Speedsters and the Model A. What happened?

[s1b]

We all know speedsters were being built almost as soon as the Model T was introduced.
My question is, did people continue to build speedsters out of the Model A? Or did it fade away with the introduction of the "A"? I know I've seen a couple of old, period pics, BUT just a few. Compared to all the info and pics on the "T".
So please share your thoughts, info, and pics................

[Blessyouboys]

Search is your friend.

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showth...ight=speedster

[s1b]

Just read through it. Doesnt really answer my question. All the pic but one are new. But thanks.

[spdway1]

Ask that B terry guy...

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Well, this is not a very simple question. My personal view based on the research of the speedster historians that I know and the old pictures I have seen, I think the phase had pretty much run its course by the Model A era. When you ask folks for Model A speedster pictures, no one seems to be able to find/produce any pictures of an actual speedster built during the day.

In the truest definition, a Model T/A 'speedster' really did not use a body that Ford built. By that, if you go back and look at old pictures, many T speedsters used seats, fuel tanks, etc. from other marques of cars to make a vehicle that did not look like a Model T. Also, in very rare instances were the chassis' underslung or had axles dropped, or had the frames Z-ed simply because the person(s) building the speedster generally just did not have the budget nor the skills.

Therefore when you think about the Model A era, contrary to what some would have you believe, people did not go down and buy a new Model A and convert it into a speedster. Therefore someone needed to find a used car, which during the depression era still brought good money in a time where there was little extra money. Therefore speedsters just weren't built. After the depression, everyone wanted a new car, ...which by now were V8 Fords and 6 cylinders (other marques) that had more power. Therefore if a kid wanted a fast car, he would buy a 5 year old flathead Ford instead of a Model A. If he was broke, he bought the Model A but did he have money for power adders (speed equip. as we call it today)? Also when you speak of speedsters, generally these were vehicles without tops or a means to protect someone from the weather. By the late 30's, the trend had pretty much done away with open vehicles like roadsters & phaetons simply because people didn't like being cold or wet when they drove somewhere.

Another use for an old Roadster during the late 30's and 40's was to build a race car and run it at the county fairs in what was called Roadster Racing. I have included a few pics below depicting what these were however if you notice, by the truest definition, these aren't "speedsters" because they are still using the factory body. It is also worth noting that speedsters were generally patterned after what was the trend of car being raced at the time. At Indy and other tracks, the boattailed look had dissappeared by the early 1930s, and in 1940 it would have been very unlikely that people took an old Model A and bought a 1939 or 40 Ford hood to make them a "boattailed speedster". Could it have happened? I suppose there might have been a slim chance, ...and I guess that is why some people like to "re-write history" where it will apply to their desires. THAT is why I don't think there were hardly any Model A 'speedsters' but there were lots of Model A hot rods, gow jobs, etc.

.

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

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To further this a bit, look at the following photos...

This white MobilGas car is of a 1928 Model A that was patterned after a Fairground Racer that would have typically run before the depression era. Most of the cars back then were Model T's with a few Dodge Bros 'Fast-Fours' and Chevy 490s thown in. Notice this car does not use any sheetmetal from a Model A, ...which would have been era correct for the typical Fairground Racer. The 2nd picture shows where I made a quasi-attempt to make it street legal, thus it became a Speedster. The real problem is that it isn't, --nor does it look authentic to what the trend was during that time.






I have shown some pictures of typical Roadster Racers above in the previous post but here is a car I replicated of the car Whitey Dodson ran back during the 40's. It really isn't a 'speedster' because it used a Ford manufactured body that was altered to be raced. It was not street legal nor was it intended to be. If it were, the truest definition would be that it is a Hot Rod, and not a Speedster.








Again, I could be wrong in this because this is only my opinion but basing it on photos and documentation that others who are more versed in this have said, there is no real evidence there were ever Model A speedsters like we think/see of them today.

.

[HoarseWhisperer]

As always, a very interesting read.

Thx, Brent.

[Marco Tahtaras]

I've talked with a couple guys that have studied all aspects of racing history. First, the term "speedster" as we know it was essentially dead by the early-mid 20's. Additionally, the styles commonly used today were from a much earlier time. Initially "speedsters" were largely fashioned after the 1912-1914 Stutz Bearcat which was a full fendered street car (as oppposed to their fenderless race cars). However, styling changed rapidly in the mid-late teens and by the early 20's folks weren't too interested in having something styled after an "old" car. Look at the Stutz Bearcat by 1919 and you get an idea of the styling changes.

One of my friends told me he does have a few pics stashed away somewhere that shows some hobby level racing from the late 30's. The pics show OLD Model A's as well as other cars from the same era. The cars are basically hacked up in a very crude fashion. The owners have simply cut away everything they could to get weight to a minimum but still have a place to sit!

[Big John]

Model T and Model A speedsters are still being built today...Even early V-8's.... They will live on,,,on,,,,and on....

[Dodge]

I spoke about this with my 94 yr. old father. His first car was a Model T Speedster.
He said in San Francisco in the 1930's there were several speedsters in his High School
There was a place in San Francisco on Market St. that sold used speed equipment in the 30's and thats were they got pieces to make their cars go faster.
He went in one time with a couple of his buddies and they had 3 speedster bodies
brand new in the crate. All three of them bought one two were made into speedsters
one of the guys still has his car and the body my father bought has never been put
on a chassis yet.
Most of the speedsters were Model T based some had model A running gear put in
them later but as far as Model A Speedsters he says he doesn't remember anything
but coupes and roadsters with speed equipment on them sometimes fender removed
but more like hot rods than speedsters.
They did build a Model A powered single seat race car but it was never driven on
the street like a speedster. We have pictures of the speedster and just drawings
left of the race car. I will see If I can post.

My 2 cents.......

Dodge

[Brad in Germany]

Here is an original era photo of a Speedster in Sweden:



Fordially,
Brad in Germany now in Maryland

[Purdy Swoft]

The first time that I heard model A speedster was when the Rootleib bodies were advertised. I really liked the look of the fenderless model best. I wanted a speedster and decided to build something that I could build out of stuff that I had on hand.. I had a ruff 30 cowl with a bad tank and this was a good time to make something out of it.Here is some pictures.

Here is the first mock up. The tank is from a Gordon Smith comercial air compressor. I modified the mount.

[Purdy Swoft]

This shows more detail. I narrowed the dash and moved it foward in the cut down cowl. The steering column bracket had to be lenghtened, so did the choke rod bracket. I made the choke bracket from a junk brake rod end.

[Purdy Swoft]

Another view. Trying to prepair the platform for finish and matting.

[Purdy Swoft]

Here is the engine. I'm running a cast iron Uniflo dual updraft intake with B carbs This is an older pic. I am now running a Mallory dual point dist.

[Purdy Swoft]

Here is the way it looks now.

[Roadster62]

I think the Mode A Ford killed the T Speedster, just as the Ford Mustang killed Hot Rods in 1965. You could buy a better car new than something you built yourself.

Originally Posted by s1b

We all know speedsters were being built almost as soon as the Model T was introduced.
My question is, did people continue to build speedsters out of the Model A? Or did it fade away with the introduction of the "A"? I know I've seen a couple of old, period pics, BUT just a few. Compared to all the info and pics on the "T".
So please share your thoughts, info, and pics................