Vintage Ford V8 Signs

[Gary in La.]

TUBMAN: Yes that is a genuine FORD A-1 porcelain sign. OK was the Chevrolet sign. Vey large and very heavy. Had to torch it off at the base cause the I-beam main support was encased in concrete. It went to Vernon Walker (Walker radiator) and has since been sold at his auction several years ago.
This very old dealer ship was closed and all the parts were gone already. I did purchase all the manuals (P.U. truck bed full) and all the old shop equipment and tools.

[1942deluxe]

Greg Boss in Marysville ,Kansas had a pristine A-1 used car sign and the Mulholland neon Ford sign. If you google Boss Motors, Maryville Kansas you can see pictures of both. He also has a 1971 Boss 351 he bought when he got back from Vietnam. They closed in the last year or so. Ford requires the "trustmark" remodel or new building if a dealership changes hands now so my guess is most of the small dealerships will be gone in the next 5-10 years. Well over a million dollars to do and very few small towns can generate enough to pay that expense.

[nelsb01]

Rockfla:
New signs are bent and made just the same as old ones. Except now they use colored tubes instead of mixing gas to make the color.
If you have enough tubes left to create a pattern, they should be able to do it.
I don't understand why they wouldnt want the business.

[nelsb01]

More from Hershey

[rockfla]

Two companies here in town "ONLY" want to do "new" make signs!!! SO can't answer that question

[petehoovie]

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Originally Posted by nelsb01

More from Hershey

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by tubman

I seem to remember that in the '50's and '60's "A-1 Used Cars" was Chevrolet dealers slogan for their used car operations. Has this sign been modified or am I completely off-base here?

I had to look, too! The Chevy houses used the "OK Used Cars" signs, whereas the Ford dealers seemed to use the "A-1 Used Cars" signs. Very similar, but definitely different! DD

[tubman]

I stand corrected. It's a bad day when you don't learn something new. (In this case, i think it was more a case of re-learning something I had forgotten.)

[mercman from oz]

Giant original Ford Authorized Dealer Sign. Pity that I could not get a good photo of it. It is in perfect condition. Very nice.

[corvette8n]

Wow, I really like this thread, at this point in time I can’t even afford the reproductions, let alone the real things, but it is fun to look.

[koates]

Originally Posted by mercman from oz

Giant original Ford Authorized Dealer Sign. Pity that I could not get a good photo of it. It is in perfect condition. Very nice.

It wont stay in perfect condition for very long with all of that crap stacked up against it. Are you sure its an original. Looks like a repop to me.

[mercman from oz]

Regarding this Ford Authorized Dealers sign, I believe that it is an Original, as I first saw it over 40 years ago. I took this picture a few years ago, when I met up with the owner again. I don't believe that Reproductions weren't available back then?

[koates]

40 Years ago it was the 1980s and there were certainly Ford reproduction signs offered at that time. There are differences over the years of the style of the FORD script. As a general rule the original green and black ford baked enamel double sided sign with the four corners cut off was only offered by FORD MOTOR COMPANY in 1932. That large green and black sign does certainly have some discrepancies in the Ford script which are different to the normal. Quite a lot of Ford signs in Australia were painted by dealers and garages and were not authorized by the FORD MOTOR COMPANY. Regards, Kevin.

[Brad in Germany]

....a couple signs from France:





Brad in Maryland

[tubman]

For whatever reason, I have never been interested in signs. I have been going to swap meets (and their equivalents) since the sixties, and I am sure I walked by many signs that would have made me rich today had I had the foresight to purchase them. I still don't have a single sign in my shop (and don't fell disadvantaged).

My bad.

I also did the same thing with early hemi speed equipment in those days as well. There were some incredible deals I walked right on by after a cursory glance.

[rockfla]

Originally Posted by tubman

For whatever reason, I have never been interested in signs. I have been going to swap meets (and their equivalents) since the sixties, and I am sure I walked by many signs that would have made me rich today had I had the foresight to purchase them. I still don't have a single sign in my shop (and don't fell disadvantaged).

My bad.

I also did the same thing with early hemi speed equipment in those days as well. There were some incredible deals I walked right on by after a cursory glance.

Tubman
I believe your statement rings true for ALL of us here on FordBarn, things we walked by at SWAP meets and flea markets would surely come back to haunt US.....FOR me its NOT the missed financial gain.....ITS just the fact of not having them to enjoy!!! My Dad did what he could when presented the opportunity......I wish there had been a "Few" more "Opportunities" for my enjoyment of them. Although NOT a Ford sign, my Dad scored "TWO" of these double sided porcelain signs, BRAND NEW and still wrapped in the brown butchers paper when he found them and paid a whopping $100 for the pair but didn't know that when he bought them, he just thought they were cool and for $100, what the heck!!! I'm glad he did! They are a "One year Issue/Design" for Phillips in 1957 SO quite a difficult sign to find....especially NEW.

[Deuce-Addict]

Regents Street, London...

[Bob NH]

I bought a NOS Bell telephone sign for my wife one year at Hershey,(she was an operator starting on cord boards for many years) . A guy followed me all over the place trying to get me to sell it to him . I still have the sign but unfortunately not my wife,Big "C" took her in 98

[rockfla]

A couple of good ones in this Dutch photo!!!! BobNH - NOW someone on FordBarn might "follow" you around to buy it!!! Love the story behind it!!!!!

[Jeff/Illinois]

Originally Posted by 1942deluxe

.............They closed in the last year or so. Ford requires the "trustmark" remodel or new building if a dealership changes hands now so my guess is most of the small dealerships will be gone in the next 5-10 years. Well over a million dollars to do and very few small towns can generate enough to pay that expense.

EXACTLY what happened to FOUR Ford dealerships in the small towns around me, plus the one in my home town in the 60's, they closed it for the same reason. Ford demanded that they rebuild and upgrade and none of them could or would front that expense. They had all been Ford dealerships since Model T days and had new buildings erected in 1946. One was still in the original 1924 building. They all were in perfect shape they had been kept up and never neglected.

Now if you want to buy a Ford you have to travel 25 miles to the BIG dealerships that love to hose you. One of the remaining SMALL family dealerships is 40 miles away and that is where we go now.

It is a darn pity. Lousy business decision by Ford. I guess they don't want people to buy their cars and trucks.