Mystery of the 1928 130A Deluxe Delivery

[jamesivta]

I'm trying to find out if anyone has found out how many 1928 prototypes were made and possibly how many remain. My Father was a life long Model A fan, restorer and owner. I inherited by all accounts a 1928 Deluxe Delivery Prototype. Here is a little background. This delivery was assembled in Chicago. It appears they received one of Budd's body kits and there was no production line set up so they just hand assembled it using what they had available. The engine and chassie number indicate it was a May 1928 Engine. Which means the rolling chassie was put together 4-6 weeks later and it was one of the last AR's assembled. Many of the parts were left over parts. My Father had worked on model a's for over 50 years and some of the parts he had never seen before. He thinks some of them might have been model T parts. He also noticed the metal body panels were bolted together and then nailed to the wood frame. He said in the production models he believes they were riveted. Some people have said that 12 pre production were made, others say possibly a couple hundred. He did find someone many years ago in AZ selling one, this persons ad said it was the only pre-production left in the world. If anyone has any ideas. I would love to hear them.

[jb-ob]

Attempting to breath life into your story, Budd Body from Philadelphia could have shipped the unique '28-29 Delivery panels (upper body behind the front doors- advertising panel- longer rain gutters, rear door & rear body panel plus necessary wood) to be assembles on a Tudor lower body.

Front doors & chassis are 'common' to '28-29.

Prototype story belongs to you.

[jamesivta]

Prototype or pre-production, or something else. I don't really know. There are some previous strings on Fordbarn in regards to people researching information on this model (130A Prototype) of the Deluxe Delivery. My Father did exchange information with Les Andrews ( Author of the Model A Mechanics Handbook ), who did a number of restorations. Apparently Les was working on restoring a 1928 similar to my Fathers. Ken Smith also came and looked at my Fathers during restoration and due to all the differences in parts from the 1929 production, he wondered if it had been a prototype or early test model. My father bought it around 2003 in Wheaton, Indiana. It was a barn find and had been sitting for almost 50 years. He and Les both reached out to Budd Mfg. but unfortunately the records for Budd Mfg. were destroyed in a fire sometime in the 70's. Greatly appreciate your info, just looking for any information out there from some of the experts like yourself.

[jb-ob]

Jim,

The factory Ford 'prototype' photographs all had individual negative numbers dated 11/22/28. The Delivery pictured had a body mounted drum tail lamp.

Unique to this photographed vehicle, it had two different paint schemes, one for the sides and another on the rear door & body panel .. ??

Enjoy your quest.

[ModelA29]

Originally Posted by jb-ob

The factory Ford 'prototype' photographs all had individual negative numbers dated 11/22/28.

Assembly of this one about 7 months after the prototypes in an assembly plant not at the Rouge engineering department would seem to discount the "prototype" story.
jb-ob probably hit the nail on the head. Parts to make Delivery body were shipped and then assembled. They may have also assembled a few off the regular line to learn all the little assembly details - rather than slowing down their regular line with a new model. - or someone in the past robbed the parts from a derelict and without home welding capabilities bolted it together.

[jamesivta]

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Appreciate all the feedback. Any idea if it was normal to use an AR chassis, may 1928 engine and Model T parts on the production Have you heard of any 1929 Deluxe Delivery Owners have the same situation?

[jb-ob]

Jim,

In 90 years a lot could have happened to keep a commercial vehicle running & useful. Check on the driver's side of the gas tank for a stamped date.

[jamesivta]

Thanks JB,
Cars in the shop right now, should get it back at the end of this week, so I'll check for that date when I get it back. I did go out and look online at as many 1929 Deliveries as I could find. I couldn't find any with the AR Chassis, they all have the hand brake in the middle by the stick shift. The hand brake in mine is on the left side of the driver.

[jamesivta]

Not sure if anyone is following this thread anymore. But, I did find some additional information. in George DeAngelis's book "The Ford Model A" As Henry Built it. First released in 1971, on page 113 is a picture of a 1928 Deluxe Delivery. The caption reads :First Deluxe Delivery preproduction model, November, 1928. I also found corespondance between Les Andrews (author of "Model A Ford Mechanics Handbook") and my Father. Les Andrews owned one of the only other surviving pre-production Deluxe Deliveries. He provided my Father some information to help with the restoration. So with the information in the book and from Les Andrews, I believe it is a fact that there were a hand full of pre-production deliveries built.

[jb-ob]

Attempting to keep your story alive, where is the tail lamp mounted ?

[Y-Blockhead]

Have you tried to contact Les Andrews? Maybe he can shed some light on your questions??

[rotorwrench]

It seems with Ford Motor Company that the preproduction process was actually a production process that included the new product into the production line to develop the plans of action for final assembly of the type. Ford assembly and changes to assembly were constantly in a state of flux. Budd did complete a lot of specialized bodies for Ford and the deluxe delivery was one that was completed at Budd. The DeAngelis, Francis, & Henry book states that the bodies were available as a separate unit through the Ford parts system but that Ford preferred to sell complete units with chassis. It's possible that a new body was purchased and installed on an early Tudor or other model A frame. The two body types were very popular in sales when available.

[jamesivta]

Greatly appreciate all the responses. I have attached a picture of the rear drum light which is attached to a bracket, left rear of the vehicle. Great suggestion on reaching out to Les Andrews, it is on my list of things to do. Also great points by Rotowrench: Here is what my Father was able to find out, this is from his research notes: This delivery was assembled in Chicago. It appears they received one of Budd's body kits and there was no production line set up yet. So they basically put it together by hand using any other parts they had availalbe. The engine # and chasis # of this delivery indicate it was a May 1928 engine and a rolling AR chasis. Most of the pre-production deliveries were used as display models to take orders.

[jamesivta]

If anyone is interested in a closer look. I did create a youtube video. Here is the link. I am learning a lot about Model A's, but still consider myself a big novice compared to most of the people on this forum, so I greatly appreciate all your insights and thoughts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCLMv-DukD4&t=95s

[WTSHNN]

You should try to find a copy of the March-April 1971 issue of the Ford Life magazine. Pages 25-28 tell the history of the Ford Deluxe Delivery through 1933. Based on the article the first deliveries were designed for and produced for The Jewel Tea Co based in, you guessed it; Chicago. There are several photos of the Jewel Tea deliveries in the article.

The article doesn't shed a whole lot of info on the development but it is a start and adds to your story.

You may want to put in a research request with The Benson Ford Research Center to see if they have any of the correspondence between Jewel Tea and Ford. You can submit a request here;
https://askus.thehenryford.org/?_ga=...YxMzguNjAuMC4w

Special thanks to JB for the magazines!
-Tim

[jamesivta]

That's great info. Thank you. I was aware of the Jewel Tea Co. I believe they put in an initial order for 200. I didn't know they were out of Chicago! One more piece to the puzzle. I will definitely reach out to the Benson Ford research Center. BTW, I am trying to contact Les Andrews, I found an email for him, but it was very old and the email did not go through. Does anyone know how to contact him? My Father had coresponded with him while doing the restoration, Les also had what he believed to be a preproduction Deluxe Delivery, so they were sharing notes during this period (2003-2006).