Vehicle Description
1928 Ford Model A Roadster
Henry Ford was always convinced that people should satisfy
themselves with nothing more than a good, simple and economical
car. At the price of great efforts, his inner circle finally
succeed in eroding his stubbornness, and in May 1927, after having
produced more than 15,000,000 Model T's since 1908, Ford closed his
plants for many months in order to retool his assembly lines for
the production of his next legend: the Model A. The latter will
ultimately be produced in 5,000,000 copies between 1928 and 1931.
This new miracle is equally attributable to Henry and his son
Edsel. Henry will dedicate himself to the mechanical aspects and
Edsel will bring a whole new look to the design of the Model A. The
Model T was nicknamed "TIN LIZZIE" the Model A will be known as the
"BABY LINCOLN"
For consignment, a custom built racer with the intention to race in
vintage events. In particular "The Race of Gentlemen" in NJ,
however is fully sanctioned to race in other vintage events
nationwide. It started life as a Model A roadster, however has
undergone a vintage racing look in its transformation to the
present state. It sports a well machined and massaged for speed 600
series tractor engine topped by custom carbs, a 3 speed
transmission from 1939, juice brakes, and some transverse leaf
springs for the suspension and handling.
Exterior
This fenderless Ford has a paint scheme which gives a vintage ode
to a Bob Fish which gained fame in the 1950's sponsoring various
cars to promote his carburetors, including an entry and winner of
the 1955 Daytona Beach Race driven by Fireball Roberts.
Unfortunately the car was disqualified due to an internal engine
modification. So here we see sky blue in the background with a
white cove and some red painted on badging with sponsors. It's hand
painted and is well done,looking the 1950's racing part. An open
cowled hood has a long curved white coated exhaust piping and
headers which runs through the mid length of the car for the back
side exit growfrom the open sided engine bay. A roll bar resides
just forward of the C curved trunk which dives downward to a
bumper-less rear roll pan. The wheels are looking like stock black
centered and white rimmed VW wheels, which are actually vintage
Ford steel wheels and are wrapped by 6.00-16 rubber all around. A
topless car with only the windscreen remaining and it is surrounded
by chrome trim and has a flat plate glass inserted. Upfront, the
radiator cowl is black, and it has some vertical fan like ribs
running through it. Black bezel headlights flank on either
side.
Interior
Stripped down to its bare bones, we now see some straight design
low back bomber styled buckets with black anodized aluminum sides
and padded black vinyl inserts for the seat and back. The remainder
of the cockpit is covered in light weight gray painted steel
drilled panels. The dash is also full metal jacket and is painted
with the exterior sky blue and has 3 sweep gauges in its center. A
rally steering wheel fronts the dash and a long armed shifter
reaches for the driver in the center.Keep it simple and lightweight
is the mantra for this racer.
Drivetrain
Using a 1953 Red Tiger tractor engine which has been meticulously
machined with work on a hotter cam, porting, bored out cylinders
and big valves, and a cut down flywheel which provided the tractor
with a lot of torque, but not a lot of speed but that certainly is
no longer the case! The engine is a 172ci 4 cylinder, and is topped
with some Holley 1904 1-barrel carbs in dual format. The
transmission is a 1939 Ford 3-speed manual type with a 3.78,
(consigner stated), rear axle. Lake pipe style headers are on.
Aptly named a "Redneck OFFY"!
Undercarriage
All pristinely painted black steel with not even any trace of track
dirt on her. It's very straight and true. We see transverse leaf
springs for all corners, and 1939 "Juice Drum Brakes".
Drive-Ability
The "Redneck OFFY" fired right up and off to the paved test track
where it sounded vintage, drove vintage and is showing some
surprising performance from that Red Tiger 4 popper. Braking was
solid and bias free, and it was a real hoot to go around the track
a few times. It did not have the pleasure of going through the
McDonald's Drive through though, I did not have my app with me on
the celley.
All in all at the end of the day a custom built vintage racer with
some fun tongue in cheek, some serious performance and effort to
get there, and a nifty paint scheme giving a nod to a carb builder
in the 50's. It's definitely a neato piece featured in Hemmings
Motor News in February of 2021. Read all about it, although not as
interesting as this 'script!
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 850 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display. This vehicle is located in our
showroom in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, conveniently located just
1-hour west of Philadelphia on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The
website is www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888)
227-0914. Please contact us anytime for more information or to come
see the vehicle in person.
