2011. I've been working on a full restoration ever since. I did get the chance to put about 2,000 miles on it and drive it to Bend, OR in 2013 for the NW regional meet before completely tearing the body down for a full restoration. I hope to finish it within the next 3 years.

[daveymc29]

You can read about my very first Model A in the Restorer May - June Issue The next one is the first on that I actually owned that I could drive.
We Buy a Model A (Part of a chapter from my book) Click on this site if interested, (free)
http://bit.ly/FromtheShadows or check amazon.com David <. Mc Arthur
Around the middle of 1992 or thereabout, my friend, Sid King called me and told me he was having “buyer’s remorse” over a car he had bought. I asked what he had bought and he explained that he had gone to the Blackhawk Auction in Danville to watch the action. His wife had told him not to buy anything younger than he was. Then a 1933 Ford leaped out at him and he says he scratched his nose and ended up owning it. When he called me was the next day and he was at work at the fire station in the west end of Oakland. I asked where the car was and I went by and had a look at it. It was behind a fence, but I could still get real close and see that it looked very well maintained from the outside.
I went home and called Sid and told him if he felt that bad about buying it that I would gladly relieve him of it for what he had paid. Then he said he felt a lot better and we continued to discuss his purchase and what all owning an older Ford V8 could entail. He told me he had already been approached by a couple of people in the Early Ford V8 Club and a parts dealer, so he felt he wasn’t all alone with the only one of the old Fords still on the road. With that bit understood and my offer, he felt relieved and now was looking forward to enjoyment of his purchase. I told him to let me know if he saw another old Ford somewhere, and we could travel together some time. Then we sort of forgot that subject for a couple of months.
Sid is a bit of a collector of many odds and ends and one thing he wanted was a “one armed bandit,” the old slot machine. He had watched some Penny Saver or some such newsletter and saw that a fellow in Castro Valley had several of the slots for sale. He drove over and eventually bought one or two and in the exchange, then he asked about an old Ford near the back of the guy’s property. The gentleman told him he had acquired it recently and he needed to get rid of it. Sid asked about price and then called me and told me he had a car for me.
We went over, just to look, and I returned with a 1929 Ford, Murray bodied Model A, four door sedan, pretty much in original condition, with maybe one re-spray paint job. It ran okay and was a really nice old car, but the more I looked into it the more I felt restoring it to be something I shouldn’t get involved in and it was a bit too far gone to leave it as an original car. Nelda and I joined the Model A Club in Livermore and within a few months I was the Vice President, then President. Not that I was so clever, but that I hadn’t protested my nomination loudly enough and was therefore the only candidate.
So now we had a Model A and belonged to a club and so we went on the tours locally. What I learned was that I had a fairly unique car, not of great value, but it would be a shame to not re-do it correctly, and it did need work. So I was determined to sell that one and buy another that was pretty much all done already, but still a Model A. And because I had always had later cars, these were challenging and fun cars to drive about locally. I watched the magazine that the Model A Club of America, the national club, put out. There I found a little 1929 Roadster being sold by Allen Funt, of Candid Camera fame. I made contact with the man selling it for him and he told me that the car had already been sold. I told him to let me know if he had any others and he told me not to give up on this one. The guy that had bought it may just want to sell it again and he would check. So we exchanged phone numbers and email addresses, while he tried to get in touch with the guy he had helped buy the car.
A couple of days later, my new friend, Paul Sund of Pacific Grove, called to tell me that I could probably buy the car from the man who purchased it a few weeks ago, who happened to live in Santa Cruz. He didn’t want to get involved with pricing, so that would be between myself, and the new owner. I called a number he had given me and a day or two later Nelda and I took my truck to Santa Cruz and happily brought the roadster home. The guy had loaned me a tow bar and insisted that I should tow it instead of driving it as I had planned. So we hooked it up, put the top down and towed it over the Santa Cruz Mountains to Danville.
When I made the last turn approaching my street, the bumper fell off the Model A and it rolled ahead through the intersection and into my neighbor’s high juniper shrubs. That was a total of about 300 feet from my driveway. I had watched helplessly as it buried itself up to the doors in the junipers and feared that the front end had been totaled. The left front fender had taken the brunt of the blow and that was the only real damaged part of the car. I pulled it out of the junipers and started it up and drove it home, totally bummed out by what had happened, but thrilled that it had happened there instead of going over the mountains or on the freeways. This was just bent metal and scratched paint; any other spot someone may well have been killed.
I discovered that there are two bolts that hold the front bumper onto a Model A. They are imbedded in a cast metal part of the bumper. On the cheap reproduction that was on my car, even the bolt was just a threaded pot metal casting. Strange that it had held together for the 100 miles of so I had been towing it.
I fixed the dent and repainted the fender over the next few days and got busy trying to get the car in my name. The gentleman I had bought it from had made no effort to change the title and had given me all the paperwork that he had received. I took it all to AAA and got a temporary title and registration and a list of things that I needed in order to clear the title change. I called my friend Paul Sund, and asked if I could get the title signed correctly, if I brought it down to him. He told me sure, bring it down and he would take it over to Funt’s and have it taken care of. We arrived at a date and time and Nelda and I drove down and met Paul in person, nicest guy down there. He told us that he’d handle this while we went to lunch and that in an hour or so we could come get the papers and be on our way.
After a great lunch in Monterey on Cannery Row, we went back to pick up the papers. Mr. Sund was a bit solemn as he told me that the Funt’s attorney had told him, “We have done all we will do with that title” which turned out to be that they had done nothing with the paperwork. The title was still signed incorrectly and there was none of the other paperwork I needed for Motor Vehicles to transfer it. This was the first of three trips to the Monterey area to get the title straightened out and the car registered in my name. I did however have temporary title that worked and insurance. I even had a personal plate that read 29 SMILE. Funt had had SMILE 29, which I had been told I could use, but was then told “No, they [the Funts] may want to use it on another car someday.”
I really was stunned that there was no apparent way for me to get the title. I thought about it for a couple of months then wrote a letter to the attorney for the Estate of Mr. Funt, informing him that since they wouldn’t enable me to get the title in my name, I was just going to keep driving it in the Funt name and since that was the case I would save myself the added cost of insurance. About a week later, I received a pink slip with the car registered to me, and everything in my name. No explanation ever was offered and I still have the original “SMILE 29” plates that came with the car.

