Model A Ford roadster for sale

[ntqlvr]

I inspected a 30 roadster today that is for sale on ebay...in Alabama. I would suggest anyone who intends to buy it or buy it to inspect beforehand or pick it up in person so he can make up his mind about it.

[CWPASADENA]

Very Good Advise.

I looked at the EBay Ad and it has an interesting history BUT it also looks like it may have REAL ISSUES. It is always good to go see something like this in person before you buy it.

Chris

[28RPU]

I made the mistake of buying something from photos only.They made it look fairly good.It turned out to be fairly bad. Never again. Now I gotta touch it first!

[Earle]

And if you aren't fully confident about what to look for in a Model A for sale, take an experienced Model A guy/mechanic (not simply an "antique car expert") with you. There are very specific things to look for in an A. If the seller ain't hiding anything, he'll be glad to let you and your "consultant" have at it.

Even if you fancy yourself an "expert", a second pair of eyes is always good to have along.

[rpm2831]

I have a friend that is thinking on buying this roadster.He is looking for a driver car to have fun with.Do you think it is worth $10,000?Thanks, Ray.

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"Hold it closer to the phone so I can look at it."

You can't buy a car without you or trusted friend looking at it.
Knowledge is power! The tower of power. As some Soul Train Guy Said A Thousand Times.

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[Chris in WNC]

if y'all are referring to the car from Cuba with the engine painted blue, it appears to have many, many giant & briskly waving RED flags. I would say a very large caveat emptor on that pup.

I've bought 3 cars sight unseen, based entirely on photos & descriptions.
the results:

'89 Volvo wagon, very satisfied. drove it for 7 years.

'37 Plymouth, paint nowhere near as good as photos, seller LIED over the phone about it. still satified with what I got for what I paid. had fun with it for 7 years.

'31 Coupe, paint and interior not as good as I expected. still satisfied with what I got for what I paid. driving it all the time, it's our favorite Model A!

I will NEVER buy another car unless I can inspect it personally or have a trusted surrogate do so for me.

"your results may vary"

[CWPASADENA]

Originally Posted by rpm2831

I have a friend that is thinking on buying this roadster.He is looking for a driver car to have fun with.Do you think it is worth $10,000?Thanks, Ray.

I would think that it COULD be worth 10K but without knowing a lot more about the car, it could also be worth only 5K or may be even less. The car has "Been Around" so to speak and it may have such major issues that it may not be a good "Driver" without MAJOR WORK. Thinking you are buying a good Driver Car and finding that it turns out to be a major project can take all the fun out of it.

There are good cars out there that with a little clean up and a good service make very good drivers. I bought my '31 Roadster last fall for 15K. It was an older but quality restoration on a rust free car. The person I bought it from purchased it about 15 years ago. He did not look into driving a Model A and found after he bought the car he did not fit the car and did not get along with starting it. He drove once or twice and then it sat in his garage. His Mechanic has a shop across the street from mine and came over for some help with getting the car started and drivable. The owner was cleaning out his garage and wanted to sell it. I had to do a tune up and replace the four road tires. I changed all the fluids and did a real good clean up and detail. It runs and drives very well and looks good. It is not 100 Pt. show quality but is a very presentable and fun driver that is all correct.

I guess what I am saying, if a person does not want to get into a major project, for just a little more, there are cars out there that are for sale that do make good drivers with little extra investment, time and money wise.

Again, just my opinion,

Chris

[rpm2831]

Those are good points and I agree with you.I bought my Model A coupe and two AA trucks through my good friend Mr Russell Howe in Nebraska. I bought my '28 flatbed truck from Mr. Howe from a classified ad he had in Hemmings in 1988. We became good friends and I was able to buy my '30 Coupe and '31 dual wheel flatbed from people he knew in and around Kearney,Nebraska where he lived in1991 and 2001 .These vechicles were in good shape and solid original drivers and I have since restored the coupe and now working on the '31 AA.Now we have computers and E-bay to help us and we rely on pictures and peoples word and somtimes thats not enough .Thanks for the reply. We live about 300 miles from Foley , Alabama in South Louisiana .Thanks Ray.

[ntqlvr]

OK, this is my reply...I saw it Thursday, and I did not want to really bash it at first but...here it is. I started the post as a warning.....
The gas tank has another kind of neck welded in, and the whole tank is bondoed up everywhere, Where it meets the filler below the windshield, it is all bondoed up shut. The running boards are checker plate welded onto the brackets. The door latches were cut out and another kind of latch put in...perhaps from a house door. But they shut ok, the NEW upholstery is all wrong. The fenders are all patched up, and need tons of work. The windshield frame is homemade...JUNK. The panel below the decklid is bondoed shut on the seams. I did not see one thing about this car that I liked. And I would not give $4000 for it. The winner better pick it up in person...He will not be a happy camper. Notice his lack of a proper description, and the pics are carefully taken so you can't notice the bad stuff.

