1930 coach

[Guest Steve Kirton]

I just purchased a 1930 Ford model A todor sedan.  This is the first one that I have seen with a spare tire mounted in the left and right front fenders.  Can anyone tell me my the two tires?  Was this a touring car or a business sedan?

[billorn]

Sidemounts were optional on most Model As. Just a tudor sedan with sidemounts. It doesnt change the body style. If it has cowl lights its probably a delux model.

[JFranklin]

I'll bet the original purchaser lived on roads used by farmers working horses. Those horseshoe nails were sometimes a bother.

[Mike36]

1952 we were crossing Kansas in Dads 1940 Cadillac 60 Special. Tire went flat, had a horse shoe stuck in the sidewall!

[Guest Steve Kirton]

The car has cowl lights,  two tail lights, ahooga horn, trailer hitch and a luggage rack

[John_S_in_Penna]

13 hours ago, Steve Kirton said:

Can anyone tell me my [why] the two tires? 

 

In the early days of motoring, tires weren't nearly

as reliable as they later became.  Flat tires were commonplace.

Therefore, it was quite common for cars to have TWO spare tires.

Roads and tires were better by the time of your Ford Model A, 

but the provision of two side-mounted spare tires was offered

in some cars up to around 1941.

[46 woodie]

Steve, your car is simply called a Tudor Sedan with dual sidemosunts. Typically your car came with a rear mounted spare. Welled fenders were an dealer option.

[46 woodie]

Steve, sorry for a second post, but since you are new to Model A Fords, why not join the Model A Restorers Club, (MARC) or the Model A Ford Club of America, (MAFCA). The judging standards are a valuable tool.

[CHuDWah]

Most Model A passenger cars had a rear-mount spare.  A few “DeLuxe” models had side-mount but only on one side.  Side-mounts were available as dealer option and I think they could be factory installed as a special order.  If the arm is riveted to the frame, it is factory – if it’s bolted, it was installed later.

AFAIK, all Model A had only left-side tail light and, again, only a few “DeLuxe” models had cowl lights, luggage rack, etc as standard.  Those, as well as right-side tail light, could be dealer installed and maybe factory installed on special order.  But remember, it was the Depression – most people buying low-cost Fords didn’t have extra cash for unnecessary geegaws.  Nowadays, folks have more money and tend to over-restore cars by dressing them up with accessories.  Probably more cars now have side-mounts, cowl lights, right-side tail lights, rumble seats, etc than were ever produced by Ford.  I suspect that’s what happened to your car.

BTW, I don’t think Ford used the term coach – they referred to your car as a Tudor.

[CHuDWah]

18 hours ago, billorn said:

Sidemounts were optional on most Model As. Just a tudor sedan with sidemounts. It doesnt change the body style. If it has cowl lights its probably a delux model.

 

 

Mr. Kirton mentioned his car is a 1930 - I believe the DeLuxe Tudor was produced only as a 1931 model

Edited July 20, 2017 by CHuDWah (see edit history)

[Guest Steve Kirton]

The South Dakota registration forms that came with the car for 1943, 1950 and 1952 listed the body style as Coach.  Most likely it was the best choice they had available to them. 

[Grimy]

"Coach" was a generic term applied to a two-door sedan during the 1920s and very early 1930s.  Ford called it a "Tudor" (and their 4-door a "Fordor"), and some manufacturers used the term "coach" as their official designation for this body style.

[mcdarrunt]

A sure sign one is a 1931 Deluxe Tudor is the firewall will have a "dent" in it where the fuel line/filter comes through the firewall.

[mcdarrunt]

Sorry,

  Didn't read close enough, this is about a 1930 model. Here is a very bad pic of a 1930 firewall that shows it is flat--no dent.

[CHuDWah]

9 hours ago, CarlLaFong said:

Not quite true. Early 31s still had the old firewall. The indented firewall didn't show up until later in the year and was used on all A and AA cars and trucks, not just the Deluxe

 

 

Also not quite true.  The indented firewall was in full production by May, 1931.  The DeLuxe Tudor was introduced in June, 1931 so all of them had the indented firewall.  But you are correct that all Model A and AA had the indented firewall after its introduction. 

 

The Tudor was the most popular body style, accounting for about 25% of total production.  The DeLuxe was intended to boost slumping sales.  Here is a link to a chart showing differences between Standard and DeLuxe:

 

http://www.mafca.com/data_tudors.html

 

Apparently the indented firewall was intended to eliminate sources of gas leaks inside the car.  Ford just re-stamped existing flat firewalls before retooling, so the early indented ones were pretty crude.  Here's a link to more info:

 

http://www.ahooga.com/notebook/howto/3/howto3.shtml

[CHuDWah]

Ah, geez!    OK, let's parse away.

 

12 hours ago, mcdarrunt said:

A sure sign one is a 1931 Deluxe Tudor is the firewall will have a "dent" in it where the fuel line/filter comes through the firewall.

 

mcdarrunt mentioned the 1931 DeLuxe Tudor specifically.  The only reasonable interpretation is the post was intended to apply to that model only.  It is absolutely TRUE that all 1931 DeLuxe Tudors have indented firewalls.

 

Yet you replied:

12 hours ago, CarlLaFong said:

Not quite true. Early 31s still had the old firewall. The indented firewall didn't show up until later in the year and was used on all A and AA cars and trucks, not just the Deluxe

 

Maybe you intended "Early 31s still had the old firewall" to apply to all Model A and AA.  But you didn't make that clear.  Since you replied to a post that specifically mentioned the 1931 DeLuxe Tudor, a more reasonable interpretation is "Early 31 DeLuxe Tudors still had the old firewall."  That is absolutely UNTRUE.

 

I did agree:

2 hours ago, CHuDWah said:

But you are correct that all Model A and AA had the indented firewall after its introduction.

 

 

2 hours ago, CarlLaFong said:

However, the original poster says he bought a 30, so the entire point is sorta moot

 

The thread evolved to include the 1931 DeLuxe Tudor.  In fact, "delux model" was mentioned in the second post.  So the discussion is relevant.

Edited July 21, 2017 by CHuDWah (see edit history)

[mercer09]

take a wander over to the Ford Barn- lots of help and info on model A Fords.....................