mrcvs

Take home message here. If you like old cars, avoid neighborhoods. Also a good idea to avoid your wife...for awhile...

HOA won't allow that. Socialism.

Exactly! Due to Route 22 and 78 traffic getting worse than ever (and the Eye 22 bridge project never seems to get done), we are as far out as she wants to be. Unless maybe Saucon Valley, but that ain't cheap, either. It's unfortunate NYC and NJ transplants have ruined it out here. Many live in my neighborhood and bring their big city attitudes with them.

I can't. America, the land of the free, ain't so free anymore. As America got way, way, way too crowded, you end up with too many (nosy) neighbors and restrictions. That's why I am selling this car. I knew that when I bought this place, so it's not like it's any surprise. A stone farmhouse with, at a minimum, a new kitchen needed and additional cosmetic work, with an awesome barn and ten acres is a hard sell when, for less, you can get a brand new house on 0.27 acres ready to move into. Well, not for me. Guess which one I wanted. With my wife breathing down my neck, and the in-laws and some of her siblings telling me what a dope I was, I wasn't going to win that argument. I will say that place would have been the maximum my budget could have afforded, and I would have had no money left over for renovations, and some folks can't live with outdated kitchens and cosmetics. Oh, yeah, I recall now it needed a brand new roof as well.

Right! I suspected as much but fortunately my driveway slopes towards the road.

I should have also stated the not so obvious... Junkyards full of old cars answer pretty well my question. It's obvious that being exposed to the elements leads to significant decay. But, the reason for my question was that, unlike most junkyards, which are on bare earth, my car was going to be parked on an asphalt surface. As already discussed, the car cannot be outside long term...hence, the reason it's for sale. I was hoping that the cause of rust and decay might be from the moisture of the earth and being parked on asphalt might minimize this. My observations led to this hypothesis. Stored originally in dry barn. No real problems. Problems arose once holes in roof developed, but not upwards due to being under tarp. Seems like water from holes in roof caused moisture to seek the lowest level and then evaporate, causing superficial rust, such as on the manifold. Amazingly, muffler and tail pipe look brand new, just as replaced in 2016.

Thank you for your answers. Unfortunately, they were, was expected. The car, sadly, must be sold. Best interest of the car. The wonderful yuppy neighborhood I live in will not allow car ports, so that is not an option. It would be only a matter of time before I will receive complaints if I kept it under a tarp, which was the only viable option, and that doesn't seem to be a good one, as from responses above. At the end of every rainbow is a pot of gold. In this case, the good news is that if I ever want another Model A someday, they are not incredibly rare, and I will be able to find another one, if desired.

I have a Model A Fordor, so it is an enclosed car, but also, components are wood. My obstacles in the old car hobby is that I am self taught, which isn't saying much, but I can putter about and figure out some things. The other problem is storage space. I do have a 2005 Volkswagen Golf sitting in the driveway that I have kept despite having some rather pesky problems, because it has less than 140,000 miles on it. But it has minimal value. I have the Model A for sale, and I really do not want to sell it, but it is probably in the best interest of the car. But, if I got rid of the VW instead, and kept the Model A in the driveway, on an asphalt surface, what are the long term implications? Ideally under a tarp, but I'm afraid my wife or the neigbors will consider that to be unsightly. I think ALL vehicles, even new ones, when not driven, should be under cover. But that's a problem. I considered my limited garage space a temporary obstacle... Except, has anyone tried to look for real estate lately in the Allentown suburbs? Although by no means nothing like areas such as NYC and Seattle, it is still an obstacle. Properties with barns or lots of garage space are few in number, and then when they are available, given they are usually better than a property with fewer outbuildings and less land, the cost is prohibitive, at least on my salary. ?????

Something about this old movie... I don't know what it is. But this is about the most fascinating thing I have ever seen on the internet!

Yeah, I love that car! I am dealing with storage issues now (lack of space to store cars).

