I am thinking one of you guys will get this - it is obscure but a great story. Who was Mr. L.T. Birch and what happened on January 10, 1928 that was significant in the Model A world?

He was the first to get a speeding ticket in a Model A...
I believe he got pulled over in Central Park in NYC....

The car was a Roadster..

YES!! I thought I might have come up with a stumper, but you are right on, sir. Coffee and doughnut redeemable if you ever get to CT or if you are going to Hershey - let me know!

I was reading Henry's Lady last night (great book-tho some of the restos are not authentic)At any rate the book is dedicated to Mr. Birch!

Here's another....
True or False.. The Model A Colors L'Anse Green, Kewanee Green, are named after Michigan Cities...

This is a good thread! I did something like this for our club newsletter but I made it too hard as no one got all the answers..Maybe I'll post them here tonight.

I think that L'Anse is a Michigan Township, but Kewanee is in Illinois. (But what does a North Carolinian know)

So I would vote 1/2 true!

Actually there's a Kewanee(I think it's a county) in Michigan too!

But yea you got it.......

Another true or false...
In 1928 Edsel Ford was reviewing some advertisements for printing. One of the ads- a Coupe had a different shade of blue than it was supposed to have. Edsel liked the 'improper' shade of blue and it became a new Ford color.

Lombard to Andulasite Blue?? Otherwise, stumped - good one, 31Ford!

Hey '31 - no takers on your question. Any new bits of trivia??

Ok the Answer to last bit o trivia is "Duchess Blue" a 28-29 Color.

Here's a good one..

What kind of Model A did Henry Ford drive? and What were the special modifications that were done to it?

Gee, this is an interesting thread, I wonder if it can be resusitated?
So I have no idea what A Henry Ford drove... I figure I can find it on the net somewhere, but in the mean time I'm going to guess a tudor, as he was starting to get up in age and I'm thinking he would want the warm comfort of a closed car!, or maybe he drove a Cabriolet??

Actually it was a 1929 Coupe with Special upholstery, cowl ventilators, experimental brake drums, and a built-in holder for Poland Mineral Water, his favorite beverage.

Thanks to Google....

The answer can be found here:

http://www.henryfordestate.org/mfmodela.htm

This would seem to debunk the popular story that Henry Ford never had a ( )?....

Well I was close, it was a closed car with 2 doors.
So Steve, what the next trivia question?

So , looking at my car list, you can see I don't have a Model A, but back in the 60's, I spent a lot of time in the garage with my dad restoring a 1930 Model A Cabriolet.

I think he already asked the next question...

"This would seem to debunk the popular story that Henry Ford never had a ( )?...."

And I have no idea what popular story about Henry Ford not having "___________"? he is talking about.

I guess I haven't heard enough popular stories about Henry Ford.

Oh yea, gee, I read it as a piece of information everyone would know( except me of course)...

This is all I can find in a quick search...

told his father, "I never had ...any particular love for the farm.'

Doesn't seem to fit the question neatly but that's the best I can do for now.

I have heard (and seen it written as a trivia question somewhere) that Henry Ford never had a driver's License. I am still unsure if this is correct or not.

Can anyone name any famouse people who drove Model As?

I'm searching and drawing a blank. The best I can do on this .... so far... is that the three stooges had a Model A in one of their movies, and its not even clear if they drove it.
They sold literally millions of them, you'd think I could find at least one documented!
I guess we can say Henry Ford drove one, and you'd think one of his buddies would drive one to, like Edison, and Firestone??

I have found a good answer to the question 'famouse people who drove Model As'. Since you didn't ask who owned and drove, this should qualify.
This would be Clyde Barrow, of the famous ( infamous? ) Bonny and Clyde. They drove Fords exclusively, apparently and graduated to the Ford V8 from the Model As. Probably never actually owned one, but certainly did drive them in the day.
A side bit of trivia, does anyone know what Clyde's middle name is/ was?

btw, he also reportedly stole and drove an A400 convertible at one time.

And, I will keep on looking for famous Model A drivers!

The photo that i saw was a 1932 B400 even rarer than than the A 400.Sure would be great to have it.

Among Clyde's aliases was Clyde Champion Barrow but (actually his middle name was "Chestnut")... according to my very limited internet research.

Right on. With a middle name of Chestnut, its no surprise he chose a life of crime. lol
Now I'll leave the next trivia A question to the master.... Steve, next?

Here's one:

We all know that there were no Phillips head screws on an original Model A.

Anyone know why?

They had not been invented yet.

Henry F. Phillips (1890 – 1958), a U.S. businessman from Portland, Oregon, has the honor of having the Phillips-head screw and screwdriver named after him.

The importance of the crosshead screw design lies in its self-centering property, useful on automated production lines that use powered screwdrivers. Phillips' major contribution was in driving the crosshead concept forward to the point where it was adopted by screwmakers and automobile companies.

Although he received patents for the design in 1936 (US Patent #2,046,343, US Patents #2,046,837 to 2,046,840), it was so widely copied that by 1949 Phillips lost his patent.

Yes...

was that too easy?

with the internet at our fingertips, easy to look stuff like that up.

Sure, the internet makes most info readily available, but at least we still have to look it up, and we can acquire more 'trivia' more easily, and who doesn't need to more trivia.

One question that is hard to 'google' is the famous Model A drivers.... there must be more out there, and a lot of this info seems hard to find.

here's one that has always made me wonder, do different cars have a different landau iron configuration, or is it just that restorers are not paying attention. Since these irons can function in more than one installed position, I often see them on wrong ( in my opinion).
So what do you think .... what is the correct installed position for the Model A landau irons, on the cabriolet ( and sport coupe for that matter, although they are not hinged).
What do you say.... A, B, C, or D?

All of the original Ford photos that I have seen show the configuration as shown in diagram "A".

If is surprising how many I see as in 'C', although 'A' is the configuration in original literature and pictures.
If you install them as B or D the irons fold back and would protrude out behind the end connection bolts when folded down. You'd be surprised how many I've even see like that... weird.
So everyone must have some little restoration detail that they often see done wrong.... What else have you most often see restored wrong on a model A?

Do all of those whitewall tires count? Those look so wrong to me.....

How's aboutimproperly hung front license plates? The little mounting brackets are upside down half the time. There must be more...

How about door handles, the ones with the slight 's' curve to them....they are opposite for right and left side, and they can be seen left to right not so infrequently.
They should be installed with the large curve into your palm.... I think ... right?

Back to Clyde Barrow for a moment. I remember reading somewhere that after Clyde stole a new Ford V8 for one of his heists, and made a successful getaway, that he wrote Henry a very nice letter complementing him on his fine new Ford V8 as the best car he had ever driven.

Back to Clyde Barrow for a moment. I remember reading somewhere that after Clyde stole a new Ford V8 for one of his heists, and made a successful getaway, that he wrote Henry a very nice letter complementing him on his fine new Ford V8 as the best car he had ever driven.

Depending on your source some say this actually happened, others say it was a hoax, perhaps even initiated by Ford marketing people. A couple recent issues of the national (MARC & MAFCA) magazines document several members of the Barrow gang in various cars - almost all either Model As or early V-8s.

Art Tatum who was probably the greatest Jazz paino player ever had a Model A. He was nearly blind and had a driver, but was known to yeild to the temptation to drive it himself.

Phil