If any really old car will still likely to be found on the roads in 2113, it will be a Model A Ford. I simply can’t imagine a time when they won’t grace our streets with their impeccable perfection on so many levels (I called it the “Best Ford Ever, if not the Best Car Ever” in my CC). It’s a car that seems to find one generation of faithful owners after another; hard to see that ending, as well as the ready availability of parts and support. The only question is whether there will still be gasoline available in 2113.
More than likely. Will folks still be allowed to drive their cars, or will they all be autonomous? Maybe there will be kits to convert Model As. Having the skills to drive a Model A in 2113 may be as rare as driving a team of horses. Some will take up the challenge, and be rewarded amply.
No navigation system. Will anyone know how to get anywhere without one in 2113? And how to shift an un-synchronized three speed box?
Will the Model A’s 200 cubic inch flathead four be able to keep up with the autonomous electric pods? It was a brisk car in its day, especially in its two lower gears.
Here’s the real question to ponder: will Ford still exist in 2113? Or will the pods all be made by Whirlpool or Haier? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Or not. But I know there will still be some Ford Model As around. Some things are practically immortal.
And will people even be able to figure out how to start one in 2113? Don’t forget the fuel shutoff valve under the passenger side of the dash. Adjust mixture and pull choke, spark lever all the way down, key on, and step on the starter button. There, now you know. 🙂
This is a 1928 or 29 based on the cycle-style fenders. The 30-31 fenders flowed more slowly to the running board. If a ’29, this was one of four colors besides black. You could also choose dark green, dark blue or light gray. Damn, but I miss my Model A.
I don’t think it’s a ’28. A friend’s father had 2 ’28s and they had redish colored steering wheels. He always said that’s how you can tell a ’28 from a ’29.
We had a lot of fun with those old cars, and he was remarkably trusting of us teenagers when we were allowed to take one out for a quick trip to the Dairy Queen or A&W. There was a bit of a learning curve on shifting them, that’s for sure. I hope there are still some around in 2113 too.
A little off topic, but how do you drive a model T? The Model A had a standard accelerator, brake and clutch, so I’d give it a shot. But the T had three pedals, no shifter, and the throttle on the steering column. I only know enough about it to know I don’t know how to drive it…
I do know the most critical thing about starting a Tin Lizzie- Tuck your thumb into your palm, so you don’t grip the crank handle. That way, the crank jumps out of your hand, instead of ripping it off your arm.
I have never driven a T, so I would have to do some research or take some instruction. It can’t be that hard, as every uneducated farmer in 1915 America could handle it. 🙂
I drove a 1923 Model T a friend owned about 15 years ago. He was a member of our church and he invited me and my dad to check out his cars. We drove the T through the back 40 of his farm. Very fun, and a memory I’ll always cherish. We also got a ride in his hunter green 1941 Continental coupe!
YOU drove a Model T?!? For a guy that doesn’t drive a stick shift, that’s adventuresome of you. So tell Dave Skinner how one uses the three pedals to make a T start off, shift, and stop.
Hey, it was easy–no gear lever to speak of 🙂
I have driven a real manual-transmission car, my aunt’s old ’97 Audi A4. It did not go very well; I think I got it up to 17 mph.
Here in Hawkes Bay Model A Fords are just traffic there must be nearly as many on the roads now as in the 30s mind you my grandfather bought a model A ute in the 30s used with 35000 miles on it and it was knackered full of rust and knocking he drove it untill 49 and traded it for a Prefect and it was stuffed but thanks to NZs draconian import and finance laws it was likely resold it. I used to unload many crates from my linehaul trailers containing new ‘A’ parts for a local parts dealer theres a thriving aftermarket parts industry supporting A fords they will be with us for quite q while
Interesting how the Import Duties turn NZ into a mini Cuba of keeping stuff running for a long time.
I know Ford was a big ethanol booster back in the day. 100+ years in the future I suspect some sort of Cellulosic ethanol will be the economical motor fuel of choice.
Yup the Early Fords were the first FFVs (Flexible Fuel Vehicles) Only took them another 70ish years for them to bring them back.
Yes the Maytag washing machine of cars and the first to fall victim to hot rodding. The dads of the guys who lament seeing an 80s Civic with a fart can were doing all kinds of stuff to Model As. It’s like we were the only generation who left well enough alone but then again look what we had to work with!