[Bassman/NZ]

Bash or not to bash? That is the question.
I think you have done us a great service with your report. It was not really a bash, more like a practical assessment, and I think if car guys can look after each other by presenting the facts in an honest way then it's all good. Heaven knows there's a million rip-off artists out there all trying to scam your buck. We need all the help we can get.

[CWPASADENA]

Originally Posted by ntqlvr

OK, this is my reply...I saw it Thursday, and I did not want to really bash it at first but...here it is. I started the post as a warning.....
The gas tank has another kind of neck welded in, and the whole tank is bondoed up everywhere, Where it meets the filler below the windshield, it is all bondoed up shut. The running boards are checker plate welded onto the brackets. The door latches were cut out and another kind of latch put in...perhaps from a house door. But they shut ok, the NEW upholstery is all wrong. The fenders are all patched up, and need tons of work. The windshield frame is homemade...JUNK. The panel below the decklid is bondoed shut on the seams. I did not see one thing about this car that I liked. And I would not give $4000 for it. The winner better pick it up in person...He will not be a happy camper. Notice his lack of a proper description, and the pics are carefully taken so you can't notice the bad stuff.

It sounds like a car you can not do much with. After you throw away all the "Bad" you may not have anything left which is "Good".

If it could be made to run an drive OK, it may make a good conversation piece but not something you could really fix properly. It sounds like it does have an interesting "History" but thats about all.

Thanks for letting us know about this car. You may have saved some of us a lot of time and may be even a very bad experience of buying such a thing, sight-un-seen.

There are a lot of very good Driver Quality Model As for sale out there in the 10-15K range

Again, just my opinion.

Chris

[2manycars]

My experience in cars from south america have taught me that they are worn out beyond our normal comprehension because they have been used hard for 70 or 80 years. I would expect a car from cuba to fit the same description. Quite frankly, you could not give me a car from those places.

[T.W.Dustin]

I think I would pass on this one if it were me. I bought 1 car sight unseen (a '69 Corvette) and it was worse than I expected. I came out of it OK, but I think everyone should think twice before buying cars online without inspecting them.

Remember how many times you have chased leads on cars only to find pieces of junk. I'm talking about the ones you have gone to see in person. Even with effective ad and phone screening I have wasted a lot of trips on cars and parts that were not what they were represented to be. Bottom line if you can't lay your hands on it or have a trusted person check it out you are taking a big risk.

[Gerard]

I burned myself also ONCES , and learned a lesson, not to many honest carsales people out there. Allway's have a car inspected by either model A friends or call a local club in the area and ask if they are willing to inspect a car for you. If they dont want money for themselves ,make a donation to the club or pay a reonaseble fee. I did it a few times and money was well spend . And did NOT buy those so called " perfect restored fordors" .

[Ross/Kzoo]

About 7 years ago I was car shopping for an antique car. I found one on the internet (quite new to the internet) that was 5 hours away. I emailed for more pictures, only 4-5 photos shown, and the dealer was shocked that I asked for more photos. He asked "have you ever bought a car from pictures" and I responded "no, but I sure have eliminated a lot of them". After getting more pictures I figured it was worth a trip and then bought the car. I doubt that I would ever buy a car without some type of visual inspection from me or a reliable representative.

[frank mcdaniels]

I may be alittle late to respond but this my be a chance for me to vent alittle. I to bought a roadster off ebay by just looking at the pictures. I did contact the owner and he completly misrepresented the condition of the car. He stated body work had been done in a real body shop. I could have done better body work as a child. The gas tank was completly shot , the door had been repaired with home made innerpanels, the rumble lid in the photos looked good but turned out to be just a skin of metal. The subrails were like swiss cheese. So I am here to also say never buy a car by just looking at photos, always go look at it in person. I had unfortunatly already paid for the car and drove alot of miles to get it, otherwise I would have never taken it. This was not my first old car purchase and should have known better. Now I am stuck with a very expensive lesson to be learned.

[Cool Hand Lurker]

I second the recommendation to have somebody who knows the Model A come along for the inspection. The first Model A Tudor that I bought looked good. Brush paint job but no rust or bodywork on the body panels. A "driver." I made a BIG mistake by not crawling under and looking at the subframe. Heck, I didn't even know there was such a thing as a subframe. Turned out that there wasn't much left. So much was gone that there really wasn't a subframe left, so I guess I was right.... there was no such thing!

[ntqlvr]

It's me again. The roadster sold for $7700. I guess the bidders were not fordbarners, because I got no feedback from any of the bidders. The winner is going to be in for a big surprise when he sees the car. I went to see it because he was kind of close to where I live. Even though I already have too many cars, the curiosity gets the best of me. There was a great 31 deluxe roadster on ebay about a month ago with a buy it now of $7500. It still had its original paint, no rust or dents ,top bows, original windwings, a spotlight etc. I almost hit the buy it now but as I said ialready have too many. Someone bought it the next day, and I think he did very well with that one.