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This 1927 model truck was destined to be among the last of the Ford Model T trucks in that the 1928 Model A was introduced in the fall of 1927, making the T a relic of the past. This picture is a fine example of the T of that era!

The 1929 Fords were very much a makeover from the 1928 models. As near as I can tell, the main difference was the taillight design. 15 colors were offered in 1929-a far cry from way back there when all black was the game with Ford. The 40 horsepower engines were the same for both model years which was double that of the 1927 Model T. It’s a good thing that for once Henry listened to son Edsel and went along with him to produce the Model A.

Of all the Ford convertibles, 1939 and 1940’s were my convertibles of choice. They had everything, looks, style, design-you name it!! I had 2 friends who owned 1940’s when I was in highschool. One I will never forget. I don’t remember what color it came out with when new, but one of my friends had his painted a light blue and had all the windows tinted blue!! These cars were great for summer nights in Oklahoma!! I snapped this picture at the 2011 Car de Lane show in Couer de Alene, Idaho. It is perfection.

As an antique car nut, I seldom see a car that really gets my attention. I can tell you for sure that this one did!! My son, Gary, and myself attended the Car de Lane parade and car show in Couer de Alene, Idaho June 17th and 18th, 2011 and this car made my day!! What a car!! Ford produced only 923 of these models featuring the new V/8 engine and I’d bet this is one of the very few left restored to perfection. I asked the owner about the history of this car, and his reply was, “I don’t know, I just bought it!” He sure bought a jewel!! No doubt he has deep pockets!!

If you have never seen a Model A that is a head turner, this baby will cure that problem for you real quick!! It is absolutely gorgeous!! I first saw it at a car show in Three Forks, Montana and later at a show in Townsend, Montana. If there ever was a perfect exterior and interior restoration, this is it, and I’m sure the mechanics were equally as good! A car nut like me couldn’t help but be amazed at it’s perfection!!

This pickup is one in a million. It is very restorable if and when the owner ever decides to do it.

Build the car, but paint it black!!! As I understand it that was the deal until the model year 1926 and Henry was forced to change his mind as sales were down 17% from 1925. Hence intorduction of Fawn Gray, Highland Green, and Royal Maroon. Rumors were flying that Ford was about to come out with an entirely new car, so that sure didn’t help sales! People were making more money and were going for more upscale automobiles, so a change was needed badly and that happened with the introduction of the 1928 models.

This model year introduced the deluxe and standard model tudor phaeton. Nice appointments of the deluxe included a leather interior, trunk rack, and left fender mounted spare tire. The base price of the standard was $435.00 and the deluxe $580.00, so considering the fact that the depression was in full swing, it is understandable that the standard sales figure was 11,060 versus only 2,875 for the deluxe. Adds of 1930 included new beauty and that is quite obvious when you look at this beauty!

The ’35’s were longer, sleeker and just didn’t look as boxy as their 1933 and 1934 counterparts although the ’33’s nd ’34’s were plenty good looking in their own right! This particular car has been restored to perfection and the owner really enjoys showing it at various car functions. The writer snapped this picture at a Montana Pioneer Antique and Classic car club tour in southwestern Montana which incidentally was one of the best tours my wife and I have ever attended!!

Owners of a ritzy cabriolet got roll up windows and sturdy A pillars for $190.00 more than the cheapest roadster Ford produced in 1930. Cabs didn’t come near the production numbers of the roadsters which came with or without rumble seats in that only 29,226 cabs were produced as opposed to a total of 122,703 roadsters.

This particular car was in the Harrah Auto collection in Reno, Nevada and had been restored to perfection! The 1931’s underwent very modest changes from their 1930 predecessor in that the major changes were only a redesigned radiator shell that included a body color indentation and a redesigned dash. 1931 marked the production of 20 million Fords since Henry began his enterprise!

This year Ford introduced their new flathead V/8 engine packing a walloping 65 horsepower!! Both John Dillinger and Clyde Barrow of Bonnie and Clyde complimented Ford Motor Company on having an engine with terrific acceleration!! Only 8996 of these roadsters were produced in 1932, so it is no wonder they are in such demand today!

Once a year the Helena, Butte and Bozeman chapters of the Pioneer Antique and Classic car club of Montana meet and when the owner of this beautiful Phaeton drove this car to a meeting several years ago, I just had to have a picture of it. With only 45,000 miles on it, it was in great condition. It is among the last of it’s breed in that 1939 was the last year Ford produced a 4 door ragtop. Total production was only 3561 units. Compared to a deluxe tudor with total production of 144,333, it’s not hard to see why Ford decided building them in the future would not be worthwhile.

