whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

having had 8 mdl. A's and restored +- several..question always comes to mind if you were there in 1930 and had $850 bucks what would you buy to drive across country ??...PS I had reo's .chev's,dodges,durant.studebakers,nash,hudson's,mi tchell,dort,v8 fords several,gardner....i know this is the gods model A site but just be honest ..sc

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

Of all the cars you listed, which one has the greatest number of survivors? Ford gets my vote for the best.

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

I would look for something with 8 cylinders , hydraulic brakes , disk wheels , sealed beam headlights , 4 speed synchronized transmission with maybe overdrive , a good heater , and a big gas tank , with lots of cockpit room.

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

Did such a thing exist in 1930?

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

Did the roads exist to get the best out of a car like that?

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

1934 Plymouth would have been my best choice. Worst choices would be any cars with a body by Fisher, a car with knee-action front suspension, and any car with a vacuum shifted transmission.

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

Wouldn't have found it for $850. The OP did include that little caveat in his question... I think the price of the A was important in its popularity.

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

I was thinking If we were taking the time machine back we would stop right after the stock market crash.Lots of high end cars could have been purchased with our 850 bucks. maybe a caddilac or if we hunted around a Duesenburg or a Laselle
Or a Chrysler or Buick or Graham the list goes on . My point being our wonderful model a we love was
Not exactly state of the art at the time, and probably not the best car for a trip across the country. maybe to town and back . Frank

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

I forgot I had a 20 Texan out of harrahs 1981..My question was a $850 dollar total buget and had to drive from NYC to Portland oregon in 1930 only not 32 or 34 ..no high dollar cars.. 30 chevs were a gas hog with little power big improvment came in 32 ..speed of the day was about 30 to 35 mph..my thot was mopar 1930 but maybe olds viking v8..maybe studebaker after having six studes they were good quaity but but heavy car but strong runners and dependable..My father born in 1888 had had a wilkes booth 1920 six and mdl T 's and A;s but whent to mopar and later to nash..I have only one 30 A PU left and have bot two 37 mopars coupes and like them ..Ford folks thin Fords were the best but I'm not convined sorry..ford was a stuburn fellow and wanted to keep MDL T alive till 1950 HA HA..model A would have been better with a 201 CI flat six that chrysler had at the time same cu in but 2 thirds the horsepower at about 65 to 70 HP and fuel econemy as well..sc give me hell please !!

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

Model A Ford hands down.

1960 Popular Mechanics had an article that said the Model A Ford was by far the best car for the money EVER sold in America, and was built with quality components.

1930 only got better with the improvements over '28-'29.... stainless steel body trim components come to mind right off.

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

A 1930 vehicle with sealed beam headlights did not exist, unless retrofitted.

In the United States of America, sealed-beam headlights were introduced in 1939.

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

Remember 31/32 Chevrolet are not 1930 even the 32 Ford had many advances, so I think a 1930 Pontiac would be a reasonable choice

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

I bought my uncles 32 Chev sedan in 1955 ,to drive to school. Nice car , but rear axels were prone to break as mine did only a month after I got it. Only went over a bump in the road, and that was it. Car sat for months before I could convince my Dad to help me fix it. I have never had an axel problem with my model a ,and we have driven over some pretty rough roads.

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

Maybe a 1929 or 1930 Essex?

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

Ford was sound in his reasoning ( from a personal perspective) to continue in producing the Model T. The car made him one of the richest men in to world, and there was enough money in the Ford coffers form T sales to continue building the car till Ford's death, regardless if it was profitable or not. From that standpoint he could have done it, easily. One could argue the model a never recouped development cost, its only profitable year of production was 1929.Ford motor company didn't turn a profit from '29 to '46.(war work was done at cost plus one dollar).Yet there was enough money left from the 'T' days to finance the massive retool in '49..stubborn? perhaps, but Ford could also be accused of what car guys call 'run what you brung'..that model T delivered in spades.

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

I've owned Model A but no non-Ford cars from that era, so I have no basis for comparison. But I have owned both Fords and MoPars from the late-30s. The ChryCo cars are better built.

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

pound for pound- dollar for dollar a nice Buick.


wouldnt you really rather have a Buick?

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

Maybe Henry could have afforded to build the T until his death, but could he have sold it? 1923 was the high water mark for the T. After that, production and price dropped every year as customers bought other makes with more modern features. During 1929, production increased to a pre-1926 level. Then the crash happened and production again fell off. I submit the crash and consequent depression, rather than the A, was the reason for Ford's lack of profitability through the 30s and WW2. No doubt the T put the world on wheels and made Ford rich. But I have to wonder whether he might not have become even richer if he hadn't stubbornly clung to it, and had introduced the A a few years earlier.

Re: whats the best & worst car to buy in 1930
 

How much did the Buick cost new in “1930”!!! I looked up Pontiac it was $850.00 new , I would have rather picked a 1930 Oldsmobile but they cost $900.00 new and keeping with the original post a new car no more than $850.Or I guess you could buy a good used car . I really am enjoying this post it really got me thinking and I am actually learning .