How Many Model A's are left ?

[DougVieyra]

Purdy - sad to say, 'it ain't so'. Only the Ford Factory at Dearborn, Michigan made the Ford Model A.* They then shipped some units and components overseas to other Ford plants for assembly. When Dearborn stopped production in early 1932, that was the end of production. Like everywhere, foreign plants did continue to use up existing stock on hand.

*Now we can talk about Henry Ford (who was a Socialist as well as a Capitalist) giving the rights and tooling to building the Ford AA Truck in 1932, to Communist Russia, to help with one of their '5-year' plans. (see paragraph, below) And, while the Russians continued to build AA Trucks (and about 300 Model A Sedans) from 1932 through 1936, the numbers were small and do not contribute significantly to the roughly 5 Million Ford Model A /AA's produced in the U.S. Additionally, the Nazi war machine that over-ran Russia in 1941 though 1944 obliterated just about everything - including the Russian-made Ford Model AA trucks and the 300 cars made at the Gorky plant. Few (if any) have survived.

And too, later, although the Russians continued to use the Model B Ford engine in their GAZ-M1 utility vehicles (think Jeep) in 1936 through 1942, the GAZ could in no-way be thought of as a Ford Model A. GAZ = Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod , translated as, 'Gorky Automobile Plant' , started in 1932 as NAZ, a cooperative enterprise between Ford and the Soviet Union.

As to "Lots of Model A's have been built from NOS stock and reproduction parts . . ." ,
those numbers are included in the tally, and would not add to the final tally.

And too, if one were to look at the origins of a great many of today's European Model A's, it will be discovered that they were bought in the U.S. and imported to Europe AFTER WWII, mainly in the 1970's, '80's & '90's, and continues today. So their numbers would be part of the U.S. 'body count'. The horrific devastation of WWII left only an extremely small number of European-assembled Ford Model A's to be counted as 'survivors'.
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And Purdy Swoft - regarding the CIA and KGB (and Mossad) I apologize for my line in an earlier post about the Census Bureau, if it upset you. It was meant to be 'tongue-in-cheek' to help illustrate that the 'Census Bureau' post was a spoof and not an actual event.

[CarlG]

Originally Posted by 30coupeguy

I have in front of me the Volume 57 issue 3 (September/October 2012) copy of the MAFCA "Restorer".
Starting on page 24 are the remarks to the 2012 Convention by Edsel B. Ford ll. He states "The good news is that there are over 250,000 model A's still on the road today, many of them right here in Marquette this week. with another 750,000 or so awaiting restoration."
I personaly have zero knowledge on the subject and can not comment, butYes,I read and reread those numbers and I reread it again before replying to the thread.
Great subject, thanks for starting
Burt

There's your Million.

[DougVieyra]

"There's your Million", re: Edsel Ford II

We have to ask ourselves, 'Where did Edsel Ford II get that 250,000 number?" He got it from the same place that I first saw that number years ago. From an early 'Coffee Table' book show-casing the Model A Ford. The author then, and Edsel Ford II now, had/has no definitive viable source upon which to base that number. It just 'seemed' 'about' right, for the author of the Coffee Table book. The same can be said of Edsel Ford II (a man whom I greatly admire). Like many 'facts' and 'notions', without any valid basis, they just keep turning up, soon entering folk lore - or as some would say, "Ford Lore".

And IF Edsel Ford's other 'folk / Ford lore' number (750,000) is to be believed, that means that if you have a Model A in your garage, then you must also have three other Model A cars "awaiting restoration". And for every other restored Model A, there are three additional Model A's waiting for restoration. Well, I don't have the six (I have two restored Model A's) other cars for my share, so you must have my six in your garage, in addition to your own (3 or 6 or 9, etc.) cars to be restored. And I really do not believe that to be the case.

Now if Louis or Gaston Chevrolet were to have given the speech at the 2012 Convention, I am sure we would have heard a different number, more closely related to facts, with perhaps a gentle slant toward a lessor survival number. After all, it must be remembered that each salesman (whether Ford or Chevrolet) does have his own prejudice and bias motivation to 'spin' the facts in their own favor to advance their own agenda.

[ronn]

"Don't forget all the non USA A's as well. The A was a truly international car. I would just call the number 'lots'."


Upon further thought,
I know we have quite a few on this board from Down Under, a few from Germany and Europe, but am amazed that there doesn't seem to be anyone on here from Russia and very few from South America. It may be a matter of communication difficulty. but certainly a few A's exist over in Russia and elsewhere..... still looking for that elusive towncar!
Would love to have a weigh in of those not located here in the States.

[somethingspecial]

Did any body also count the hot rodders that took the body and sheet metal to make them

[BCCHOPIT]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Don't forget new ones are made every day...
Don't forgot get about the Hotrods... I know of more
Hotrods then stockers.

[mikebowling]

Model A survival rate??I live in a pretty "normal" neighborhood and I have three, my neighbor behind me has 2or3 ( and a bunch of old trucks,stock cars,motorcycles etc) Another guy right down the street has a barn load of old cars including 2or3 Model A's and a ton of parts, and I'm 36 miles North of Boston- not exactly out in the sticks! They're EVERYWHERE and I'm glad so many have survived.Alive and doing well here! My Ford of choice? "30-31 all day long. Keep diggin' em up! Mike from Mass.