[Pete / MA]

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Like so many others I was lucky enough to grow up with Model As. From doodle bugs to field cars is how I learned to drive. Keeping them going taught me my trade (some bad habits but mostly good enough to make a living).
Now I'm retired and I enjoy being the custodian of my 130A DeLuxe Delivery.
I like to call it "DIGITAL Detoxification".......... Pete

[Big hammer]

My first choice was a 90% restored roadster pickup, I came up with many reasons to buy it, make deliveries with it, signage for dad's store, etc! Dad said No it wasn't complete. An hour down the road there was this Tudor, we looked at it, drove it, and ended up buying it!
It was a POS compared to the truck, but was complete! That was in 1970, still have the Tudor, not the POS from back then, a work in progress now. The truck only needed upholstery, the man was working on a Packard and didn't have time to finsh the truck :-(

[Ernie Vitucci]

I purchased my first Model A in 1964 in Newport Beach, California. I was a junior in High School and we had about a dozen Model A's in the parking lot at Corona del Mar High School. The Model A was the only car I owned and I drove it everywhere until I was ready to join the Army in 1968 and then I made the mistake of selling it. It was a 1930 Coupe that was stock with the exception of a tin top. It had been very well done out of one piece of tin with rounded corners and all the sheet metal screws lined up, just so. As a result, I could take it to the car wash, and in those days the folks at the car wash could usually drive it.

In 2005 I purchased another Model A in Fountain Hills, Arizona and joined the 'Model A Restorers Club'. She is a 1930 Tudor that was restored in the 1970's and has been kept up and cared for since that time by several prior owners. She has a Mitchell Overdrive and we drive her all over Arizona both around town and on trips with the Model A Club. I'm retired and can't imagine not having a Model A. Ernie

[George Miller]

When I was 4 years old, I decided to go to the school that was close to our home. A teacher and here husband that was the janitor for the school. Gave me a ride home in there 1928 Model A coupe. I still remember the ride and looking at the funny dash. I was sitting between them.

