English De Luxe Fordor for Dave Bockman
 

Just got my latest "The Desert A" our Arizona chapter newsletter . Pre Covid I spend 5 months each year in sunny Chandler AZ . There is an article in it regarding a 1930 Fordor . The owner advises it has fender lamps and leather interior and sliding sunroof . Dave tells him the interior and sunroof are not original . This is not correct the Manchester England de luxe Fordor were factory fitted with these features even with choice of leather ,blue. roan etc etc . The Briggs body came into the English ford plant "body in white" and was painted and trimmed here . Just hope the owner does not remove the original and fit a USA original !!!

John in same place same weather .

Re: English De Luxe Fordor for Dave Bockman
 

John - wow, full leather! How cool. Just for curiosity, those would have all been Right Hand Drive, right?

JayJay

Re: English De Luxe Fordor for Dave Bockman
 

Yes all RHD built for our domestic market . I have the original body parts list and other interiors were also listed I must have a look and let you know . The standard Fordor had a more plain interior and no sunroof . 9 out of 10 were fitted with the 3" small bore AF engine only 28 BHP @ 2600 RPM with a 4.55 rear end . This was to avoid high "road tax". But these cars were way under powered . When this tax was ceased most cars were converted to regular 24 HP and 3.78 rear end .

John in same place same weather .

1930 closed cab pickup

1929 Briggs leather back plus a few more !!!

Re: English De Luxe Fordor for Dave Bockman
 

My friend Bert Thomas had an E28 AF Tudor, I could outrun it with my Model T. Gutless! My mate Willy had 30 RHD Fordor with leather interior, the new owner 'vandalised' it by fitting a Lebarron Bonnet cloth interior.

Re: English De Luxe Fordor for Dave Bockman
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...1&d=1624416703

Brad in Maryland

Re: English De Luxe Fordor for Dave Bockman
 

[QUOTE=john charlton;2029095]Yes all RHD built for our domestic market . I have the original body parts list and other interiors were also listed I must have a look and let you know . The standard Fordor had a more plain interior and no sunroof . 9 out of 10 were fitted with the 3" small bore AF engine only 28 BHP @ 2600 RPM with a 4.55 rear end . This was to avoid high "road tax". But these cars were way under powered . When this tax was ceased most cars were converted to regular 24 HP and 3.78 rear end.

John in same place same weather .


John,

Some of the Deluxe Fordor Saloons were also made for the Dutch market as well, with the sliding roof, but with left hand drive and no wing lights (has cowl lights instead).

Here is photo from the Ford sales brochure from the Netherlands showing such a "Sedan De Luxe" with left hand drive:

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...1&d=1624417088

....and an era photo of what appears to be a 1930 "Sedan De Luxe" taken in The Netherlands:
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...1&d=1624417542
Note the earlier style sliding roof, cowl lights (no fender lights) and left hand drive.

Brad in Maryland

Re: English De Luxe Fordor for Dave Bockman
 

Thank you Brad
I checked my English body parts list and find the sliding sunroof is A-116050 not an AE prefix so no doubt fitted by Briggs in USA . The"E" in a prefix indicates English production . So the bodies "in white" would have come into an overseas assembly plant with the sunroof fitted ,came in green ,brown or blue . So the Dutch cars could have been assembled in the Cologne plant really depends on what interior was fitted . The English fordor cars came like this .The 155D called a "de luxe" here came with a USA interior all "A" prefix part numbers . The 165D called a "fordor" here came with all "AE" prefix part numbers .
Brown leather
Blue leather
Roan leather
Blue bedford
Brown bedford
brown melton

The 55-B tudor and the 45-B coupe also had these options .

It would be interesting to check out an original Dutch car to see what interior it has .

John in sunny morning Suffolk County England .

Re: English De Luxe Fordor for Dave Bockman
 

In June 1931 a new style sliding roof was introduced in the UK....more flat across the front part of the roof (roof is deeper recessed):
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...1&d=1624511193

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...1&d=1624511193

....no mention however about the interior finish.

Brad in Maryland

Re: English De Luxe Fordor for Dave Bockman
 

I’m a bit curious about that sun roof. Does anyone know the thinking behind supplying it overseas, but not in the states? I surely don’t remember other cars having one at that time. In that era would also seem to be inviting future leaks issues…..I just find it very strange for Ford to have done that.

Re: English De Luxe Fordor for Dave Bockman
 

Hi Brad that latest advert does clear something up . I thought there was a misprint in my English parts book and wondered why the "de luxe" had cloth interiors and the fordor had the leather .The sliding roof was only fitted to the 155 D but no leather . I think this was done as a lot of damage would be done if an owner left the roof open by mistake and the leather got really wet . A cloth interior would dry out with not much harm done . The 166 D had no sunroof so no chance of a leather interior being soaked in heavy rain . To answer Terry H . Sun roofs were a popular option in English cars of the period so Ford offered this option as well as it would boost sales in the English domestic market .

John in Suffolk County England .

Re: English De Luxe Fordor for Dave Bockman
 

My uncle had a 31 A here in Texas before the war, then was stationed in England after the war. He told me he bought a model A there and it had no power at all. He told me with his wife and daughter aboard he had to drive in 2nd and 1st on hilly roads.
He said a lorry's brakes failed and put the A out of its misery. Thankfully no one was hurt.

Re: English De Luxe Fordor for Dave Bockman
 

Here is a photo, from the September 1930 issue of "The Ford Times", that shows the interior trim of the Fordor de luxe Saloon (with the sliding roof) (top photo only):

http://www.ahooga.com/upload12/fullsizeoutput_37af.jpeg

Brad in Maryland

Re: English De Luxe Fordor for Dave Bockman
 

Can't see a photo.

Now I can!

Re: English De Luxe Fordor for Dave Bockman
 

Hi Brad I suppose it would be difficult to tell what the interior was from a period photo . A friend has an English 155 D but it has the original Brown Bedford interior . Sadly very few fordors have survived here the wood framed bodies and English weather took a toll . The Murray bodies were not sold here only Briggs .
For ETA yes your dad would have had the AF model 28 BHP @ 2600 RPM poor performance compared to the A model . The model A van was exempt from the dreaded "Horse Power Tax" as it was a commercial vehicle so had the regular 24 HP engine . The grocers van could outdrag the doctors cabriolet no problem .

John in Suffolk County England .