"Classic or Clunker?" Model A road test from 1956

[RcT]

I have an article from a February, 1957 issue of SCIENCE and MECHANICS magazine that does a road test on a 1930 Model A Roadster and compares it to the new 1956 Ford... then they ask the question, "Will the Model A become a classic or is it a clunker?".

Being not a computer whiz, I took the article to my old office, blew it up to letter size and had it scanned and emailed to me at home, so now I have a PDF of the article. Here is where I need help. I do not know how to post this here for you all to enjoy. The easiest thing for me is to have one of you email me, and I will forward my email to you for you to post. (no kids in my home...)

Thanks,

Richard Tatoyan
[email protected]

[JoeWay]

Here tis:

SCIENCEandMECHANICS.pdf

[RcT]

Thank you, Joe. If I hold down the command button and hit the plus sign, it get the text big enough to read. I haven't felt this inadequate since my first date about a hundred years ago...

and thank you to all of you who responded to me.

Richard

[Patrick L.]

I believe that have been the article that was posted some time ago.. If I remember correctly all who drove that car said 45-46 mph was the best comfortable speed..

[CarlG]

The article actually states (under Driver's Observations): ...30 mph is best cruising speed for this gem... 40 mph is high speed...

The article was written for the February 1957 magazine

[Elcastor]

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Thanks for posting the article.

Back in my High School days I was on a one way street (2 lanes going the same direction) and stopped at a stop sign in my Model A when a classmate pulled up in his corvette! We both gunned our engines, and when there was a break in traffic I raced across the intersection. Looking back, the corvette was still at the stop sign! The next day I asked him why he didn't beat me across the intersection? His reply........ I could not see over your hood!

Speed isn't everything!!!!

[HoarseWhisperer]

Science & Mechanics even did a "foldout" in the Dec 1960 issue. And no staples.

[Jack '29 Sport Coupe]

Thanks for the article, it's a real hoot!

Jack

[ctlikon0712]

Horsewisperer, that is a nice poster. I have never heard of or seen a 1930 Sport Coupe with a Tux-A-Way. Anyone else?

[Kurt in NJ]

There was another article that I remember --I think about 1960 comparing the "A" to the new economy cars---Plymouth Valiant, and Corvair --economy, handling etc.

[HoarseWhisperer]

Originally Posted by Kurt in NJ

There was another article that I remember --I think about 1960 comparing the "A" to the new economy cars---Plymouth Valiant, and Corvair --economy, handling etc.

Yes, it was the same Dec 1960 issue with the fold-out; comparing it to the Falcon, Corvair and Valiant.



Here is the cover from the Feb 1957 issue:

[RcT]

I think the thought that came to me after reading this article, is that in the early fifties, Model A Fords were still rolling around as second cars and work cars.... basic transportation. These cars had survived the salvage drives of the war and people began to realize that they were special; perhaps the closest to perfection in form and function that any automobile had ever become.

As a kid in a town of 15,000 or so, I saw at least a half dozen or so Model A's in daily use. They had proven themselves and this article, perhaps, is one of the first to recognize they were something special and deserved admiration.

[Cool Hand Lurker]

There was also another article in one of the magazines at about that time, either Popular Science or Popular Mechanics, that I recall reading. That one was about the simplicity and fun of driving the Model A Ford. I wish I could see that article again because it was the thing that made me want one!
If anybody else recalls that article or can find it, that would be nice to read again. And again!

[raprice]

I remember an article in Popular Science, either in the late '50s or early '60s, where they restored a Model T Ford Roadster.
Rog

[Purdy Swoft]

There was an article in Motor Trend, I think in 1961. Tom Cahill road tested a restored 31 model A roadster. The red roadster with that little bicycle wheel attachment was on the cover.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by Purdy Swoft

There was an article in Motor Trend, I think in 1961. Tom Cahill road tested a restored 31 model A roadster. The red roadster with that little bicycle wheel attachment was on the cover.

I had forgotten about those speed & mileage test wheels. I must, I must build one and drag it around like a "SCIENTIFIC" old fool! Bill W.

[Purdy Swoft]

Yeah, that might be fun. You would probably be asked lots of questions.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by Purdy Swoft

Yeah, that might be fun. You would probably be asked lots of questions.

Yea, questions like, "Are you the real Tom Cahill, that's gotten REALLY OLD?" Bill W.

[1931 flamingo]

I can vaguely remember riding standing up on the passenger side of my father's tudor sedan when I was about 6 yrs old ('52) and he having to back up this gigunda hill backwards because the gas tank was so low. And of the old guy driving his coupe back and forth to work in the late 50's early 60's, he'd bought it new and I don't think it ever left town (wonder where it is now?) but by that time I was into hot rods and thought the orig A was just cool, guy always had a pipe in his mouth.

Paul in CT

[Purdy Swoft]

I drove this one to work in the seventies, rain, shine, sleet or snow. I had another vechicle but I left it at home for Deb. My daughter, when she was a kid would be waiting by the mailbox so that she could ride on the running board to the house when I came home. She has the coupe now. That is my beautiful Deb in the picture.