Simple yet reliable....

[David R.]

Looking at “Ford Trucks Since 1905” by James K. Wagner I came across this quote: (p. 88) “Discontinuation of the Model A Ford was in some ways one of the saddest events ever recorded in the history of the automobile, for it marked the demise of one of the most functionally simple yet totally reliable vehicles ever produced.”
What do you think? For those who regularly drive or have driven them can you concur?

[mhsprecher]

There has been some debate about this on this forum, specifically which was the better car, Ford or Chevy? My view, although my experience is limited to Model As, is that the Model A Ford was the better car. GM cars had more wood in the bodies and, as a result, fewer survived. That is probably part of the reason, but the Model A has a large and very loyal following. To me that tells the tale. There are fewer Chevies that survived, for whatever reason and their fan club is considerably smaller.

Time marches on and the 32 Ford contained many improvements to the 4 cyl engine. The market was competitive enough that you couldn't do like Henry did with the Model T and to a certain extent with the Model A - essentially mechanically unchanged through the run of the series. Improvements were made, but beyond the changes from the early 28's, were not really significant. This should get the debate going!

[Synchro909]

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The design philosophy behind the A and T was to make it rugged and simple so the owner could do repairs themselves. That went out the window when car makers realised how much money was to be made out of their service departments. We saw the same philosophy in many immediate post war European cars like the VW, Citroen 2CV, Fiat 500 etc.
IMO, it has been downhill from there. Sure modern cars kick the ass of the ones I mentioned but I think by the end of life, the easy to fix cars work out more economical though less luxurious. I have great memories of my 1956 VW and my 2 stroke PUCH motor cycle.