Go Back   The Ford Barn > General Discussion > Model A (1928-31)

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 02-20-2020, 02:29 PM   #1
barnstuf
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Cape Cod MA
Posts: 2,840
Default 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

My oldest son said "Dad you are about to start your 80th year of owning the Coupe" which got me to thinking. My parents gave me the $30 real nice car as a birthday present on Feb 22, 1941, even although I got it a month early. No, it was not my first Model A, I had previously owned another 1930 Coupe, a 1930 Fordor, a 1928 Tudor, a running "A" chassis and a 1928 Essex, a real dog. Purchase prices ranged from $4 to a max of $10.

As to my Coupe it is a 1930 Standard Coupe known in our Club because of its lack of accessories. No motor meter or quail, no stone guard, no cowl lights, no running board step plates, no side mount spare tires, no luggage rack or trunk, just plain Jane as so many Model A's were in the past before dressing your A up became popular. It does have a manifold heater which I believe is original, and as a teenager I converted the lift up rear deck to a rumble seat. You may be interested to know that in 1941 from a junkyard I paid $4 for a rumble lid, seat cushions, and the curved inner metal panel. I still have the original trunk lid.

It was my only car for quite a few years and has been continually registered and driven all 79 years except during WWII when I was in the service. It is barn kept in the same 200 year old barn all these years, and field mice have never bothered it since I made the decision to leave the hood open every time it was in the barn. Mice do not like daylight it seems and do their dirty work in darkness. I know its history since the say it was sold new to Irving Freeman of Provincetown MA in 1930.

It was close to 40,000 miles when I got it, now the speedo is on its second round trip at about 80,000 miles and has not worked since I put an overdrive in the car in the mid 1980's and found my cable was too short. Easy to fix bit I never have. It enjoyed a paint job and LeBarron Bonney interior in the early 1990's and the motor has been overhauled once during my ownership and runs great.

I used to have 5 Model A's but have cut back to two as I get older, and I have only owned the other one since 1954 so it is late to the party.
barnstuf is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2020, 02:37 PM   #2
Clem Clement
Senior Member
 
Clem Clement's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Fairfax, VA
Posts: 3,391
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

Good on ya!
Clem Clement is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
Old 02-20-2020, 02:45 PM   #3
Joe K
Senior Member
 
Joe K's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Cow Hampshire
Posts: 4,175
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

You were wise to keep yours.

About 1937 Dad bought a 1929 RPU from the junkman for $15. He drove it a couple of years before leaving for college fall of 1939 when he sold it back to the junkman he bought it from for $15.

"Cheapest 15K miles I ever had in my life" he said. "All it cost me was the gas."

Then about 13 cents a gallon. Equivalent now would be $2.41. https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

Some things don't ever really change. Except the value of a dollar.

Joe K
__________________
Shudda kept the horse.
Joe K is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2020, 02:56 PM   #4
Sunnybrook Farm
Senior Member
 
Sunnybrook Farm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Virginia
Posts: 409
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

I really enjoyed reading your story and how you have been driving the same car for so long.
Sunnybrook Farm is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2020, 03:05 PM   #5
Seth Swoboda
Senior Member
 
Seth Swoboda's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Southern Illinois
Posts: 3,744
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

Congratulations. Wonderful story.
Seth Swoboda is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2020, 03:20 PM   #6
ryanheacox
Senior Member
 
ryanheacox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Northwest CT
Posts: 1,092
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
I always love reading your stories and this one is no exception. Congratulations!
ryanheacox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2020, 08:25 PM   #7
loubob
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Syracuse,NY
Posts: 264
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

Thank you for your story.
Loved those "A's" starting in my early teens but got sidetracked w/Harleys for 30 years.
Your '30 is identical to mine.
Ride on.......................


