BUYER’S GUIDE
1928-’ 31 Ford Model A
“The Start of a New Line” remains one of the
most popular collector cars of all time
BY MARK J. McCOURT
PHOTOGRAPH Y COURTESY HMN ARCHIVES
With more than 15 million examples built through 19 years
of production, the Model T
changed the face of America. While the
ruggedly simple T would remain a primitive automotive icon, it was the modern
Model A that followed that set the stage
for the Ford Motor Company of the
future, a car whose build quality and
engineering were comparable to those of
anything on the road, and a car that was
more elegant than anything that inexpensive had a right to be. The Model A, in all
of the variants available in its four-year
production span—which are grouped
by aficionados into early (1928-’ 29) and
26 HEMMINGS MOTOR NEWS • JUNE 2009
late (1930-’ 31) cars—remains one of the
most popular antique automobiles, and
its level of restoration and parts support,
80 years since it rolled off the assembly
line, is better than ever.
Edsel Ford finally prevailed upon
Henry to replace the Model T with a
car of style and substance, a “baby Lincoln.” And compared to its predecessor,
the 1928 Model A—available in Roadster
(with or without rumble seat), Coupe
(with or without rumble seat), Phaeton,
Sport Coupe and Tudor sedan, as well
as Commercial styles like the open cab
Pick-Up, with prices ranging from $385
to $570— was a leap forward. Later addi-
tions included the “leather back” two-
window Fordor sedan, Business Coupe,
Panel Delivery and closed cab Pick-Up.
Design cues from the first year of production include a smooth, nickel-plated
radiator shell, vertically fluted headlamp lenses, drum-shaped taillamps and
a sheetmetal radiator fan shroud. And
these first-year cars, like all the Model
As that would follow, featured a 200.5-
cubic-inch L-head four-cylinder engine,
a three-speed sliding-gear transmission,
four-wheel mechanical drum brakes and
sophisticated hydraulic shock absorbers.
Like they had done with the Model T,
Ford continually upgraded the Model A