When I pull out my driveway, looking across the street in one driveway there is a 56 Chevy, in the other a 51 Ford, but behind that is one of these, I will have to look closer .
Is This color green-grey, Puce? I never know what color it is.I think his is as well.
I saw him out in it a month or so ago. ran nice, had the familiar sound. I noticed he also has a Ford Focus for his daily driver. Silver/not that we care.The 51 Ford he drives regularly, its brown and white.
I’d bet hes the original owner of his 1946 house as well. His Xmas decor is GE Vintage.
There are not many original owners left,in this post WW2 neighborhood.
I believe this is the color Ford called Rose Beige.
They are still being pulled out and restored. The guy who did some work on my Impala over the winter is doing one just like this for a guy. Full restoration as original as possible. It will be nice, he does good work.
There is nearly as many Model As on the road here now as in the 30s common as corollas being in the artdeco capital has a lot to do with that but old As are still popular with restorers and the parts are easier to get than for many old cars. As will run on damn near anything gasoline is not compulsory most ran on kero back in the day same as did Ford tractors power kero was the fuel of choice and during WW2 when gas was rationed kero was still available.
What a lovely car! That said, I wish more people realized how rare wide-whites were in the day, and didn’t rush to put them on every restoration. Yes, it could have had them, but likely didn’t. This bothers me far more on station wagons and light trucks, where restorers still feel that they are essential equipment even though they were nearly never on the originals.
Paul: I have never driven an “A”. Is the tranny really a crashbox? I always assume it had synchro in 2nd and 3rd. Chevies certainly did.
Thanks for the pretty pictures. Yes, the best Ford ever, and maybe the best car!
The last ’31 A I rode in, about 1994, had a non-syncro 3 speed if I remember correctly. That or Mr. H double-clutched it out of habit.
They are on the short list of cars I would own in my life.
Non-syncro. The ’32 Ford was the first with synco gears.
Thank you, Paul. But I just checked with a friend who has (original) ’28 roadster and ’30 station wagon. The 28 has a crashbox, and the 30 has syncro.
The mystery continues!
There’s no mystery. There was only one original Model A transmission, and it was not synchronized. If your friend has a syncro box, it must be a Mitchell, or something else he put in: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21064
Having read the excellent linked article about the A’s development, it seems an example, repeated several times since by Ford, of Samuel Johnson’s idea, “Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”
When I was 8, my mother inherited a Model A. She had to go to Dallas and pick it up. 240 miles. She didn’t. She laughed and laughed that her 8 year old son go so upset about it.
Oh. One other thing. IIRC, that is a ’29. The 28 had the brake lever to the left of the shifter. And a red steering wheel, although that could have been lost in translation, so to speak.
I think you just made up for the geodesic vw.
This is the only old car I could bring home without having bad repercussions from Mrs. Jason. She loves them.
What’s better is I once had the opportunity to drive a ’29 model sedan. It was a true delight and it ran marvelously. I came across a Model A gathering last fall and have some good pictures; chalk up another story idea.
JPC brings up a good point. In order to get an A to run well you had to adjust the spark advance once under way. Not as hard as it sounds since the car would take on a whole new feeling, as well as speed, as the timing was advanced.
This car is a real beauty, Paul! A man just a few houses down the road from my subdivision has one of these (it may be slightly newer because I think it has the more flowing fenders). He brings it out on nice days; such a wonderful sight to behold.
I will make the bold prediction that unlike the Model A, zero Ford Explorers (see first and last pic, background) will still exist in the year 2113.
Beautiful car inside and out. I’ve never driven a car this old and probably wouldn’t have any clue what I was doing, but I’d love to get the chance one day.
No navigation system? Au contraire! Its called a STEERING WHEEL!
I hope the hot rod crew keep their mitts off this one!Nice to see an original one
My grandfather had a ’28 Model A in a nice teal-blue colour that was apparently the original colour at that. I remember driving in the rumble seat of it more than once.
I always liked the “oogah” horn he had on it as well, and the hood ornament/water temp gauge.
Now his had the side mounted spare instead of being rear mounted.
I wonder if that is a real Model A or a Shay? Some of the Shays are almost impossible to tell the difference.
Really? The Shay is instantly identifiable at some distance. It really doesn’t look quite “right”; at least to folks who know and appreciate the real thing. There are numerous differences, some of the more obvious ones being its larger brake drums, different wheels, and the Pinto IFS front suspension, among other things.