The Ford Barn - View Single Post - 1929 Ford Model A Roadster Pickup for Sale

shew01 · 03-19-2023, 06:27 AM

I hope this never happens to you…

Several days ago I ran across a 1929 Ford Model A Roadster Pickup for sale on Facebook Marketplace. The pictures looked really nice; so, I started chatting on Messenger with the poster. The guy, a nephew of the owner, posted the truck for his uncle because he was not comfortable with the Internet. The nephew mentioned that his uncle had over $30,000 in the truck and didn’t want to lose a lot of money on it. After several chat exchanges, the nephew eventually suggested that I call his uncle to get more detailed information. The truck was listed at $30,000 on Facebook, but, who knows, maybe it would actually be worth it.

I spoke with the owner over the phone twice. I called first on a Monday. I asked about the condition of the truck, and the owner assured me it was in great shape. He bought it at an auction about a year ago, right after it had been restored. He told me that the battery was good, and the truck “starts right up.” He said the tires are “like new” too, with “plenty of tread on them.” He also told me that he had lots of parts that he would let go with the sale of the truck. So, I eventually agreed to go see the truck on Saturday (about a 4 hour drive from my house), and he assured me he would be at home all day. I mentioned where I live, and the owner knew this would be a long drive for me.

I called the owner a second time on Friday evening to make sure he was still expecting me on Saturday morning. I asked more questions about the truck, and he assured me that it was in great shape, actually, “one of the best around.” During the call, the owner assured me again that he would be home all day, and he also said he was going to wash the truck. He said the truck didn’t have any leaks, which I thought was a bit odd, but maybe a Model A pickup truck doesn’t leak (for a while anyway) if it is fresh off of a restore, correct? He reconfirmed that the battery works fine. I told him I should be at his house around 11 AM, give or take a few minutes, depending on traffic.

All the while, as my wife and I discussed this potential truck purchase multiple times, I was praying that I wouldn’t bring home something that was going to give trouble.

——————-

I got up early on Saturday, and I drove almost 4 hours to the owner’s house. I arrived around 10:48 AM. When I got there, I expected to find the truck in a garage, since it was reportedly in such great shape. Instead, I saw the truck, unwashed, in the side yard of the owner’s house. Guess who wasn’t at home. Yup, the owner. His lunatic dog was home though. (That was fun. Not.)

I called the owner, and he said that he was at O’Reilly’s and would be home shortly. I thought I recalled seeing a restaurant named O’Reilly’s nearby on the drive to the owner’s house; so, I thought maybe he’d been out getting a late breakfast. I didn’t pry for the reason he wasn’t home as he twice said he would be.

While I waited for the owner to arrive, I decided to take a closer look at the truck. As I approached the rear of the pickup, I noticed a Model A floorboard and a bunch of junk in the pickup bed.

Hmmm… Maybe that is a spare floorboard that he is going to let go with the sale of the truck. I walked up to the driver side door and noticed a wrench lying on the running board, not a good sign.

When I looked inside the truck, I could see the ground through the cab.

Nope, that floorboard was not a spare, and there was no battery in the truck either. I’m no Model A expert, but I think it’s probably a bad omen when you first see a Model A pickup for sale in person, and the floor board is in the truck bed, rather than mounted inside the truck.

I looked at the “like new” tires, and I measured the tread on them with a tread depth gauge. Three of them were below the legal limit. The fourth was borderline on the legal limit. All of them seemed to be cracking from age. One of the tires looked almost flat to me. I didn’t bother looking at the two covered spares in the fender wells.

It turns out the nice pictures in the Facebook post were old.

The owner finally arrived, and he was excited that I came to see his truck. He was a nice, elderly gentleman. Overall, he was very pleasant. It turns out he was at O’Reilly’s Auto Parts to buy a battery, which he hastily began installing in the truck. In the meantime, he encouraged me to open the hood and take a look at the engine bay. I found rusty spark plugs, a rusty head, and a double stamp on the engine number. I didn’t look much further and closed the hood.

After installing the battery, the owner gave me a quick tutorial of how to start a Model A “properly”—throttle most of the way down and spark advance all the way down (not up). I just let him be the Model A expert; I didn’t want to be impolite.

