Going for a top-down drive in one’s convertible is an ideal way for many of us to spend a warm and sunny summer day, and the convertible being a Ford Model A roadster is an unattainable ideal for most. Not so for this lucky Model A owner recently spotted going for a drive in northern Virginia. He has a Model A that is not only in a highly desirable body style and attractive red and black color scheme but also well accessorized, with dual sidemount spares and an accessory trunk on the rear bumper that make it a near-twin of the similarly equipped example spotted by jpcavanaugh in June 2012.
A Ford Model A roadster is a perfect vehicle for transporting one to a long-ago, simpler time, and the scene where it was spotted is a good example of what many people are trying to transport themselves away from. Those familiar with northern Virginia will recognize from the street sign in the first photo that the location was a short distance away from a major cluster of big box stores. This second photo shows the Model A waiting at a red light surrounded by a minivan, a CUV, and plain white sedans. Unlike the others, the driver of this Model A clearly is enjoying simple open-air mobility, not going to buy jumbo packages of Diet Coke or toilet paper. A Model A cannot reach the 88 miles per hour necessary to travel backward in time in Doc Brown’s DeLorean, but it can take you slowly but pleasurably back to another time.
Related reading:
Classic Curbside Classic: 1929 Ford Model A – The Best Ford Ever – Maybe Even The Best Car Ever
CC Capsule: Ford Model A Roadster – Ready For 2113
Drive Thru Classic: A Real Chick-Fil-A
What a lovely looking car indeed and wonder what upgrades have been done to it? Surprised there is not a safety inspection sticker on the windshield like the other cars since I am used to New York where every road going vehicle has a yearly sticker.
In Virginia, if you register the car as antique/historic, there are no yearly inspections. You’re expected to maintain the car in a “safe driving condition” and there are a number of other restrictions on those plates, i.e. no driving to work, for business purposes, etc.
Technically it’s not supposed to be driven at all except for historic gatherings, shows, and “pleasure driving” but you can make almost anything a “pleasure drive”. Just hard to make that argument about one’s commute to work…
I love that lead picture – 85 years of Ford. What a great car. Didn’t you love the sound as it accelerated? My 29 Model A is one of very few cars that I really, really, really should have kept.
It looks like a ’31 to me, although that accessory grille guard makes it a little hard to tell. I would also bet that the color scheme is not original to the car, as I don’t recall bright red ever being offered in the A’s years. However, it doesn’t look bad at all, and keeps with the contrasting belt molding and fenders that belong on it. Seeing a Model A always makes my day.
Yeah 31 improved A the chrome band on the scuttle is the giveaway. Nice ol cars plenty of As on the road locally it seems like none ever died.
Outstanding captures of a really cool, old machine. This post made me smile. So excited car show season is finally here.
Nice, I must confess that I’m looking online at Model A’s ever since reading Peter Egan’s story of his Model A road trip. They are falling in price, seems you can pick up an older restoration needing work for under $10k.
With the color and wide whites this looks like an ’80s restoration to me.
Proof that inexpensive cars don’t have to look like a turd on wheels, or at least at one time they didn’t.
‘A’ Model Fords were cheap , reliable , fun to drive and easy to fix .
Nothing has changed .
Sadly , they came with mediocre brakes , this can be remedied somewhat by adding ‘ floaters ‘ and brake drum bands .
-Nate
Agreed on the brakes – the Mrs. got a little skittish on rides when folks pulled out in front of us, assuming that we could stop just like they could. At least the “emergency brake” was just that, a second set of brakes shoes on the back drums. More than once I stood on the brake pedal BOS (butt off seat) while pulling back hard on the brake handle as my little coupe danced and groaned during quick deceleration to avoid some moron. Oh well, at least you didn’t have to worry about a master cylinder going out on the steel rod and lever system. 🙂
I had the joy of driving a friend’s Tudor sedan (not a convertible, unfortunately!) ferrying folks out to the flightline at our local airport’s “Biplane Classic” fly-in one year. While a number of them were on their way to or from a ride in a Stearman or Waco, there were just as many –usually older – who simply wanted a ride in the A. I heard many a delightful story of how they ‘went a-courtin’ in one years ago. My clutch leg was “done” by the end of the day, though!
JCP – fully agree on the Model A ‘sound’ – very distinctive and pleasurable.
If I ever was to get a pre-war car, it would be a Model A. Great car I’ve always admired. A good one shouldn’t be a money pit and would be easy to work on.
I had an uncle that had 2 or maybe 3 of these. The 1st one was as a near new car and the subsequent car(s) were to recapture “earlier times”. Both (all) were sold black roadsters with no rumble seats….that I remember. We (my cousins and siblings) rode in the “A” a few times, but only on private roads, so I never had the experience of riding in one of these “at speed”. And my uncle was the only one who drove his car.
Then, about 30 years ago I was offered a chance to drive the “A” around my uncle’s retirement community. I declined as I didn’t feel confident that I could manage a few miles unscathed in my uncle’s baby.
10 years ago my aunt offered me my now deceased uncle’s “A”. I turned it down as I have no interest in cars older than 1955s and I had neither the money or garage space for another car. My cousin, NOT one of her kids, got the “A” for $19,000. No one in her immediate family wanted Dad’s/Grand Dad’s old car.
I was in Death Valley in 2013, staying at Panamint Springs Resort, as usual when we pass there, and overnight there were 4 or 5 model A en T Fords there, roadtrip from Vegas to the coast and back. Of course I had to talk to the guys driving them, and they showed me their machines, wonderfull simple stuff, and so sweet. We later passed them going to Vegas, great sighting again. They were from a Ford club from Vegas, and did drive the cars on a regular basis in road trips.
In the Ultimate CC Effect, while I was waxing the Miata in my driveway last evening, a neighbor pulled into my driveway in the 29 Model A he got from his father in law several months ago. A green 29 Tudor sedan with black wheels and fenders that is just as cute as a button. I even got a short ride around the block, which brought back some great sounds and smells from deep in my memory.
His father in law restored the car in the 1960s and it remains quite presentable, but a car to drive and have fun with rather than to obsess over. This post had me in the proper mood to enjoy the experience.