Model A time machine

[Growley bear]

When I was twelve I became the proud owner of a 1930 Model A Ford four door sedan. Briggs/Murray?? no idea; I do remember that the body panels on either side of the rear window were seam filled with lead. That was my first car and I also had a very large stock of spare parts. This was one of only two Model A Fords in our town of Kodiak, Alaska. I never got it restored but what I learned working on that Model A was priceless. That car took a kid from the wrong side of the tracks, kept him broke and involved with a sense id direction, and out of trouble, mostly. I never got to drive that old car or hear it's engine run. When I was 18 I joined the Army and while I was away the Model A just mysteriously disappeared. I never forgot about my first car, nor will I ever.
Fast forward a few years; in 2010 I purchased a 1930 Rumble seat coupe, and for the next 2 1/2 years this was my steady job, mostly. I rebuilt it to be representative of a well maintained used car which I don't drive often enough but plan to drive more this year.
I have met many people over time with old cars who seem to have a sort of hum ho attitude toward their cars and what they represent. I on the other hand feel quite fortunate to have had the good fortune to finish my Model A to the point that I, when I am I am driving it, displaying it, talking to people about, that I at that moment in time am 13 years old all over again, so if I sound overly enthusiastic where Model A Fords are concerned, that is the reason.
I can't attach any monetary value to my Model A, nor do I want to. After all, what is blue book for a 1930 Ford Time Machine?

[abachman3]

Thanks for sharing.

[WHN]

Got my first one at twelve also. Drove it during high school. Under my graduation picture is written, “He took four wheels and an old tin can and by gosh the darn thing ran”.

Still have the paperwork, but not the car.

That first car stays with a young boy his whole life.

I wonder if kids today will feel the same way in 50 years? Enjoy.

[Dodge]

I got mine when I was fourteen. Still have it 54 yrs. later. My mother told me to never get rid of it as she always heard my fathers friends say, boy I WISH I still had my first car.

[burner31]

My 1st was a mid 50 something Hillman wagon, this was in the very early 60's, never got to drive it, but my friends and I would push it up and down the driveway and pretend, in our minds we went everywhere, I was like 11-12.
Did not have money to work on it, but I did clean it up.
Think the old man gave it to me to keep me busy. It worked for awhile, came home from school one day and it was gone. Fun while it lasted.
Didn't get my 1st A til I was in my 60's, now I feel like I'm in my 40's again

[California Travieso]

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During WW II, my Aunt and Uncle owned the house we lived in and the lot next door with a duplex. My sister and my brother-in-law lived in one of the duplexes.

When my Brother-in-law went into the service he put his Model A Four Door up on blocks in the back yard. My brother and I were in grammar school and we used to play in it. I remember the interior was a velour like material in very good condition. We also opened the gas cap and smelled the Gasoline! It was there for several years, then one day it was gone. It never occurred to me to ask what happened to it.

There used to be a thre car garage in our back yard. I used to have a recurring dream in which I would open the garage doors and there were three of the first cars I owned.

David Serrano

[PalAl]

Started Model A'ing when I graduated grade school.

[Dick Carne]

In late May of 1963 when I was 11 years old, I managed to talk my father into getting a 1931 Sport Coupe (a really nice car, restored with double side mounts and the works), and then later that year in November, we (he) purchased a 1930 Tudor, which we took apart and did a very amateur restoration on, and which I later drove in high school. Those were indeed the good old days. I remember well the closeness that I had with my father while we were tinkering with these old gentlemen. I wish he were still here.

[Synchro909]

My first introduction to a vintage car (not Ford) was when I was about 15. A friend took me to see 2 cars his father had in a shed. We rode there on our bicycles. One car was a Minerva that had been a Vice Regal car, the other a Red Wing Riley. The seed had been planted! I'd love to have either (or both) these days but as a kid, there was no way. The hankering laid dormant (festering) for years until I could afford one, a 1929 Chrysler "65" Australian bodied (as they all were) sedan. From there, I've restored about half a dozen cars, built one from scratch and bought a couple already restored apart from keeping them on the road and driving them. I figure that by restoring them, I have earned the right to wear them out again. I'm working on that!

[[email protected]]

Got my first one at age 15., 1932 Model B five-window! Paid the high price of $75, sold it a few years later for $125!

[burner31]

Originally Posted by [email protected]

Got my first one at age 15., 1932 Model B five-window! Paid the high price of $75, sold it a few years later for $125!

Wow, Who knew that cars could be had for so cheap back in '39

[old car guy]

Burner yep the cars were indeed cheap in the late thirties. in reality they were cheap into the middle to late seventies. I wish I could go back to that time frame and buy buy buy. Even the higher end collector cars were not bringing the high end money till the early eighties.

[burner31]

Old car guy
You're preaching to the choir here, got our '57 chevyback in them days, paid $350 and drove it home

[jimalabam]

Growley Bear: Great tale. keep it up...

[Gunmetal blue2]

I bought my first Model A when I was 15. That was in 1970. Have owned 5 model A's in my time, I now own a 1929 CCPU AA with plate form bed on it.