Loubob
loubob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2020, 08:27 PM   #8
DBrer
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: Washington
Posts: 175
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

Interesting story, thanks for sharing with us.
DBrer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2020, 09:08 PM   #9
Stew Masche
Senior Member
 
Stew Masche's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Lake Mills, WI
Posts: 251
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

Thanks for the story, thanks for serving our country at a very critical time in history.
__________________
Always one bad decision away from a good time.
Stew Masche is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2020, 10:01 PM   #10
Chris in WNC
Senior Member
 
Chris in WNC's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Spruce Pine, NC
Posts: 1,458
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

great story!
You are obviously not as OCD as I am; would drive me nuts to have an odometer not working......
__________________
our next Model A is out there in the unknown......
Chris in WNC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2020, 10:47 PM   #11
Clem Clement
Senior Member
 
Clem Clement's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Fairfax, VA
Posts: 3,391
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

As you guys know, The 40MERC 4door convert I bought in 1956 for$25 is back home after being in another man's garages for 61 years
Clem Clement is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-20-2020, 11:40 PM   #12
aford193031
Member
 
aford193031's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Pearland, Texas
Posts: 85
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

Thanks for the story.
aford193031 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2020, 05:21 AM   #13
chrs1961815
Senior Member
 
chrs1961815's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Spring Grove, Illinois
Posts: 1,371
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

Great story!
__________________
"The more things change, the more they stay the same."
chrs1961815 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2020, 09:22 AM   #14
Woodys29
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 33
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

I have had my 29tudor since 1965 and I thought that was a long time.it was the ninth model a but that doesn’t count.great going barnstuf.
Woodys29 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2020, 09:54 AM   #15
fundytides
Senior Member
 
fundytides's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: New Brunswick, Canada
Posts: 479
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

Bought my 1931 Std. Roadster (Canadian) in 1967 for $60. Now undergoing full (amateur) restoration. Hope to have it on the road this summer.
fundytides is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-21-2020, 05:32 PM   #16
oldman
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 9
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

nice to hear from you Richmond, I remember you & Randy prepping it last summer for the parade. Hope to see you sometime this coming summer on the cape. Oldman
oldman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-22-2020, 10:20 AM   #17
wyankee
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 24
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

I love your stories and i am lucky to hear some of them in person.I hope to see you again with Joe, Jay and John this summer. Wayne Yankee
wyankee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-22-2020, 03:09 PM   #18
barnstuf
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Cape Cod MA
Posts: 2,840
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

I am glad to see my story has been well received and that being a Cape Codder fellow hobbyists drop in to see me at the summer time of year. I look forward to seeing "oldman" and "wyankee" this coming season and as "wyankee" mentioned he is usually with Jay, Joe, John the triplet brothers who love Model A's and who have found many used parts they needed in my barn, especially the 5 or 6 used engines.

It is doubtful if another faithful summer visitor Bobby from Brazil has seen the story but I have seen him for at least 20 years on an annual visit to look for parts to take back with him for his own "A" and for friends back home. He is a seasonal house painter on Nantucket island. Bob from California visits relatives in another part of Cape Cod annually and drops by every year to visit. He is a retired airline pilot who switched from flying passenger jets to Fedex jets as parcels do not complain. When retirement was forced by age regulations he became a crew chief, then switched again to refueling planes as he aged some more, and we have talked annually as he has gone thru those occupational phases. As a retired airline pilot I believe he gets free air travel.
barnstuf is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-22-2020, 03:30 PM   #19
Keith True
Senior Member
 
Keith True's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Epping N.H.
Posts: 2,969
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

I believe I may have gone to your place in the early 70's with a Model A guy from around here.Stan Brown.I was 15 or 16,and he treated me like a fellow Model A guy,not like a kid,just because I had an A and liked them.He warned me about the A guys around me,as a lot of them were thieves and swindlers.They're all gone now though.Seems I remember quite a few new or nice used front fenders hanging either in a barn or a cellar at your place.It may have been someone else's place,but I think it was you.
Keith True is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 02-22-2020, 03:31 PM   #20
Ruth
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Glide, Oregon
Posts: 1,334
Default Re: 1930 Coupe Acquired 2/22/41, 79 Years ago

Quote:
Originally Posted by barnstuf View Post
My oldest son said "Dad you are about to start your 80th year of owning the Coupe" which got me to thinking. My parents gave me the $30 real nice car as a birthday present on Feb 22, 1941, even although I got it a month early.
WOW!! barnstuf, what a fantastic story. I gotta ask, how old were you on your birthday in 1941 when you got your 'A'?
Ruth is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:11 PM.