That is why I liked the Model A's.

[dpson]

Like several of the other stories here my Model A connection is due to my dad having a Model A when I was younger, however in my case I was the one who found the Model A and convinced him to buy it. When I was a freshman in college I dated a girl who lived in Durham, NH and when visiting her during the summer of 1973 I spied a 1931 Model A coupe for sale across the street. In hindsight it was pretty rough, having come out of a farmer's field somewhere in Connecticut, but to me it seemed like the perfect car for my dad, so he bought it and we ended up stiff hitching it back to VT. It was quite an adventure bringing it home as it happen that there was a terrible rain storm that day and several of the roads we planned on taking were closed due to flooding. We ended up taking it on the interstate, even though it was illegal to stiff hitch a vehicle there, however we figured the police were too busy with the flood to pay attention to us.

My dad restored the chassis himself, pretty much spending most of his spare time on it, and had the body and fenders professionally done. It took the better part of a year to get it completed and it was always something he was very proud of. My younger brother and I drove the car a lot during our college days and probably abused it a bit more than we should have, but it was lots of fun. It had juice brakes from a 40 Ford, so at least it stopped fairly well. The car was eventually sold and disappeared from the area and I often wonder what ever happened to it. The photo above was me with car taken around 1974, when I was 20 years old.

Anyway that's my Model A connection and why I own one today.

[Redbird]

I used to draw 32 Ford coupes in homeroom while in high school (62-66). I read every hot rod book, etc . in the school library. Henry Ford biography is a good one. As like every other gear-head, I had about 6-7 cars in high school ranging from a 46 Ford coupe, 51 Mercury, 55-56 Fords, 50 Ford p/u, and a 57 Chevy. Then 67-69 Camaros, 67 Chevelle, 55 & 60 Chevy, 56 Vette, then three 62 Vettes. After getting the 3 kids through college, I decide to get a Model A. About two years ago I found a two owner 31 Deluxe coupe w/rumble seat in Pacific Palisades, CA. A lady was the original owner and named her "Suzanne". She sold it to the second owner in 1968, who had it freshened up with original paint and rebuilt the motor in 1972. I bought it based upon good pictures and transported to Austin, TX. The motor just turned 2500 miles on the rebuild. My grandkids in the rumble seat and I are having a blast with it. It shares space with an original 64 StingRay coupe now!

[Pinesdune]

I grew up around old stuff, my uncle and dad had a small museum, but they only had a couple "old" cars, two T's and a '30 A sedan. I always wanted to get the sedan running but "wasn't allowed near it" even tho I repaired/rebuilt/maintained over 50 old tractors (JD's, Case,Mccormicks, Olivers, Hart Parr etc) But I can fondly remember a few rides in the A, two parades and one cruise. As with all good things, it came to an end a few years ago after some things being disbursed previously (including the A)
I was ridiculously outbid on the last T at the sale, which lit a fire under my ass so with coaxing from my wife I started searching for the A I always dreamed of (and could touch) which led me to find my 28 sport coupe, I love the canvas top and the lines of the car. It's been a joy restoring her and this being the first summer she's been complete so I can now take her to shows and all the attention she brings. One good thing was the restoration was complete in time for me to show her to my Uncle this spring and for him to tell the folks at the home about "his car" (he was always a jack ass like that haha) he passed two weeks ago, and the coupe led the procession taking him "home"


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[KCTA Chris]

I was born in '73 so didn't get to see many around daily. I grew up in a typical suburb 80's family with parents who never kept an old vehicle or would see the point, but somehow American Graffiti reruns, Happy Days and the Shut Down album I needed a traditional hot rod. I always wanted an "A" fenderless coupe but It was too impractical, then while riding a bike at 14 I saw a disassembled '39 Deluxe Coupe and bought it without asking. The basket case was brought home, I caught hell and rented a storage shed to build it in. A local restorer took pitty and let me work on my project at his "An shop in trade for help with some light shop duties. Then “A's” were for old men but I came to appreciate the sound, slower speed, mechanical aspects. As I grew I worked for a nationally known hot rod shop surrounded by credit card bought auto parts and glass deuce bodies, my boss wouldn't hear of Flatheads, “A” or Bangers, no money in it I would hear. I finished college while working for Jim Huesby at his Speedster fabrication shop and fell in love with traditional hot rodding and restorations all over again.