After endless attempts, the engine eventually started for a few seconds, died, and would not restart, even after grinding and grinding on the starter. As he continued to grind the starter, he said “The truck is cold natured, it is.” However, the temperature was around 50 degrees. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to start if the temperature were truly cold.

The driver side headlight bulb was dislocated and “floating” loose behind the headlight lens.

There was water damage to the cardboard door cards and the cardboard panels around the seat.

There were paint defects, including surface rust, all over the vehicle. The bed floor was in rough shape. The seat bottom was loose, not connected to the vehicle, and scooted around as you got into and out of the truck. There was a hole in the vinyl seat, patched with black electrical tape that was pealing away from the seat.

Based on all the crud that was on the body of the truck, I asked the owner if the truck had been sitting outside a while. He replied, “No, it’s been in my tent.” I looked around the yard and did not see a tent; instead, I only saw a tent frame with no tent material mounted on the frame. So, apparently, the truck had been sitting in the tent frame for some time, but still in the weather.

To say the least, I was very disappointed in the condition of the truck, especially after the two glowing reviews from the owner during my phone calls and the long drive to see the truck. So, I started asking the owner about some of the shortcomings of the truck. When I asked about the worn out tires, he reminded me that “Model As don’t have to have a state inspection.” Somehow, it didn’t make sense to him that all usable tires have to have street legal tread depth, regardless of whether the vehicle has to be state inspected or not. When I pointed out that one of the “like new” tires was almost bald, he initially didn’t believe me. Then, he checked out the tire and said dismissively, “Yeah, I guess that one is kinda bald.”

Sadly, the owner didn’t seem to understand the true condition of the truck, and he really thought he had a $30,000 gem. As you may have guessed, that “gem” didn’t follow me home.

It looks like the good Lord answered my prayers.

Postscript:

I followed up with the nephew after the truck visit to let him know that the vehicle was a disappointment, in case someone else would end up making a long drive to see it. Although the nephew didn’t reply, I saw a message from Facebook Marketplace saying that the nephew had removed the truck posting.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

