This car looked familiar to me. Somewhere in the back of my head, I had this little spot that said; I know this type of car. Maybe because I see it at shows and events around the southland, but in the back, I kept thinking there is something else.
David Smith and his wife Margaret help Dianne set up the Historic Main Street Garden Grove Car Show each and every Friday night. Today I had the opportunity to grab David and tell us a bit about his super clean leatherback Ford. The story starts at how truly rare this, what most would think is a regular Model A with a vinyl top. But it was actually a numbered variety.
This episode of Motor Minute we present the fairly rare Ford Model A Type 49A Special Coupe. The Special Coupe 49A was in production from July 1928 to July 1929. The only distinctive feature between the Standard Coupe 45A and the Special Coupe 49A is wood structure and artificial leather top, than the standard coupe. A wood structure that is prone to rotting with the leather cover holding water. After that year and approximately 1000 units built, Henry decided to discontinue it. In-fact rumor has it that he cut the tops off some and put a regular coupe top on em. You could get one in Detroit for $500 in 1928. We asked off-camera, but David did NOT buy this new. But I know someone who had bought one new.
Researching this article I found that spot on the back of my noggin. I have a photo of my dad, around 9 years old or so, which would be around 1945. Until you look deep, it is just a photo of a couple of brothers with their dog and their mom hanging around a wood truck bed out in the rolling hills of Sonoma County, California. Then you notice the rear window of the cab. The seam of the fake leather top rolling from the top down the back to the belt-line where my Nonno, my grandfather had cut the back off to make a truck out of it. That was the extent of my family’s version of hot rodding.
David though. David took 9 years hot rodding this Special Coupe, seven of them in trade hours with the crew at Brea Hill Auto as he helped them get computerized. After the car was finished, they haven’t stopped driving it. This car has been all over the place from Paso Robles to Escondido, California and over to Flagstaff, Arizona. A real driver with a TCI Chassis, SBC with block hugger headers, air conditioning, upgraded brakes and electrical. A real driver for sure. I could go on, but let’s hear David tell us about his special hot rod in the video above.