A few years and several cars later I decided to build a mild banger pre-war roadster. As luck would have it the body I planned to use sold causing me to discover a ‘29 truck cab that had been stored since the ’70’s. I always wanted a truck and would be perfect for my chassis. With patch panels orded and body ready for soda blasting when another friend called with news, she had researched the writing on the doors and found the original owners family. Turns out the truck was the Log Cabin Garage tow truck in Odessa Mo. Keeping the patina and Missouri AAA hood decals still visible I meet the original owners son. He told of learning to drive it in the ‘30’s and several photos. After the war started racing at a Kansas City speedway, the old AA tow truck was brush painted with Mason Street Garage lettering which it still wears. He took it to local salvage in ‘55 and thought it was gone.

So that old truck I built out of spare parts now has given me memories of my young boys helping with the build. I drive the hell out it locally and across the state, we turned just under 40k miles in 6 years. It may be the most practical, useful and fun thing I’ve ever built. Yet it’s time for a little update, overdrive, some body straightening, then more miles!

[Paps31]

When I was a kid growing up on my grandfather's farm in rural West Virginia, he had all the cool toys: tractors, bulldozers, a dump truck, two "farm use" pickup trucks, and old Jeep, four wheelers, an old street & trail dirt bike, a 1957 Chevy Bel-Air and a 1931 Ford Model A.

My pap taught me how to drive on a Ford 8N tractor, and the summer I turned 15, he gave me that old street & trail bike for baling hay (it was a 1979 Suzuki TS185).

But years before that, when I was 5 or 6 years old, he let me wash and wax his two prize cars for parades in the summer. I'd ride shotgun, throw candy out the window and wave at kids I went to school with. Man, did I fee cool.

Pap and his toys are the reason I love cars. And bikes. And just about anything that revs and hums.

As I got older I gradually got into other pursuits. Girls, mostly. And eventually I went off to college; the first in my family to do so. My brothers were older and had already left the farm, so when I finally left it meant Pap had even more work to do. The cars -- shimmering beacons among the filth and rust of farm life and once-glorious reminders of the old man's youth -- began to age, as he did.

Fast forward many years and my mother comes to visit me for a long weekend. She tells me that Pap (everyone calls him Pap) has decided to give up farming full time at the age of 83. His plan is to get those old cars running and enjoy them again. The thought of it puts a smile on my face.

A few weeks later, I ask her how Pap's doing. She tells me he's discovered that two knee replacements won't let him squeeze into the cockpit of the Model A anymore. Aside from that, he doesn't have the money to re-restore both cars, even after selling off the cattle.

He's decided to trade the Model A to a guy for the bodywork needed for the '57 Chevy.

"Trade the Model A!?" I ask in horror. I knew I had to intervene.

I tell her she can't let him do it; she has to stop him. "I'll buy the Model A from him, just ask him what he wants for it."

She relays the question to the old man (you have to scream for him to hear you). The thought puts a smile on his face.

A few weeks later, I'm at the kitchen table with my Pap filling out the title transfer and learning things about the car I'd never thought to ask when I was younger -- where he bought it and when, how long it had taken him to restore it, how crazy my grandmother thought he was for doing it all in the first place.

He bought the car from -- oddly enough -- an old farmer in 1964. At the time, it was a neglected pile of parts sitting out in a field.

He accumulated more parts, pieced it back together and eventually fully restored it.

The day I bought it from him, it had been sitting for about 15 years. I'd often thought when I came home for holidays, "I wish someone would get that car going again." I always thought that someone would be Pap -- I couldn't picture anyone else behind the wheel.

I never thought that someone would be me.

The Model A's been in my possession for about three weeks now. There have been a few setbacks, but slowly she and I are becoming great friends. The day I get her running, I plan to send a video to my mother to show Pap. The sight (and sound, if he can hear it) will no doubt put another smile on his face.

[daveymc29]

This story is from around 1959. I was a young firefighter in Oakland. At that time we were called Firemen and we were just that, men that fought fires. Anyway, over the fence from the firehouse I worked in I could see what appeared to be some old car with four doors and no top of any sort. One day I saw movement in that yard and ran out and got the attention of some guy that was taking his trash to his burn barrel. That was before we cared about the ecology and instead of throwing our old papers and trash into landfill or the creek, we burned them.

The gentleman came to the fence and we discussed the car to the point I knew I had to have it and he knew I would bring him $25.00 come payday. Like all Model A’s for sale, then as now, “it had run when they parked it, with a new rebuild on the engine.” Though it had been a Fordor Sedan it had now been made into a rough phaeton by his brother who owned a good hacksaw. What I saw was what I would get.

Come payday we exchanged $25 for a piece of paper that said I could have the car and that all paperwork had been lost. He was an Oakland
Cop so I trusted that he hadn’t personally stolen it. The deal was wrapped up. I would pull the car out of his yard when I could find someone fool enough to help me.

Finding that fool didn’t take long. My oldest brother had a 55 Ford truck and a piece of strong parachute cord, some type of nylon line that was very long. He and I went to the Cop’s house. We and a few friends of the Cop pushed the car out to the street and tied the two vehicles together with the parachute cord, leaving plenty of room between them for emergencies; though we all knew nothing could possible go wrong.

My brother leaped in his truck and I into the Model A. Immediately he was in motion. I sat there and watched as he drove a good hundred feet and probably more with the cord getting tighter and tighter, yet I hadn’t moved. Then suddenly I was under way. Boy was I underway. Went from zero to the hundred feet in two seconds as my brother made sure to outrun me.

I thought we had discussed going easy at first until we knew I had some brakes and steering that worked. I guess Perry (my brother) missed that part of the conversation. When we got to the first intersection, he slowed down and I couldn’t so he made a sharp right onto Piedmont Avenue and yanked me around that corner, as once more he outran me, By now I knew that there were very little if an brakes and that it had very stiff steering. Though I was a young bull, I had the devil of a time turning the steering wheel.

The next major intersection was a breeze, Perry drove through the yellow light a good hundred feet in front of me and made his left turn onto Mac Arthur Blvd, a four lane major thoroughfare through Oakland. Of course I was now approaching a red light at half the speed of sound, screaming at cars to stay where they were. They did because they saw a while thread across their path and then I came through with half flat tires squealing as I attempted the turn to follow my brother. The nylon grew back to its normal size as I now began to approach his rear bumper. He drove faster and I began to see a bit of distance between us. He then had to stop for the signal at Fruitvale Avenue. I had no such trouble, running into the back of him and knocking him about half way up to Lincoln Avenue. That is a very long block.

We next had to cross 35th Avenue, High Street and eventually make the turn on 73rd Avenue to Bancroft. Each time I knocked his poor truck through the intersection and each time the Good Lord was kind to us both. He didn’t die of whiplash and I wasn’t skewered like a roast by the steering column of the Model A. We got to my brother-in-law’s Texaco Service Station and had our last collision of the day. As Perry stopped beside the station, I passed him and hit a concrete barrier behind the building.

Other than my brothers back bumper and fenders there appeared to be no lasting damage. We pulled and pushed, kicked and pried and shortly his truck looked good enough for who it was for and the Model A was probably in better shape than when we started because now all the wheels turned and the steering had lightened up as some of the grease finally worked its way over the steering gears.

The car sat there for a couple of months and eventually it disappeared and I didn’t even ask where it went for years. Then I asked the brother in law and he said he thought I came and got it. So it really had just disappeared. Probably best for all involved, except the poor fool that stole it.

If you like this story, you will love my book, “From the Shadow of Coyote Mountain to the Base of Mount Diablo.” Available through, amazon.com http://bit.ly/FromtheShadows

[dumb person]

Bought it because i liked the way it idled. Stupid reason to buy a money pit.