03-19-2023, 06:27 AM	#1
shew01 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2016 Location: Roanoke, VA USA Posts: 1,908	1929 Ford Model A Roadster Pickup for Sale I hope this never happens to you… Several days ago I ran across a 1929 Ford Model A Roadster Pickup for sale on Facebook Marketplace. The pictures looked really nice; so, I started chatting on Messenger with the poster. The guy, a nephew of the owner, posted the truck for his uncle because he was not comfortable with the Internet. The nephew mentioned that his uncle had over $30,000 in the truck and didn’t want to lose a lot of money on it. After several chat exchanges, the nephew eventually suggested that I call his uncle to get more detailed information. The truck was listed at $30,000 on Facebook, but, who knows, maybe it would actually be worth it. I spoke with the owner over the phone twice. I called first on a Monday. I asked about the condition of the truck, and the owner assured me it was in great shape. He bought it at an auction about a year ago, right after it had been restored. He told me that the battery was good, and the truck “starts right up.” He said the tires are “like new” too, with “plenty of tread on them.” He also told me that he had lots of parts that he would let go with the sale of the truck. So, I eventually agreed to go see the truck on Saturday (about a 4 hour drive from my house), and he assured me he would be at home all day. I mentioned where I live, and the owner knew this would be a long drive for me. I called the owner a second time on Friday evening to make sure he was still expecting me on Saturday morning. I asked more questions about the truck, and he assured me that it was in great shape, actually, “one of the best around.” During the call, the owner assured me again that he would be home all day, and he also said he was going to wash the truck. He said the truck didn’t have any leaks, which I thought was a bit odd, but maybe a Model A pickup truck doesn’t leak (for a while anyway) if it is fresh off of a restore, correct? He reconfirmed that the battery works fine. I told him I should be at his house around 11 AM, give or take a few minutes, depending on traffic. All the while, as my wife and I discussed this potential truck purchase multiple times, I was praying that I wouldn’t bring home something that was going to give trouble. ——————- I got up early on Saturday, and I drove almost 4 hours to the owner’s house. I arrived around 10:48 AM. When I got there, I expected to find the truck in a garage, since it was reportedly in such great shape. Instead, I saw the truck, unwashed, in the side yard of the owner’s house. Guess who wasn’t at home. Yup, the owner. His lunatic dog was home though. (That was fun. Not.) I called the owner, and he said that he was at O’Reilly’s and would be home shortly. I thought I recalled seeing a restaurant named O’Reilly’s nearby on the drive to the owner’s house; so, I thought maybe he’d been out getting a late breakfast. I didn’t pry for the reason he wasn’t home as he twice said he would be. While I waited for the owner to arrive, I decided to take a closer look at the truck. As I approached the rear of the pickup, I noticed a Model A floorboard and a bunch of junk in the pickup bed. Hmmm… Maybe that is a spare floorboard that he is going to let go with the sale of the truck. I walked up to the driver side door and noticed a wrench lying on the running board, not a good sign. When I looked inside the truck, I could see the ground through the cab. Nope, that floorboard was not a spare, and there was no battery in the truck either. I’m no Model A expert, but I think it’s probably a bad omen when you first see a Model A pickup for sale in person, and the floor board is in the truck bed, rather than mounted inside the truck. I looked at the “like new” tires, and I measured the tread on them with a tread depth gauge. Three of them were below the legal limit. The fourth was borderline on the legal limit. All of them seemed to be cracking from age. One of the tires looked almost flat to me. I didn’t bother looking at the two covered spares in the fender wells. It turns out the nice pictures in the Facebook post were old. The owner finally arrived, and he was excited that I came to see his truck. He was a nice, elderly gentleman. Overall, he was very pleasant. It turns out he was at O’Reilly’s Auto Parts to buy a battery, which he hastily began installing in the truck. In the meantime, he encouraged me to open the hood and take a look at the engine bay. I found rusty spark plugs, a rusty head, and a double stamp on the engine number. I didn’t look much further and closed the hood. After installing the battery, the owner gave me a quick tutorial of how to start a Model A “properly”—throttle most of the way down and spark advance all the way down (not up). I just let him be the Model A expert; I didn’t want to be impolite. After endless attempts, the engine eventually started for a few seconds, died, and would not restart, even after grinding and grinding on the starter. As he continued to grind the starter, he said “The truck is cold natured, it is.” However, the temperature was around 50 degrees. I can’t imagine how hard it would be to start if the temperature were truly cold. The driver side headlight bulb was dislocated and “floating” loose behind the headlight lens. There was water damage to the cardboard door cards and the cardboard panels around the seat. There were paint defects, including surface rust, all over the vehicle. The bed floor was in rough shape. The seat bottom was loose, not connected to the vehicle, and scooted around as you got into and out of the truck. There was a hole in the vinyl seat, patched with black electrical tape that was pealing away from the seat. Based on all the crud that was on the body of the truck, I asked the owner if the truck had been sitting outside a while. He replied, “No, it’s been in my tent.” I looked around the yard and did not see a tent; instead, I only saw a tent frame with no tent material mounted on the frame. So, apparently, the truck had been sitting in the tent frame for some time, but still in the weather. To say the least, I was very disappointed in the condition of the truck, especially after the two glowing reviews from the owner during my phone calls and the long drive to see the truck. So, I started asking the owner about some of the shortcomings of the truck. When I asked about the worn out tires, he reminded me that “Model As don’t have to have a state inspection.” Somehow, it didn’t make sense to him that all usable tires have to have street legal tread depth, regardless of whether the vehicle has to be state inspected or not. When I pointed out that one of the “like new” tires was almost bald, he initially didn’t believe me. Then, he checked out the tire and said dismissively, “Yeah, I guess that one is kinda bald.” Sadly, the owner didn’t seem to understand the true condition of the truck, and he really thought he had a $30,000 gem. As you may have guessed, that “gem” didn’t follow me home. It looks like the good Lord answered my prayers. Postscript: I followed up with the nephew after the truck visit to let him know that the vehicle was a disappointment, in case someone else would end up making a long drive to see it. Although the nephew didn’t reply, I saw a message from Facebook Marketplace saying that the nephew had removed the truck posting. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk