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Old 08-01-2013, 05:25 PM   #7
Steve Plucker
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Walla Walla, Washington USA
Posts: 6,066
Default Re: The true history on Edison's Model A...

Quote:
Originally Posted by dlshady View Post
That's an interesting read, but I wonder what official Ford documentation the author used for reference. The whole problem with the "Edison got the first Model A" scenario is that, going off of the engine release log, the first car to be built should have been *A14*, and engine *A1* wasn't sent to the line until a week or ten days later. That's why Pluck asked the question he did, because neither of us has ever seen any actual concrete proof (such as internal Ford memos, title history, etc.) that would prove Edison actually received the car with engine number *A1*. I'm not implying that the proof doesn't exist, just that neither of us has seen it. Lots of stories about "Oh yeah, everybody knows Edison got the first Model A, cause I read it in a book somewhere..", but no verifiable proof that I've seen.

Taken at face value, "Edison got the first Model A" could just mean that he was gifted a new Model A before anyone else got theirs, before they actually went on sale to the general public. It could also mean that he received the first car off the line (which according to the engine shop foreman's logs should have been *A14*), or it could mean that he did indeed receive the car with engine number *A1*. That's what we're trying to determine.
The reason I ask is because Edison's car just may have come from the Kearny assembly plant and not Fordson...And if that was the case, it sure was not any of those engines that went to final assembly at Fordson (Dearborn), for which we have a record of, but Kearny. This includes A1 and A14.

I know I may be farting in the wind here...been known to do that once in a while, and it could of been just a "photo shot" but contained in the February 1, 1928 issue of Ford News Vol. 8 Number 6, is a photo of Thomas Edison, in a Tudor Sedan and the caption reads "Thomas A. Edison in the first Model A to be built at the Kearny plant".

Unfortunatly...that is all it says about it...BUT...It is "the first Model A to be built..." just not at Fordson (Dearborn).

So...If this is the case, maybe someone near Kearny or there abouts could do some research in the old area newspapers...maybe...just maybe!

Hmmmmmmm...I wonder?!

Pluck

Last edited by Steve Plucker; 08-01-2013 at 05:32 PM.
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