[hangarb7]

I'll make this quick... amazing how there are similar stories.

I was 8 years old and a guy from a near neighborhood drove by in a coupe and asked if I wanted a ride. I hopped in and had difficulty seeing over the dash and out the window (I was a small kid) but I do remember seeing the ground flash by because he had no boot on the emergency brake. I decided that day that I wanted a Model A Ford.

Almost 50 years go by and I got the bug again and after looking at a bunch of cars and joining the local club, I was convinced to buy a Tudor. More practical for me than a coupe, even though I love them all.

9 years later, I love my Tudor and we have a lot of fun with it in the club. I just lead a 125 mile tour two weeks ago north of Pittsburgh. Oh, and that coupe still exists in the same condition as when I had a ride in it, AND when I bought my Tudor, it had no boot on the emergency brake.

[Jason in TX]

Originally Posted by stewwolfe

I found a '31 S/W Cabriolet, which I just had to have, so I bought it. I have since driven it over 6,000 miles in just over three years, and would trust it to get me anywhere.

Excellent!!!

[Fordfan29]

My parents dated in a 1928 Tudor. My Dad bought a 1929 Tudor in 1959 with a savings bond he bought in my name when I was born. Therefore I have always claimed the car. It has turned out to be a great family car that keeps kids corralled in the back with no doors to accidently open. Our 29 has been from Oregon to all over the western states & in to Canada three times. The fourth generation is growing up having fun in this rig and hopefully that will continue in to the future.

[Dave Young]

About three months ago, my wife and I were having lunch in a local diner. As we came out, I spotted two old cars in the parking lot. We went over to look at them. Both were obviously restored and were great looking. I don't even recall what make they were but in retrospect, (now that I know a little more) they were late 20's or very early 30's.

I was very impressed by them and remarked to my wife that it must be really exciting to own something like that. Nothing more was said but as we drove home, my wife said "you know, we could buy a car like that and really enjoy it. Road trips, car shows, parades and so on ...." I said "what are you nuts ... why would we want to get involved with something we know nothing about. Besides, I have no idea if they cost $5,000. or $50,000. Tell you what though, just for the hell of it, I'll look into it and find out".

I started on the internet with a simple search for something like 'old cars for sale' and was amazed at what turned up. Literally, hundreds of 'em. It didn't take long to realize that Model A Fords seemed to be the most prolific and the most popular. The more I looked, I found myself becoming completely entranced. I would google 'Model A Fords' then, look at the images ... they completely knocked me out. I knew I was hooked. I checked Hemmings and all the other sites with cars for sale. I found hundreds of videos on youtube covering everything from starting, driving, shifting etc.
etc. and watched videos of huge meets by clubs in California. Gorgeous cars ... Model
A porn! The next step was to find one for ourselves. (I might add that my wife was just as keen as I was).

I'm 81 years old. I don't even buy green bananas anymore, so we decided we wouldn't mess about. We'd get right on it. By now, I had found the 'Ford Barn' and even posted a question about buying out of state, on the internet. Most people were
genuinely helpful but a few were quite sarcastic about someone buying a car without
taking enough time to research things and implied that I must be too cheap to hire an expert to help me. Not true. (My green banana rule) I was sorry I posted the darn question.

To cut a long story short, we found a car right here in PA. A few hours away. A beautiful, restored 29 Tudor. (see my avatar pic) I trusted the seller and despite
having no knowledge or experience, we bought it. The car was delivered and we were in the game.

It's been quite an experience ... teaching myself to drive it (still can't get the downshifting right) Unfortunately, we don't have a local club and we don't know anybody else who owns one. It's still scary and I have no idea (yet) where to go for
maintenance and repairs. Being past my sell-by date, I don't crawl under cars anymore. But I'll wrap this up by saying that we love our model A. I often find myself going into the garage just to stand and look at it. It's a shame winter is rapidly approaching, but waiting for spring will be special this time around. That chance encounter in a diner parking lot changed our lives. For the better, that is.

Cheers, Dave.