My first year of Model A ownership

[patnmand]

Hi All,

Having had my 1928 Phaeton for a year now I thought it might be interesting to look back. My wife is really good at editing film footage, so we've got a number of short films (some of which I've put on here before) that illustrate points of the journey....

Getting the bug again

I first got the Model A bug in my 20's, when my Uncle's 1928 open cab pickup came to live with us for a while. My uncle was working abroad and struck a deal with my father whereby my father would restore the car and he and I would drive it. I used to take it all over the place (mostly to pubs), and loved driving it. However, times move on. I got married and moved away and my uncle retired and moved back to the UK so the Model A went home with him. A couple of years ago he invited me to be his co-driver on a short rally he'd entered. This was the first time I'd driven any Model A in over 20 years, but I loved it as much as ever. Film 1 is my uncle and I doing the same rally last year. He was hoping for a prize, but was beaten into second place by a van owned by one of the rally organisers - hence the slightly strange ending.

https://vimeo.com/180628365

Finding a Model A of my own

Having been truly bitten by the bug once more, I knew I had to have a Model A in my life again. I started the search for a Phaeton, spoke to lots of helpful people, and eventually tracked down the car that would be mine. We named her Clara after Henry Ford's wife. She is an Aussie Model A, imported to the UK sometime in 2014/2015. This created a headache as, until she was registered, we could only run her around the church car park which was very frustrating. As you can see she has a number of engine 'tweaks', including a downdraft carburettor and a Model B head for higher compression.

https://vimeo.com/187485460

After what seemed like an age, the registration plates finally arrived and we were able to set out on our first trip on the road. This was my first chance to see what she was really like (all the driving I'd done to this point had been either in the church car park or on a farm track) so this was definitely a 'serious' trip rather than a jolly.

https://vimeo.com/192201032

What the trip revealed was that there were a number of issues to address. The exhaust wasn't properly supported and the brakes were, ahem, not good. Some things were easy to sort out, but the brakes ended up having to be more or less completely rebuilt.

Properly on the road

Once the brakes were working properly and the weather was improving, it was time to enter some rallies. The first big one was a London to Brighton run. I don't have the overall mileage for this, but it was a long and very enjoyable day. We were on the road for around 8 hours; I shared the driving with a good friend of mine who has given me loads of help in our 'fettling' of the car. We were the 3rd oldest car on the 100+ car run, beaten only by an Austin 7 and a Ford Model T.

https://vimeo.com/221059822

I've also done a couple of shows, as well as just getting the car out and enjoying it whenever the weather is good. The last rally of this season for us was organised by the Brooklands Museum, and was a 154 mile day out including lunch at historic Hever Castle, and a cream tea at the end. Clara was easily the oldest car on the run, and we reckoned I was probably the youngest owner!

https://vimeo.com/236570538

This winter's fettling plan is now taking shape, although I'm not going to put the car into hibernation. Whenever we have a nice dry day I'm hoping to wrap up warm and take her out. I've loved my first year of Model A ownership; it was frustrating and expensive to begin with, but so worth it. The car is a minor celebrity in the village where we live, even though the lusty growl of the engine is not popular with horses...

[1930artdeco]

Aint it grand to own one! Congratulations and here's to a long and successful life of miles/Km's.

Mike

[richsfords]

what a wonderful trip through the English country side. the Model A should do good every time because of all the electrical systems by Lucas. will be ahead of the pack.
you guys scare me with the on coming traffic.
thanks

[JDupuis]

Well done!
Jeff

[Synchro909]

Thanks for posting! I particularly enjoyed watching the driver sit on the right side of the car and drive on the correct side of the road.

[Tom F OHIO]

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Very Nice videos and enjoyable...

[Mike Peters]

Lovely car! You might find driving Clara a bit more pleasant if you installed a pair of wind wings on your windshield stanchions. Keeps the wind at bay. I found your videos extremely interesting. Yes, 88 years old and still game!