The first 200 Model A's...

[Steve Plucker]

Does anyone have any information on just what the first 200 Model A's were that Ford rolled off the assembly line in November 1927?

I believe that this information is by engine number only.

If you have that information, Could you please share with the rest of us?

Thanks.

Pluk

[Bob Bidonde]

Go buy the the first sales brochure to determine the body styles.

My guess is that there is no record of the quantity of each body style made. Perhaps it would be interesting to setup a survey here on the Ford Barn to get a sense of how many of the first 200 vehicles have survived.

[P.S.]

I read that the first several hundred Model As were Tudor sedans. Edison's Model A started out as a Tudor then was later converted to a phaeton.

[Great Lakes Greg]

I think I agree with P.S. It seems like Ford would want to kick the most demanded body style out the door first to get things rolling and profits coming in.

[Slotblog]

FWIW I know of one early car (number 75 or so...) in Tennessee and it's a roadster.

[dean from bozeman]

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Though this thread seems to be focusing in on body styles, I thought that it would be interesting to see how the first engines were released for final assembly. Mike Gooding owns A241 the 83rd engine sent to final assembly. It is a Roadster. Mike also owns the 101st sent to final assembly, A354. It is a Sports Coupe.

Below is a list that was part of the foreman's daily log. This list was sent to Congressman Charles Bass, who was the previous owner of A189 and A495. They were found by George De Angelis and sent on June 3, 2002.

Sorry that it is so long. I did type it out in a 6 column format. However, when I copied it and pasted it that format was not preserved.

If there is no sequential number behind a particular engine, then it was not sent to final assembly.

Model A Engine sent to Final Assembly
(Engine numbers are on the left. Sequential number is on the right. Why it does not count the first two, I don’t know.)

Oct 21st
12
13
14 Dearborne

Oct. 26th
8 1
11 2
15 3
16 4
39 5

Oct. 27th
17 6
25 7
35 8
43 9
50 10
83 12
121 13
122 14
125 15

Oct. 28th
26 16
41 17
55 18
69 19
88 20
127 21

Oct. 31st
2 22
3 23
23 24
32 25
42 26
44 27
48 28
51 29
58 30
62 31
77
87 32
94 33
95 34
97 35
98 36
106 37
107 38
116 39
124 40
126 41
128 42
129 43
133 44
134 45

Nov. 1st
1 46
7 47
9 48
59 49
74 50
78 51
84 52
91 53
99 54
112 55
135 56
137 57

Nov. 2nd
19 58
85 59
138 60
143 61
151 62

Nov. 3rd
18 63
37 64
163 65
172 66
177 67

Nov. 4th
92 68
167 69
170 70
175 71
186 72
187 73
188
153
248
252 74
256 75
257 76
274 77
287 78
228 79
255 80
276 81
262 82
241 83
292 84
201 85
263 86
304 87
308 88
284 89
300 90
264 91
290 92
315 93
234 94
239 95
268 96
312 97
285 98

Nov. 7th
152 99
369 100
354 101
360 102
330 103
378 104
250 105
266 106
367 107
389 108
390 109
366 110
288 111
395 112
373 113
396 114
205 115
383 116
398 117
365 118
214 119
337 120

Nov. 8th
‘Motors run ½ Hr on own Power.’
433 121
434 122
435 123
432 124
430 125
309 126
431 127
20 128
380 129
391 130
375 131
372 132
376 133
109 134
56 135

Nov. 9th
66 136
311 137
361 138
450 HR139
412 140
444 HR 141
265
399 142
90 143
438 144
45 145
449 146
144 147
440 148

Nov. 10th
104 149
280 150
336 151
40 152
306 153
409 154
325 155
339 156
157 157
103 158
93 159
96 160
142 161
386 162
384 163
139 164
147 165
‘not run on its own power.’

Nov. 14th
52 166
120 167
148 168
215 169
289
176 170
368
212 171
247
332 172
392 173
233 174
414 175
4 176
209 177
464 178
371 179
446
36 180
448 181
439 182

Nov. 15th
219
402 183
348
447
27
267
271
190
357
245
416
344
437
381 184
436
211 185
307 186
132 187
359 188
317
460
165
156
181
117
222
197
174
377

443
105
79
342
353 189
196 190
397 191
397 192
238 193
590 194
578 195
571 196
591 197
575 198
586 199
442 200
???
481 201
473 202
???
496 203

[mot]

here are a few pictures of 241 and 354
241 was released on Nov 4th 1927
354 was released on Nov 7th 1927
tom

[Deluxe Delivery Don]

Looking at Deans list very is interesting , My thinking would be the engine #s that are missing on the left column is they were defective engines that had to be pulled out of the assembly line . That is my thoughts . Thanks for posting and a History Lesson to boot.

[Ed Saniewski]

I thought that the engine number was not stamped until it had passed the dyno test and QA.

[dean from bozeman]

Ed, you have a good point. There was an engine break-in line where the engine was coupled with an electric motor and then spun until it was broken in to a point, then stamped with a number, as you suggested. The list from the archives seems to indicate that the engines after November 7th were run on their own power.

Now what Quality Assurance criteria were there? How did engines get disqualified? This will take someone with information, insight or knowledge of engine building to explain. Until then,I am going to do some number crunching on this list.

[mot]

steve
here is the first ford in san francisco,open end bumpers
no idea of the motor number
tom

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

The Dog wonders what % of the cars wouldn't drive under their own power, at the end of the assembly line?
In 1953, I stood for about 30 minutes at the end of the Ford line, and only 1 car failed to start. Drivers would REV them up, SCREECH the tires & drive over a pit, for a QUICK toe in adjustment, SCREECH again, & DISAPPEAR
Bill W.

[Bob Bidonde]

I suspect that most if not all of the first 200 Model A's went to dealers as showroom cars.

[mhsprecher]

I was curious, so I searched for a thread on the earliest Model As and came up with this. Others may have seen this before, but I had not.

http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showth...earliest+model

Dean's was not mentioned in this. I feel confident that there are others out there, as well.

[dlshady]

Originally Posted by dean from bozeman

Ed, you have a good point. There was an engine break-in line where the engine was coupled with an electric motor and then spun until it was broken in to a point, then stamped with a number, as you suggested. The list from the archives seems to indicate that the engines after November 7th were run on their own power.

Now what Quality Assurance criteria were there? How did engines get disqualified? This will take someone with information, insight or knowledge of engine building to explain. Until then,I am going to do some number crunching on this list.

Dean,

As I was looking through the engine release list several years ago, I recall seeing more than one instance where an engine number was logged as being sent to final assembly more than once. I'm pretty sure there was one very early engine (a two digit one, I believe) that was sent three times! Can't recall if there were any notations explaining why but I would assume it was because problems were discovered after they reached the line.

Now I need to dig that list back out...

[ericr]

Originally Posted by BILL WILLIAMSON

The Dog wonders what % of the cars wouldn't drive under their own power, at the end of the assembly line?
In 1953, I stood for about 30 minutes at the end of the Ford line, and only 1 car failed to start. Drivers would REV them up, SCREECH the tires & drive over a pit, for a QUICK toe in adjustment, SCREECH again, & DISAPPEAR
Bill W.

there was an interview several years ago in the Model A News of a former assembly line worker who stated that very few assembled cars failed to start at the end the line.

He also said, incidentally, that phaetons were favorite cars to work on because of their classy appearance....and Fordors were disliked, something about them being very tedious work on or the like.