The restoration of this car was several years in the making , but when done, it was perfection!! My long time friend, Bert Carlson, owned this car and took great pride in showing it in parades and car shows. Bert was a member of Capital Carriages Antique Car Club in Helena, Montana and took great pride in his prowess as a chef!! He was really a good steak man!! The ’28 was a radical change from the
Model T’s of a past era. 10 million people saw it within 36 hours of it’s debut. Ford produced 82,349 of this model for the calendar year 1928. The hot model was the 2 door in that same period. Production hit 208,562, so it is no wonder we see many more 2 doors around than 4 doors.

This was not a good year for Ford versus Chevrolet in spite of the fact Ford came out with a totally new body design, and upgraded the V/8 brake horsepower to 75. Ford total sales for 1933 were 334,969 versus Chevrolet 481,134. 1483 of these Phaeton Deluxe model beauties were produced. I’m sure not many still exist. I was fortunate to have seen one that had less than 10,000 miles on it about 22 years ago at a car show in Oklahoma. In looking ahead as I write this article, I find that Ford discontinued the 4 door rag top in 1939. Chevrolet had discontinued their rag top with the Standard model in 1935.

The perfectly restored 1929 Ford Model A Cabriolet. I am quoting the following from statistics given in a book called Ford Chronicle written by James M. Flamming and David L. Lewis. This when new was one expensive Model A. It’s price was $670.00 compared to the price of a roadster of $450.00. Only 16,421 cabs were produced as opposed to 191,529 roadsters. With such a price variation, no wonder people went for the roadster if all they wanted was open air when the top was down. This was the first true Ford convertible since a Model T was produced called a Coupelet. It has windows which rolled up or down and gives the car a boxy look as opposed to a roadster, but both types looked sporty! All interiors were upholstered in imitation brown leather and all cabriolets came with black fenders regardless of the exterior colors. Model A’s of 1929 came in 16 different colors. I’m sure not just any of the colors went on a given model, the factory probably dictated applicable colors for a particular body style.

This story was related to me by my father in law, Roy Millikin, of Burkburnett, Texas. He had an uncle, W.H. Millikin, that became very wealthy back in the early 1900’s via drilling for oil and gas in the U.S. and in Mexico. He owned a bank in Bowling Green, Ohio and one day Henry Ford paid him a visit wanting to borrow some start up money for his fledgling auto enterprise as he wanted to expand it and go into mass production. Mr. Millikin asked him how much do you need and Henry told him $70,000.00. MIllikin told my father in law he had that much laying in the top right hand drawer of his desk, but he just couldn’t loan Henry the money because he had beady eyeballs!!! Henry might have had beady eyeballs, but he was sure one smart hombre!! The source of the following information is taken from a book named Ford Chronicle written by James M. Flammang and David L. Lewis. The car in this picture was advertised as a runabout, not a roadster. Equipped with a starter and demountable wheels, this 1925 model sold for $345.00 and 264,436 were produced. Between the years 1909 and 1927 Ford produced 15 million Model T’s. Old W.H. wasn’t too smart, was he?

I was given this picture 20 years ago via it’s owner as he wanted to sell it. At the time, I was a sales manager at Capital Ford, Helena, Montana, and would like to have helped him, but was void of answers for him as I really wasn’t into antique cars at the time. He let me keep this picture anyway. I will quote statistics from a book entitled Ford Chronicles. Ford produced 4,536 of these units and called them simply 4 door wagons and the price was $670.00. In comparison, Ford produced 322,575 2 door sedans which included both the standard and deluxe models. More than likely, a lot of the ones produced were special orders as I can’t imagine a dealer wanting to stock any of them. Who was he going to sell it to in 1935? History tells us times were quite rough back then!!

This car brings back many memories!! One of my uncles sold new Pontiacs and Cadillacs and used cars during the 1930’s in Enid, Oklahoma, and when the firm traded for a roadster, he would always take my brother, Bill, and myself for rides in the rumble seat. Obviously to us, that was a real treat!! Not many kids got to ride in a rumble seat!! Naturally the ride also entailed double dip ice cream cones at Weibels Dairy Store. I remember on one of these excursions, Weibels featured Robert Wadlow-the tallest man in the world, there for advertising purposes. I don’t recall how tall he was , but it was over 7 feet!!

The 1941 Ford 2 door was a totally different style as compared to it’s 1940 predecessor. It was designed to look more blocky than any previous Ford and anyone who was lucky enough to have bought one just prior to World War 2 had enough luck-they didn’t need any more!!!

I grew up in   small town, Waynoka, Oklahoma, and a local insurance salesman had a 1941 Ford the same color as the one you see. He doubled as our football and basketball coach and took us to play ball at all out of town games in his ’41.  Due to World War 2, anyone who might have been hired as coach was in the service, so this guy, Kiss Godfrey, assumed the position of coach and under his coaching, our teams did very well!