190-A Victoria Coupe Trivia

[Bob Bidonde]

A total of 43,250 Model "A"Victoria Coupes were made including domestic cars, foreign cars and knock-down bodies. By far, the largest quantity of Victoria Coupes were assembled in the Edgewater, New Jersey Branch totaling 5631 cars.

Initially, the Victoria Coupe had an artificial leather roof covering because the Murray Body Company did not have the technology & machinery to deep draw steel body panels. These Victoria Coupes are known as Leather-backs. However by April of 1931, the Murray Body Company switched to the manufacture of a deep drawn steel roof body that replaced the more costly Leather-back body.

Contrary to some Model "A" publications, the buyer did not have a choice of a Leather-back or a Steel-back body. Maybe during the changeover there were branches and dealers with some of both body styles to offer a choice, but the Company did not offer a choice in its advertising literature.
The Murray Body Company shipped complete Victoria Coupe bodies to Ford Branches ready for the body drop at assembly lines. These bodies included paint, roofing, upholstery and furnishings.

Credit for this info goes to the International Victoria Association, The Victoria Book and Steve Plucker. By the way, the International Victoria Association maintains a file of surviving Victoria Coupes, and it currently accounts for 653 cars not including hot rods. If you are lucky enough to own a Victoria Coupe, I urge you to join the Internal Victoria Association by contacting Ed Greany at [email protected]. For a very inexpensive annual dues, members get The Bustle newsletter, and access to experts for technical assistance.