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Old 08-31-2014, 04:57 PM   #21
Purdy Swoft
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Default Re: What’s the future of (T’s) and (A’s)

I would say that Robert J. Palmer hit the nail on the head. Thats the way it has always been for me anyway. I've had all kinds of cars through the years and worked on all of them.
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Old 08-31-2014, 05:13 PM   #22
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Default Re: What’s the future of (T’s) and (A’s)

I'm sure there are young people into T's. And I hope there are. I myself have a few of them. My grandfather was big into them. And I worked on a many of them growing up. My uncle was into hot rods. My father did not like cars. Growing up in the 80's. Like a lot of kids my age I like early Mustangs. I had a couple of those. And them I moved to liking Corvetts. I was lucky and found a few late 60's Corvetts that I could afford that were stuck back and forgotton about. I even got into the mini truck phase like a lot of guys my age. The past few years I have gone back to my roots of pre war Fords. And I hope my son follows in the same footsteps. I have been hoarding away stuff. Hoping that one day he would like to do the same.
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Old 08-31-2014, 05:45 PM   #23
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Default Re: What’s the future of (T’s) and (A’s)

My 2 cents.

In 20 years when half of this forum and half the rest of the club guys are dead, your cars will be much more at the mercy of hot rodders.

Cars made in the last 20 years are going to be just about impossible to restore, they have have too much degradable plastic, and electronics that will only add to the nightmare of keeping them running.

Our local classic and vintage club are losing about 2 dead a year, with NO new ones or younger ones replacing them, so it is just a matter of time and attrition.

There will always be restorers and and always be hot rodders, but I reckon the shift will move towards the rodders in sheer numbers, and I see countless restored model A/s on ebay , continuing to be advertised with no buyers .

A good hot rod gets snapped up quickly because of the wider market, and it usually goes for double the price of a restored one.

A crate 350 is about the same cost as rebuilding a model A motor and mags are cheaper than finding and restoring an A wheel, the pattern follows on the rest of the mechanicals.

I have finally seen the light, and 40 MPH on a single lane highway holding up the traffic ceased to be fun .

The general public love to see old cars on display and tootling around the streets, but DETEST being behind one on the highway.

Highway speeds are always increasing , while the stock vintage car's speed does not.

Unless you hot rod it of course, (oops ), I am supposed to say, MODIFY, and add touring cams, hi-comp heads, and overdrives .
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Old 08-31-2014, 06:54 PM   #24
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Default Re: What’s the future of (T’s) and (A’s)

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I have finally seen the light, and 40 MPH on a single lane highway holding up the traffic ceased to be fun .
That is because they think doing 120 KPH in an 80KPH zone saves them "oh so much time" (in realitly they do less then 15 minute journeys and are caught in traffic light ques, so total time saved is less than 45 seconds, usually less than 20 seconds) Their problem not yours.
Also most model A do more than 40 MPH. mine does 55 & it's a pile of junk.
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Old 08-31-2014, 07:02 PM   #25
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Default Re: What’s the future of (T’s) and (A’s)

Guys, another point.
The 2 cars in the picture are my 31 Model A and my son's 40 who is 26. By the way,
the picture was taken this summer, incidentaly by Robert J. Palmer.
I'm 65 and do what i want, and kids are the same, they do what they want.
But neither of our cars would be on the road if they had to be returned to stock.
Sometimes the car tells you what needs to be done.
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Old 09-01-2014, 05:00 AM   #26
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Default Re: What’s the future of (T’s) and (A’s)

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The A and T hobby will certainly decline, but will not die out for decades.

For one thing A's and T's are the affordable car hobby, at least initially.

I heard they make one electric motor operated on one of the car shows.

T's may die out first, in the future, because they don't have the better model A brakes/hp/conveniences.





The majority of the younger gen
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Old 09-01-2014, 11:34 AM   #27
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Default Re: What’s the future of (T’s) and (A’s)

Model A's are like a religion or sometimes a disease to some and will continue with some for a long time. They are quickly becoming not as much of an affordable hobby .
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Old 09-01-2014, 01:35 PM   #28
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Default Re: What’s the future of (T’s) and (A’s)

I would say the only way this is a affordable hobby. Is if someone has the money to buy one done. Or of they have the know how to do the work themselves. I don't think many can afford to have someone restore one for them.
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Old 09-01-2014, 01:57 PM   #29
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Default Re: What’s the future of (T’s) and (A’s)

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I would say the only way this is a affordable hobby. Is if someone has the money to buy one done. Or of they have the know how to do the work themselves. I don't think many can afford to have someone restore one for them.
I concur with this 100%. Working on the classics is part of the hobby/ownership fun. It is also needed to understand the vehicle well.

Personally I appreciate learning from guys like Purdy Swoft, Tom Wessenberg, Ray Horton 700RPM, Brent in 10-uh-C, CarlG in AK among all the others. Then applying the knowledge to the A. This is part of the gratification of the hobby. There is an amazing amount of knowledge on the fordbarn. Les Andrews was my hero for putting it all together for us. Fordbarn is the best resource I have seen.

I could not imagine owning a T or an A if I did not work on them myself. It would be too expensive. Of course there's things I don't do myself and leave to an expert such as re-coring a radiator, etc.

