[Napa Skip]

In the early 1950's when I was about 10 or so and we were living in Reseda CA, my Dad was a tool and die maker for Lockheed Aircraft. One day he came home with a 1931 Model "A" coupe, having won it in a raffle for $1. The black paint was (as I recall, all these years later) pretty worn, in some areas through to the primer, but it ran well. I recall my Dad saying that all he had to do was replace the head gasket. I do remember that the coupe had a rumble seat and the upholstery inside consisted of neatly installed burlap over which clear plastic seat covers had been fitted.

I tried the best I could to get my Dad to save the car for me but these were pretty lean times (I remember we still had an ice box and used a red/blue sign in the window to tell the Union ice delivery man whether we needed ice that day, the washing machine - although electric - had a mangle for removing the water, we still got bread from the Helmes bread truck, milk was still delivered in glass bottles by Arden Farms, and the television - a major purchase - was a 12" Hoffman in a maple cabinet) as evidenced by the fact that it wasn't until 1954 that my parents bought their first new car, our transportation at the time being a c1950 Studebaker Commander, purchased used.

In the event, failing to find a buyer, my Dad finally sold the Model "A" to a local teenager who made no bones about the fact that it was headed for a new life as a hot rod. But, for whatever reason, my desire for a Model "A" of my own remained, albeit on the back burner through marriage, college and grad school until - as a young submarine officer stationed on a boat home-ported at Ballast Point, San Diego - I had the wherewithal to purchase my first Model "A" - a 1931 indented-firewall Standard Coupe painted Chicle Drab and Copra Drab, still one of the sharpest-looking color combinations I've seen.

I'v had a Model "A" ever since.