[Hitchhiker]

What about all the ones sitting in Museums. That has to be a significant quantity.

[glenn in camino]

I have 6 and none are for sale right now. I suppose someday my wife and daughters will sell them all cheap, just to get rid of them. I'm in good health right now, but stay tuned.

[ALAN BENNETT]

How many Model A's are listed with the DMV's that are hot rods.
I have it from a good source that the states are going to start to ask for pictures when renewing the yearly licenses! If the DMV's pull this off just for license revenue maybe we can get a more accurate count form the DMV's or maybe MAFCA or Maffi or Restores Club can do a project, then we just need to find out how many are not registered at all and haven't been for years!

[ronn]

Glenn, I'll take the wagon. Put my name next to it...............))

[DougVieyra]

Glenn - according to Edsel Ford II, besides the six cars you have restored, you also have another 18 cars 'to be restored'. Or is it that you have two cars restored and the other 4 are to be restored ?

Twenty-four Ford Model A's in anyone's garage is a bit of a clutter, so let's hope that you have just two cars restored and are "going to get around to it, one of these days", with the other four cars.
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Part of our problem in trying to 'get a handle' on a 'rough' number of how many Model A's have survived, is the fact that there is no definitive definition of what a Ford Model A is in today's cluttered car world. I do not want to start a new thread (although it might be an informative one) to get a consensuses of what constitutes a Ford Model A, but I suppose a few gound rules of definition would be in order.

Does a visually stock Model A, that has installed a Pinto engine, count ? Does a Gibbons Body with a fabricated 'box' frame, count ? Does a coupe that has been 'chopped and channeled', count ? Does that smashed up, rusted partial roadster body that sits in the 'South Forty' count ? The difficulty of where to 'draw the line', is why we shall never have an answer to 'How Many Model A's are left.

The passed 80+ years have left Henry's creation in a jumble of distorted variations and 'improved' versions of the original car. I suppose that because of the elusiveness of a firm definition and agreement of just what does constitute a Ford Model A, we can never get an answer to the question. But at least the question did get some of us to think about the question, and perhaps expand our understanding of how far some of us define what a Ford Model A is.

[CarlG]

Hmmmm, Looks like, smells like, sounds like, feels like . . . . . (am I missing something?)

[Gunmetal blue2]

I know of 2 Model A's in a woods that are all there but, have trees growing through them. To bad its been so long ago that don't remember were the woods is. I have a 1929 AA CCPU and not a member of any club.

[DougVieyra]

Carl G - ". . . am I missing something ?"
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Six guys in a bar after three MINUTES of drinking : ask each of them 'WHAT' the perfect woman, "looks like, smells like, sounds like, feels like". You may find that you will hear six different answers.

Six guys in a bar after three HOURS of drinking : ask each of them 'WHAT' the perfect woman, "looks like, smells like, sounds like, feels like". You may find that you will hear six different answers - answers that differ from the ones they gave while still sober.

Ask the same six guys in church, three days later (and sober), and you may get six different answers - answers that are all together different from the ones they had said at the bar.
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So as long as we have more than one guy to define the Model A, we will never know how many there are. So, I guess the best answer is : LOTS !
Now, all six or our guys, drunk or sober, in a bar or in church, should (maybe) agree on "How Many Model A's Are Left." WE are only left with the expression of our enthusiasm - LOTS ! - SCADS - A BUNCH - A BILLION - MORE THAN CHEVY ! ! !

[Bob Bidonde]

The survival number of Model "A" Fords is unrivaled by any other make and model of automobile.

[ronn]

except maybe VW beetles..................????????????????????????? ??????

[Bill G]

So,almost 6 years to the day from the original question, we still haven't come up with an answer??

[redmodelt]

The survival number of Model "A" Fords is unrivaled by any other make and model of automobile.
I don't think so: There is another car the Model T and maybe even the VW bug.

People ask the same question about the T and get just about as far as this got, no one knows for sure.

[daveymc29]

Personally I have run into Five or six collections that aren't open to the public, of all sorts of cars. The bulk of these collections is usually Model T and Model A, seems to me about 50-50. Then there are the guys that have Marmon's and Duesenberg's. They always seem to have six to 10 A's and T's as well. I have a friend that has 10 or more A's that are complete old cars and a couple he shows. Few will ever see any but the two or four that he shows and the one he drives on tours, but hi pile grows, I'm dow to two, so I can say for sure there are more than two, but anything else seems to be speculation. I ran into a warehouse in Oakland that must have 100 cars in it and people tell me this is only one of several, same in Vallejo. Found a few buildings in Buena Vista, population maybe 25, with probably 60 airplanes under roof and another 20 or 30 cars tucked in there and motorcycles in the owners house, in the living room. The numbers of all things collectible well absolutely amaze most of us, just in our home towns. I have no idea, but the million mark, if proven, wouldn't surprise me.