What does AR stand for

[Pa Joe]

I know I should know this by now, but I don't. What does the letters AR refere to? If it referes to early 28 As, whats the difference between early and late 28 Model As. Thanks for helping out a semi-newbe.

[RonC]

The "R" meant no longer a production part but is necessary for repairs. The "R" designation was given to obsolete parts by Ford that where available for "Repairs" and couldn't be replaced with the current production part. Since most of the early Model A's used parts that could not be replaced with the current Model A production parts of the time, many parts for those early Fords had the "R" suffix. Consequently todays restorers looking through parts books see many parts with "AR" or "BR".....So today they are known as AR cars

[kenparker]

In some cases it might also stand for Awful Restoration. ken

[Bob Johnson]

As Ron stated it comes from the parts numbers listed in the original Ford parts books. When the Model A restorations first began sometime after WWII someone noticed that many of the parts for early 1928 cars had part numbers in the Ford parts books with the suffix -AR. So they coined the term "AR car" to denote early 1928 Model As. However there has never been a formal definition of exactly what features determine an "AR" vehicle. Most Model As will have some "AR" parts listed in the parts books. For example the parts books list parts for the 400-A convertible Sedan which have the -AR suffix. So is it a 400-A an "AR" car? How many "AR" parts are needed to define an "AR" car?

The Judging Standards define Early 1928 as cars with engine numbers 4187 through 170000. There is a whole section the the Judging Standards on Early 1928s.

Bob

[John Duden]

I call it ALMOST READY, since people were Waaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttiing so long to get them when they first came out
John

[d.j. moordigian]

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As far as the Early cars are concerned, up to engine # 170,000, I think there should
be an addition to the Standards. Say from June to November. Cars in that time
period had some early features, that are not addressed in the Standards.
Example, try installing a later frame in an October or November car with a 3 piece
brake system.
Dudley