Early 'A'?
 

I have a '28 Sport Coupe with a date stamped on the tank of 08/22/28 and a VIN of A345971. The parking brake is located ahead of the shifter. A friend of mine, who is no stranger to Model A cars, called it an early A. Is that correct? It's not what I have heard around here.......

Re: Early 'A'?
 

Early is January 28 through April 28
That engine was stamped August 20, 1928

Re: Early 'A'?
 

Yeah, I've only had this since May and don't know everything yet, but I thought my friend was wrong.

Re: Early 'A'?
 

the early ones have the brake by the frame, depending on left hand or right hand.


I have what is early for Canada. it is a sept 3rd car. emergency brake is at right side rail.
rims are thinner on hub by 1/4 inch and a few other small nuances.

Re: Early 'A'?
 

The judging standards defines "Early" as January thru April, "Middle" as May thru August and "Late" as September thru December of the year. 1928 Early includes 1927 vehicles.
The emergency brake lever moved from the left side of vehicle to the center of the gear shift in June 1928 as part of the change to a separate emergency brake cross shaft.

Re: Early 'A'?
 

I have a '28 Tudor, A345873, with a gas tank date of 8-20-28, and the parking brake is in front of the shifter.

Re: Early 'A'?
 

CatMan1, My sub rail stamping shows that it was assembled in Chicago. Where was yours
assembled? Only 102 numbers apart.

Re: Early 'A'?
 

My car is a 28, and it is ahead of the shifter. I hear all the ohh-and-ahh about the early cars and the lever over by the frame rail. I don't see what the big deal is. Besides, parts would likely be difficult to find. I personally have been an A guy since 1994, and have never seen one.

You can have all the odd stuff in the world, but most people never drive their cars more than about once or twice a year, so what's the big deal?

Re: Early 'A'?
 

When I was a young man some people would so "Different strokes for different folks. In other words, we don't all like the same thing. Personally, I've never followed the crowd. I like going a different way which is sometimes a more difficult way.

In high school I would read Doc Kalinka's articles in the Restorer about the early 28's. The parts were slightly different, sometimes poorly designed due to Henry's need to hurry the new Ford into production. One could argue that the "worst" Model A's are the earliest. Improvements were made constantly after the A's introduction.

Gene F, you may have seen one in your years in our hobby but just didn't realize it. The easiest way to spot an early one is the left hand brake. But after lawsuits in '27 and '28 about the safety of that design, some relatively early '28's were built with an improved brake system that had the emergency handle in front of the gear shifter.

Does a 1916D Mercury dime spend like other dimes? Would most be aware of the rarity of that dime or even care? Same goes for the early '28's. They basically drive like any other Model A.

Now I'm one of those guys who likes the odd, the rare. So I have an early 1928 Ford and I even have a well worn 1916D Mercury dime. Neither is better than latter versions. They're just different.

Re: Early 'A'?
 

Well said