Yes, Tractor Supply DOES have 6 volt batteries, and I got one there. The day I went there, I asked if they had 6 volt batteries. They stated no. I guess they answered my question literally, and never mentioned they were actually coming in the next morning.

Any idea how many pre-1905 or pre-1910, or any similar date were built, and how many of those might exist today? Or, maybe what might be the survival rate of a pre-1910 car?

I also meant to say that in defense of my wife, these vehicles are a hard sell. Often not running, when they do run, before long another problem arises. Not as comfortable or as roomy as a brand new vehicle, no heat or A/C. She didn't grow up around this stuff, I didn't although I have an interest... It's a hard sell to someone with no interest.

The attached photographs show the view from my yard and then looking to my yard with my house in the background. Our neighborhood is not ritzy to the point where folks drive Rolls Royces. It is simply the newest and possibly last new neighborhood in the area as everything has otherwise been developed, and even the newest home over here is now 5 years old. It's what you get if you want to live in a neighborhood and have a professional degree and want to drive a late model SUV, Audi, Mercedes, etc. Except I don't drive any of those. Neighborhoods nearby are pushing 40+ years old and look dated... Not that it bothers me, but my wife learned from her parents that newer is best and I kid you not when I say they have lived in about 10 brand new homes over the years. Even over here, sometimes if a house is for sale, if the owner is outside, I'll make small talk and find they are usually moving into another brand new development somewhere. How is that environmentally friendly? Meanwhile, a few older homes in the area sit vacant. But I digress. I live where I do, because I just wasn't winning the farmhouse, barn, and a few acres further out argument. And, in the end, that's what I rented space in and the multitude of problems meant there was no money left for a new roof on the barn which is why I lost my barn space.

But she won't... COMPLETELY legal, we are by no means the worst offenders when it comes to vehicles parked on the street... Problem is, several years ago my wife's sister's real bomber Ford Explorer was parked out front for a week, and the neighbors complained. It was completely legal, just a real eyesore. They had no right to complain nor to threaten to get it towed. The perils of living in a newer neighborhood (not my choice). Too many uppity folks! I didn't even bother to put a "For Sale" sign on it as none of these yuppies are likely to have any interest in it. How as a society did we become like this? Tear it all down, throw it out. It can't be any good unless it's brand new!

But...if all that stuff was done, then it would be a $15,000 car. All the problems are already priced in. Also, not many Fordors out there for sale. Meanwhile I have my wife at my throat because it's parked in front of the house and she doesn't understand it takes time to sell a car (like more than 24 hrs).

I will get photographs later but it is, if not identical to, very similar to the frame of my 1917 Maxwell.

What should I be asking for it? Seems to me $12,500 is "about right".

I'm surprised at how many automobiles were in use that early!

Here's the link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1930-Ford-Model-A-Green/223554052543?hash=item340cdc21bf:g:X5oAAOSwe3ddBmwZ I have it listed for $12,999 on Ebay because of Ebay and PayPal fees. Bottom line, right now, is I would like to clear $12,500 right now, but that could change later.

No, I have it fairly priced, or close to it, for what it is! Yeah, I could price it at $2500 and have it gone by sunset...but I work hard for my money so why should I throw it away?

I now have it posted to eBay, as well as the MARC site and my local Model A club to which I belong. I thought I had it priced right and it is a desirable model, but apparently not! I'm not going to give it away, but my wife hates looking at it in front of the house.

Doesn't seem to be flooded with Fordors, however.

Craig's List is mostly newer cars. It doesn't look like much early stuff on there. Not sure if that is the best place for it. I had no idea it was this difficult to sell a Model A, which I have priced in the lower end range.

I remember as a teenager getting my hands on a copy of Hemings...and dreaming! Of course, that was long before the days of the internet. Is it still a decent way to sell a vehicle? I don't have facebook, but I think a most gracious member of this forum did post it to facebook. I did post to the classifieds section of this forum. I'll have to maybe figure out how to get it on Craig's List.