A short History of the Model-A Ford
The year was 1926. Henry Ford's "Tin Lizzie" was getting old. It had been produced since Oct. 1st 1908. There had been very few major changes to the car even though it did look quite different. With his son Edsel pushing to move past the Model T and design and build a "new ford" the order was finally given on July 20th, 1926 to start work on a new ford, the "Model A", although that name had not been picked yet!.
Henry made the last of the Model T's on May 26th, 1927. It was car No. 15,000,000. It is said Henry spent $100,000,000 (Yes, 100 Million Dollars!) on the new car design and for retooling of the Rouge plant to build the new Model A. Quite a sum in the 1920's! The car contained over 6800 parts whereas the Model T only contained about 5000.
Model A No. 1 rolled off the production line on Oct. 20th, 1927 but the public didn't see the car until Dec. 2nd, 1927. Unlike the Model T, the new ford came in seven body styles and an amazing four colors!
The Engine was an L-head 4-cylinder, 'cast en bloc' type. It had a 3-7/8" X 4-1/4" bore and stroke with a displacement of 200.5 cubic inches. SAE horsepower of 24.03 with brake horsepower rated at 40 at 2200 rpm. Typical gas mileage was between 20 and 30 mpg using a Zenith one barrel carburetor. It's 103.5" wheelbase rode on 4.50 x 21" tires with a gear ratio of 3.77:1. The transmission was a 3 speed sliding gear unit with 1 speed reverse. The Model A had 4 wheel mechanical brakes and Houdaille, double action hydraulic shock absorbers with semi-elliptic front and rear transverse springs. Top Speed was around 65 mph. Standard equipmet on all Models included a Starter, Five Steel Spoke Wheels, Dashlight, Mirror, Windshield Wiper, Gasoline Gauge, Rear and Stop Light, Speedometer, Tools and Preasure Grease Gun Lubrication.
The "Model A" Tool kit included with each car had the following items: Adjustable wrench, 2 open end wrenches, 2 tire irons, jack, pliers, screwdriver, tire pump, grease gun, combination spark plug wrench and head bolt wrench and Instruction book which all fit into Snap Pouch.
As for price. The new Model A Tudor Sedan sold for $495.00 with the Fordor bringing $570.00 F.O.B. Detroit. For $385.00 you could get a Roadster and $395.00 would get you a beautiful Phaeton. At $495.00, the new Ford Coupe was nice but for $550.00 the Sport Coupe with a standard Rumble Seat was a hot seller.
