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Ford verse Chevrolet Why are the Model A survival rates greater that the Chevrolet's of the same era ? And it's not due to the people/clubs I know either, as I only know of
one Chev to the four A's I've owned. |
Re: Ford verse Chevrolet The use of very much interior wood framing...
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Re: Ford verse Chevrolet One reason that I have read is that the GM bodies had more wood in them, so they rotted away. I don't think that explains it all, though. Model As seem to have a significant amount of wood in them, too.
In my own subjective reasoning, it is that they were much better cars in their design and construction and overall reliability. Someone more knowledgeable than me may have some better information, but I will stick to my reasoning for now. Occasionally I will see a 28 Chev. 29's seem the most numerous in my experience, but there don't seem to be a lot of them out there. |
Re: Ford verse Chevrolet In my circles it's been attributed to the body design using wood in key structural areas. Namely the door posts. When they set in a barn or the field the wood gets loose, if they bounce down the road, the wood gets loose. The two most common complaints I've heard about Chevy's of that vintage are, my door won't shut, followed by, my door fell off.
Another factor, from my experience anyway, is parts availability. Model A parts seem to be much more affordable and readily available. And that makes the "old car" experience much more fun, especially for someone new to the old car hobby. Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk |
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First problem solved!! :o |
Re: Ford verse Chevrolet I have a pertinent question. Model A's were pretty much the same for the four years they were built. Was Chevrolet the same or did they make yearly changes? Maybe this would account for some of the longevity.
Marty |
Re: Ford verse Chevrolet Chevrolet made some changes. I think it was 29 they started offering a 6 cylinder in the cars, and Chevrolet actually out sold Ford for a number of years. I don't think Ford regained leadership in new sales until 32 when the V8 came out.
Our beloved little Model A's were in fact an attempt to recover sales, mostly lost to Chevrolet, customers wanted power, brakes, and comfort offered by others, namely Chevrolet, that the Model T's just didn't provide. Disclosure: this is speculation recalled from a somewhat foggy memory. Feel free to fact check. Sent from my E6810 using Tapatalk |
Re: Ford verse Chevrolet Chevrolet cars cost more than Ford and was more complicated .
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Re: Ford verse Chevrolet Two things; A)the physical survival of the cars, Namely, not so much wood in the bodies. The use of Vanadium still helped to retard rust (though not completely) damage. So the cars and their parts were actually there!
B) The model A was a pretty well designed and built automobile that could take a fair amount of punishment. Knowing what I know, I would have suggested a few changes, such as making the bell housing one piece instead of two, trans Bolts on outside ears instead of inside the bell housing. A different water pump design. Slightly more attention paid to aerodynamics. Tilting the windshield, ( as was done in some of the 1931 models). But Henry was only building a car to last ten years, not a statement for the ages. I think he did a pretty job! One thing that was a major help over Chevrolet was in gas mileage. A ford model A could be tuned to get in the area of 20MPG and this helped get us through the was when Chevies were being scrapped by the thousands. Terry |
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Terry |
Re: Ford verse Chevrolet I have a 1931 Chevrolet in my collection and it is a far classier looking car than my Model A’s. It is rare you see one at a car show so when one appears it attracts lots of attention.
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Something that folks need to understand. The Chevrolet was a much better automobile than the Model-A. The '29 Chevrolet engine was 15% more horsepower than Ford's A, -the color selection was better, and the trim levels were more plush. Ford realized this in 1930, -hence the reason for the DeLuxe models to be introduced. One other HUGE factor in Ford's success was his distribution. Ford had something like 4x the amount of dealers as Chevrolet during the Model-A era. Ford set up Agencies in rural areas where Chevrolets were not. People had learned about not being able to get parts for their implements and automobiles locally and conveniently. The final thing is it was a different clientele of the two manufacturers. Car owners from the teens and early 20s were used to vehicles without windows or fixed roofs. In other words they froze during the winter and got wet when it rained. By the Model-A era, if Buyers could afford it, they bought closed cars because they were tired of the cold and wet weather when driving. Even with that said, Ford still sold many Roadsters, Phaetons, and Biz Coupes (-draft canvas tops) because they were inexpensive. Chevrolet sold very few Roadsters & Touring cars during the Model-A era. Their Coaches were their big sellers because they were a better value over a Ford IF you had a local dealership to service you, and if you could afford it. Very possible that Chevrolet could have dominated Ford in all years had there been Chevy dealerships in each of the small rural towns. Frugality of the typical Model-A owner is what preserved most Model-As. That, ...and the rural ownership that kept them away from urban areas where 'scrap-drives' were more prevalent. |
Re: Ford verse Chevrolet I am wondering if in addition to the above mentioned items, Ford had the reputation of building a sturdy, well supplied (parts), going to be there car. Whereas Chevy was promoting things changing every year or so, so they did not put the emphasis on the long lasting quality. Then the country ran smack into the depression, which tilted people towards Ford's reputation of long lasting reliability.
It was also a corporation vs. Henry's ego. A company doesn't care about quality that much as long as you buy it and keep coming back (i.e. built in obsolescence). Ego cares what you think about its product. Mike |
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Big Three engines of 1928 and 1931. A story I have often heard from from folks who lived through the Great Depression is that a replacement fuel pump cost about $15 in the late 1930s, but one could buy a running Model "A" for that money. The Chevrolet and Plymouth had fuel pumps. Note that the horsepower monster was the Plymouth.
I raced my 1931 Model "A" Coupe against a 1932 Chevy Master Coupe on a highway from about 30 MPH up to 60 MPH and it was tie. |
Re: Ford verse Chevrolet Hi Guys,
I have one of each. I can’t really compare them, as the Ford is a roadster pickup and the Chevy is a 29’ six cylinder Phaeton. Ford built 5 million Model A cars in 4 years and must have built enough spare parts to keep them on the roads. Where the Chevies of the 30s were changed every 2 yrs. eg, 27/28 were very much the same, 29/30 etc and the numbers built much less than Ford, therefore less parts to be kept in stock. And then the killer, I believe that when you traded a Chevy on a new one, the old one would be destroyed. By selling more new ones, less parts required to be kept in stock and in the end less used parts in junk yards. I am not sure if the previous paragraph is true, but could very well be. |
Re: Ford verse Chevrolet One of my Dad’s first jobs was running a service station in partnership with his older brother. The owner was a “Ford man”. Dad said the reason he preferred Fords was Henry’s extensive use of roller bearings. He said a Ford would be in service 30% longer than other vehicles because of this. I know Chevy hung on to ball bearings on their truck spindles into late 60’s and the the ‘30 AA has taper rollers that will way out last ball bearings there.
Also note: one of Ford’s sales pitches in model A era was comparing prices of their competitors replacement parts with theirs. |
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Re: Ford verse Chevrolet I have a 1931 Chevrolet in my collection and it is a far classier looking car than my Model A’s. It is rare you see one at a car show so when one appears it attracts lots of attention.
agreed. have 6 A's in various states and one 31 chevy roadster. The chevy is a superior car, but the wood framing killed it. very hard to find parts for the chevy, but I much prefer it. As Brent said, it was a good bit more expensive as well. |
Re: Ford verse Chevrolet I've owned two original unrestored 1929 Chevrolet's in my life. The first back in the late 60's while in high school. And the second for about 15 years, selling it just a couple of years ago. Both where great running cars and I miss them. But, my age and lack of proper enclosed parking space caused me to sell the last one.:( In my opinion the Chevy's were more stylish and with the OHV "Cast Iron Wonder" 6-cylinders more powerful. However, for ruggedness and simplicity, you can't beat the Model-A Ford!;)
Parts availability: Yes, spare parts for Model-A era Chevrolet's are not that plentiful. The reason being is because Chevy's are such great running cars they don't need the spare parts!:p Why there are not many old Chevy's left compared to "A's": Chevrolet's were made with a lot better metals/materials vs Model-A Fords, so the scrap drives of WWII decimated the numbers of Chevy's left.:rolleyes: The above 'tongue-in-cheek' statements are what I would say to people and fellow Model-A'ers. While answering questions about the '29 Chevy at car shows and cruise-in's.:) Bob-A:D |
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Re: Ford verse Chevrolet There's not much to go wrong with the head. Not much to go wrong with the fuel pump.
Usually the brakes still work on one wheel. Suspension still works with no shocks. Doesn't have wooden wheels. Can take boiling every day. Gravity oil pump. Light weight. Simple electrics. There were a lot more advanced cars here that sold well, but they didn't last as long down on the farm. |
Re: Ford verse Chevrolet I read an article maybe in old cars awhile ago that showed the figures for Ford vs Chevy sales numbers. Almost every year after the model T, Chevy bested Ford. Every few years Ford had the upper hand but Chevy would bounce back. However its not like they were outselling by huge numbers. Both had very high sales figures and were running neck and neck. Having said that I would could only surmise why model A's seem to outnumber compatible Chevys of the era. Perhaps the same reason that the tri five chevys seem to outnumber any other make from the 50's. Popularity.
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Re: Ford verse Chevrolet I was always under the impression that it was the abundance of wood in the chevy's that was there demise but do not know that as fact. I find these kinds of topics quite interesting when reading the responses. There are 3 basic categories. 1, those that skew their assumptions in favour of one team because they are their favourite. 2, those that skew their assumptions in favour of the other team because they are their favourite, and 3, those that look at the big picture and form their opinion on that without playing "favourites". Those in category 3 are typically very much in the minority as it can be difficult to see the "flaws" in ones favourite team and the strengths in the "other" team.
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Re: Ford verse Chevrolet Yes on the wood body framing. Fords low production bodies such as Fordors, Cabriolets, and Station wagons used a lot of wood for framing so you don't see as many of those model A types around. The Tudor Sedan, commercial bodies & beds, open cars, and the various coupe bodies only used wood for internal trim mounting attachment and the tops. The wood in these cars is a lot easier to replace and there really isn't a lot of it there when compared to the wood body cars.
Chevrolet cars by contrast, had a lot of similar traits to the wood structure used in Ford's lower production bodies which used wood for the primary structure and the sheet metal was tacked and screwed on to that structure. There are exceptions but Chevrolet just didn't build as many cars with steel as the primary structure. This makes them harder to restore and replacement parts are not as plentiful. Many an old Chevy ended life in the scrap iron drives of world war II. My great grandfather had an old Chevy that caught fire due to an electrical short and there wasn't much left of it after the fire was out. I think the used car scrapping was not all that common. Dealers needed to make money and their respective manufacturers could not just step in and completely take that away from them. For one, it wouldn't be practical to ship all the scrap all the way back to the manufacturers and their sub-contractors. |
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Re: Ford verse Chevrolet It makes sense to me that, by 1942, the used-car pricing of both 1930 Fords and 1930 Chevys would be pretty low. But the Model A would have been less expensive to operate/maintain, and thus would have been more likely to be kept on as working cars by someone for whom maybe it was the only car they could afford – thus escaping the scrap heap.
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Re: Ford verse Chevrolet I think I have said this before, but some of Dad's contemporaries had like used, 10-year old Chevrolets in the late '30s and commented that they had to install carriage bolts through the doors to make them operable.
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Re: Ford verse Chevrolet My first car was a 1933 Chev. master coupe.I raced my car against a Model A (on route 128 in Ma.) and won after going over 60 mph.
The 1933 Chev. was made well, had no rust and was solid. It also had a 6 cylinder motor with air filter, automatic spark , water heater, and a built in radio antenna. Much nicer than my 1931 Ford and was a mistake when I sold it (1976). Marc (Car in my picture) |
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