Model A,,, a transition car??

[Jeff/Illinois]

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[Special Coupe Frank]

Unfortunately, for all its advances over the Model T, the Model A was on the verge of being obsolete by the time they started showing-up at dealerships...

Don't get me wrong here, I love mine, and the fact that it is still going 83 years later as an unrestored car is testament to its quality and engineering.

But, with the introduction of the Chevy six in 1929, as well as Walter Chrysler's new Plymouth, the Model A was starting to be surpassed...

Plus, the idea of building the same car for years or decades on end was certainly a dead-end.

I'm not sure how keen Old Henry was on the V-8 UNTIL Chevy came-out with the six... and we all know how much Old Henry disliked the six-cylinder engine... I'm sure that is one of the major factors that finally pushed him into getting the Ford V-8 developed and into production...

If it were not for Edsel, I wonder if Old Henry would have kept on building Model T's and four-cylinder Fords until the company went-under ?

I think Old Henry was at least somewhat proud of / satisfied with the Model A... his personal car from 1929 through 1940 was a '29 Special Coupe, replacing a 1919 Model T coupe...

For a man who could have any car he wanted ( Like later V-8 Fords and Lincolns), the fact the he kept an A coupe for his personal set of wheels for so long suggests some affection for the car.

I'll bet Edsel wasn't the only guy at Ford who had ulcers, walking on egg-shells trying to do their R & D, fearing the wrath of Old Henry...

[28 Special Coupe]

One of the things I got along with my Model A was a fairly sizeable collection of back issues of The Restorer magazine.

The Mar-Apr 1977 issue has a photo on the front cover of Henry's '29 Special Coupe along with an interesting article titled "Henry's favorite ... the 49-A".

[Barry B./ Ma.]

Yes, I keep a copy of that magazine in my 49-A.

[Special Coupe Frank]

I would think that old Henry would have had some confidence in V-8 engines in general, due to their success in the Lincoln (founded by Henry Leland, a machinist and manufacturer that Ford had great respect for), as well as in the Cadillac since 1914...

I'm not sure if Old Henry always disliked the six-cylinder engine, or if his distaste for it was caused by the investors insisting on the luxury six-cylinder Model K, which Henry was very much opposed to...

Certainly, Ford was not opposed to "one-upmanship", and if Chevy was going to clean his clock with a six, then he was going to raise the ante with a V-8, which Chevy wouldn't see until 1955...

[Tudortomnz]

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Basically, Henry did view Model A as a 'transitional car'. He was an engineer & wanted to lead the low price field . Eight cylinders were definately on his mind with the 'X 8' radial engine during the '20's but production problems could not be overcome for a light, low cost car. I do not think he cared a toss about Chev 6's in particular but the development & quality of low cost Chrysler Corp.'s Plymouth 4 [ 'floating power' engine mounting & high HP output] did not go unnoticed.
Development work began on an 'en bloc' V8 during A production [1930] & it was rushed into production for 1932. Previously, V8 engines were only in use for expensive, heavy cars due to cost of multi castings to make up the block. Henry was back in the lead again, but only engineering wise as overall sales slipped to GM during the '30's.

[roccaas]

How many A's would have been built, and for how many years, if the Depression hadn't intervened?

Could the car have a run into the Mid-30's so Henry and Edsel could perfect the V8? Would it have continued as the Base Model in line with a more expensive V8 powered Deluxe Line (like a Mercury)?

[Special Coupe Frank]

I don't know if the lack of a Depression would have changed Ford's path all that much... other low priced cars were continuing to make improvements... had the stock market not crashed, the economic prosperity (real or apparent) enjoyed by the middle and working classes would have probably continued, and automakers would have been catering to that market...

I don't know that Ford would have had any additional slack-time to "perfect" the V-8...

In a way, the Model A was continued thru 1934, when Ford made the last of their four-cylinder cars for the US, until the 9N tractor-based four in 1940.

From a marketing & engineering development standpoint, Ford should probably replaced the Model T sometime between 1918 and 1922.. had that been the case, the sucessor car (let's call it the Model A, just for the sake of this discussion), would probably have been made up until 1930-32, with the eventual replacement by the V-8.

By 1931, many low to mid priced marques were offering eights: Dodge Brothers, De Soto, Pontiac, Oakland, Willys, even the Ford-bracket Essex...

Chevrolet kind of "pulled a Ford" by developing their six, and then clinging to it for 25 years ( granted, there were a couple of revisions during that era ).

I don't think it was that Ford introduced the V-8 too late or too soon; I think it's that they continued to make the Model T long after it was obsolete.

[Tom Wesenberg]

I think Frank's assessment is spot on and I've thought the same thing.

I think by 1932 car styling, more interior room and comfort was coming at such a fast pace that the Model A couldn't have stayed the same.

[LukeDahlinger]

Henry Ford hated the Model A at first, but grew to love it from the first time he drove it. Thomas Edison, James Couzens, Will Rogers were among Ford's friends to receive a free Model A.

As Frank pointed out, Henry Ford used his Special Coupe for many years after production ceased. Same holds true for the trucks used on Ford's estate- Most were Model T & A's/AA's clear into the 1940s.

[Special Coupe Frank]

Don't get me wrong about Chevy - I love them, and one of the projects awaiting me is compete restoration of my Dad's 1930 Chevy Special Sedan...

But why they clung to a splash-oiled babbit-pounder until 1953 still baffles me... ( same goes for Buick and Hudson eight ).

The Chevy six was a decent car, in spite of the tendency for the '29-'30 models to break rear axle shafts...

My grandfather had a 1930 Chevy Standard coupe (disc wheels, trunk) that stayed in the family and was driven up into the early 1960's... The youngest eight of the 16 kids learned to drive on that car... it migrated from Maryland to Florida with my Aunt Marybelle for its final years. I guess the headlining was starting to some down, as she referred to it as "having lace curtains"...

I don't know if the engine was ever swapped or rebuilt; I do know that it was never re-powered with a later 206 or 216 engine. Dad did mention that one time on a trip to Western PA, it broke a rear axle, Grandpappy had to come home on the bus, and sent one of the older boys back up with a new axle to fix the car and drive it back home.

If you want to read about modern-day adventures with an unrestored '29 Chevy Coach, google "The adventures of Billy Possum", and read about Bill Kastenholtz and his '29 Chevy.... good stuff.