Seems any classic, with all work done by a shop, will put it upside down $ in short order.
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Old 09-01-2014, 02:11 PM   #30
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Default Re: What’s the future of (T’s) and (A’s)

If you want to gauge the availability of Ts and As, just look at CL.
In my area of NY, Ma, Ct, Vt, Pa, there are always a lot of stock or mildly modified Model As. I mean more than 4-5 every month. Of these about half are runner-drivers, or mostly restored. many are stalled projects, since we all know it's easier to take one apart than put it together! And yes there are hot rods too
.But my point is if you are a "restorer" there are still projects to finish. If you have more cash than know-how yoou can buy a runner, get into places like the Barn and learn and buy what you or your mechanic needs, and have a lot of fun.
As far as I'm concerned, $8,000-$12,000 will still buy a great A. and that is really not that much money.
On the other hand, there are not many Ts around for sale. It is a long stretch from one to another. And less and less guys even know how to or have ever driven one, me included, and I'm 64.
I have no desire to ever own a stock Model T, but if a cool stock Model A comes along, I am always interested.
Just my $.02
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Old 09-01-2014, 02:43 PM   #31
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Default Re: What’s the future of (T’s) and (A’s)

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I concur with this 100%. Working on the classics is part of the hobby/ownership fun. It is also needed to understand the vehicle well.

Personally I appreciate learning from guys like Purdey and Frank among all the others. Then applying the knowledge to the A. This is part of the gratification of the hobby. There is an amazing amount of knowledge on the fordbarn. Les Andrews was my hero for putting it all together for us. Fordbarn is the best resource I have seen.

I could not imagine owning a T or an A if I did not work on them myself. It would be too expensive. Now there are of course things I don't do myself and leave to an expert such as re-coring a radiator, etc. It seems that owning any classic vehicle would with all work paid for will put a person upside down in the vehicle in short order.
This is sorta the way they look when I buy them. Usually when they look this bad, the guys with money don't want them and I can get em cheap. I had to take some wheels with tires to get this one loaded on a trailer but it was all fun.Thats my daughter waiting for me to get it running so she can drive it.



I've got it running here, notice the fan

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Old 09-01-2014, 04:13 PM   #32
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Default Re: What’s the future of (T’s) and (A’s)

Just curious if someone can answer this;

How many restored or driving Model-As were on the road in;
A) 1954
B) 1974
C) 1994
D) 2014

Is the number greater in A or in D? How does the figures in B & C factor in??


Now repeat the same question with Model-Ts using those same dates;.....


And finally use any bodystyle of Model-A of your liking, and state an average price of that particular vehicle in the years A) B) C) & D). Which of those years has the highest value?



I'm pretty sure that if everyone is honest with themselves, they would agree that each couple of decades saw the price of the cars increase, ...and in each of those decades, there was always a supply of Model-A or Ts that filled the demand of the hobbyists who truly wanted one. I see this being no different 20 years down the road from now.

Now for just a little giggle, how many restoration shops were around in the above years A) B) C) & D)?

I can definitely tell you the answer to that one is 'D' too. Therefore for those that say the car culture society is dying out, the number of businesses whose services are offered to the car culture sure are not indicative of that thought.

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Old 09-01-2014, 05:22 PM   #33
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Default Re: What’s the future of (T’s) and (A’s)

There are a 100 million more people in the US now that in 1974. The population of the baby boom era is around 77 million. Of that 77 million how many own Model A's. I remember going with my uncle during the 1980's to look for cars. And he would walk right by the model a's. Because early v8's were what he could fix and get rid of faster. And you were starting to see more fat fender cars becoming popular. That once were thought to be ugly. And some still think so. The A is probably at its highest now that ever. Because of the guys that grew up riding in one when they were a kid and want one now. And for the hot rodder that can't afford to pay the price for a 32. What's going to make or brake the the cars. Is going to be financial wise with the whole country. I know my parents were able to take advantage of a lot better interest rates on their retirement. Than I am right now. A lot is going to depend on how money is for the next generation.
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Old 09-01-2014, 06:15 PM   #34
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Default Re: What’s the future of (T’s) and (A’s)

I'm 27 and drive my '30 CCPU restored original all over the place. The looks I get when people see me getting out of it or walking up to it tend to be rather amusing to me as they all look surprised to see me driving it and then proceed to ask if it is really mine. However, as much as my friends and acquaintances enjoy looking at and even riding in my truck they all say the same thing...you have way more patience than I do. It seems my generation are too engrossed in speed, both in the speed of the vehicle and the speed in which in can be completed. There are so many little details and differences in the A's that they also seem to be overwhelmed. Now also something that I am learning is that there tends to be almost a cult following of the model A and if you do not do things exactly as is expected or liked in the community you tend to be a talking to and told what you did wrong. This doesn't bother me much as I'm also learning for everyone of those type there are probably two more who will tell you hey it's your car do what you want with it! But that can definitely be a deterrent for someone new to the hobby. I however thoroughly enjoy it and love the wealth of knowledge out there supplied by many on this site. Many of you have created fantastic websites preserving your knowledge and that is something that I believe will be crucial to the future of this hobby as the older generations leave us so does there knowledge and experience which is necessary to keeping the As alive. Just my two cents...
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