Model A Fords to be with us for a LONG time yet
 

This story is 2 years old, nothing new, but the coming electric car saga keeps popping up in the news. Ford is pushing for it also. Saw it today, again, on the local news channel. Didn't find a search here on this subject. This article is from the liberal CNN which hates automobiles and fossil fuels anyway.

This is relevant to our antique cars as folks are asking each other at the coffee shop where we gather 'Do you think we should just sell our cars and wait for the electrics, as the old cars will be obsoleted? Gasoline is going away.'

Well kinda sorta not gonna be. Electrics are still not cost efficient and won't be for a long time. Let alone the charging times vs. just fueling your car at Casey's and hitting the road again.

And someone on another Forum pointed out that as gasoline engines get more efficient and get better fuel mileage and burn more renewables, that will set electrics back even more making them less cost feasible.

Hybrid electric cars are working out very well!

So don't let go of that Model A petroleum products will be here decades after we all hit the dirt nap.

https://money.cnn.com/2017/07/05/tec...ars/index.html

Re: Model A Fords to be with us for a LONG time yet
 

The limiting factor on the Model A isn't gasoline, it's the cost and availability of repair and maintenance. There are dozens of other marques and models from the early 20th century that are effectively off the road because of the expense and difficulty of getting parts or the need to relearn techniques that have been forgotten.

Re: Model A Fords to be with us for a LONG time yet
 

I also believe we "A"er's have a responsibility to work at getting the younger generation interested in Model A's. We old farts are fimilar with the older cars, young folks will ask "what is it" perhaps we are the ones failing. What have you and or your Club done to work with the youth that could become the next generation model A owners?

Re: Model A Fords to be with us for a LONG time yet
 

I'm 45. I have 3 Model A's now. Most people my age that I know don't get it. I also notice I am usually the youngest guy when we go to functions. My kids are all into the old cars though, so I am hopeful for some of the next generation behind me. The problem is, most people only want to look at their phone. I'm convinced, that's why the self driving, or taking an uber rather than have a car is getting so big.

Re: Model A Fords to be with us for a LONG time yet
 

The folks who lived during the cars days are dead or close to it.There is no story tellers,no one to further the allure. It took somone you looked up to,or loved to pass it on to you.The clubs cant do it,the father needs to pass it to his son..no one scraps bodies anymore and there are enough around to perpetuate it some..but lately it seems prices are dropping and there is little interest in grampas car..alot of the 70's and 80"'s amateur restorations are being rodded..hey,its time has past..

Re: Model A Fords to be with us for a LONG time yet
 

Well, to state the obvious, what constitutes an "old car" keeps changing. Here in Indiana, a car only 25 years old is eligible for "historic vehicle" plates. Right now, that makes vehicles from the 1994 model year eligible!

Re: Model A Fords to be with us for a LONG time yet
 

Quite true. I passed an early 80's Lincoln Towncar on the road the other day and it was sporting Illinois Antique Plates. Looked to be in fantastic shape. Very legal, just struck me as 'I remember those things when they were new'. Time marches on.

Re: Model A Fords to be with us for a LONG time yet
 

Don’t fool yourself. Collector car prices go up and down.

There is still a very good market for these cars. Whether your looking at a very well restored car or a very well maintained driver.

Junk is junk. There are great Mustangs, and junk Mustangs.

I think the problem really is that the junk out there is losing its market. The cost of restoration and/or maintaining a Model A is getting out of reach for a lot of people.

Age is really starting to have its effect, along with many different owners patching things up to just get by.

Don’t let the guys with marginal at best cars bring you down. A quality antique car has a market. You might not see them on the big city roads, but out in the country they will be stretching there legs.

Go to a car show and watch the people walking around. People like the 60’s and 70’s classics, as I also do.

But, look at the kids smiles, the real time spent looking at each car. They most likely will be pre 1930 cars that have their attention.

There true antiques. Enjoy.

Re: Model A Fords to be with us for a LONG time yet
 

I drove our Model A to a car show this past August, all hot rods, basically. When I left and drove down the line up, I retarded the spark and ran at a very slow idle. Those gearheads stopped talking and just listened to that Model A music. Most of them probably had never heard a stock Model A in action before.
So no, it's definitely not over for Model A's :)

Re: Model A Fords to be with us for a LONG time yet
 

The article you link to was from July of 2017. Hardly breaking news.

The lead sentence is...

"The internal combustion engine has been around more than a century. And it should be around for decades to come,"

Further on it says..." eliminating the gas engine altogether will be difficult, if not impossible."

and..."Gasoline-powered cars themselves are becoming far more efficient, thanks to new technology and new materials. No one anticipates that gasoline engines will be regulated out of existence."

and..."I don't expect internal combustion to go away any time soon," Cogan said. "It keeps getting better and better and better."

In any case, there is a big difference between what people are buying (or will buy) for their daily drivers, and the survival of collector cars. Apples and Oranges.

Re: Model A Fords to be with us for a LONG time yet
 

Here we go again.


Give me something to worry about.

Re: Model A Fords to be with us for a LONG time yet
 

The sound and the beauty was what attracted me to the model A when I was only about nine years old , I haven't gotten over it yet .

Re: Model A Fords to be with us for a LONG time yet
 

Luckily my son is interested in mine, and he's 38, so I have willed it to him. I doubt very much if Model A's, or antiques in general go away. But I don't take the A or my other car to the local Denny's Friday nite cruise-in anymore, it's filled with guys who think they know more than the next guy. Only people who looked at my A all had gray hair!