1930 Deluxe Roadster

B

BrianH

Senior Member
When did Ford begin production of the 1930 Deluxe Roadster?
I've had people tell me at the beginning of the year and some that have told me mid-summer. Thank you for all the help.
 
Hello, agree with Brent , the Deluxe Roadster were introduced mid summer, after the round speedometer,gas tank .Deluxe , had a single side mount on driver side, a lower tan top ,with chrome and wood trim bows, luggage rack and rumble seat and brown leather on front seat as standard equipment. Probably one of the more popular Model A today,unless it rains. Hope this helps.
 
I believe the oval speedometer continued to be installed until supplies ran out in the factories. The month I always hear for oval speedo E.O.L was October, 1930. Of course, this would depend upon each assembly plant and how soon they ran out of oval speedos and when the new round ones became available. So, I would imagine that DeLuxe Roadsters also were made with the oval speedometer. in 1930.
Marshall
 
Marshall,where did you find the info that the oval went into October? Back in the late 70's a restorer here did a bunch of research into it,and could find nothing to show it went beyond the end of June.He,Rich Bell,Lee Atherton,and a couple of others kind of put their heads together for a couple of years to see what they could find.This was their fun.Their conclusion came from Ford production procedures.Every day X amount of parts were sent to the work stations,knowing the exact amout would be needed that day.It was pretty well choreographed,the workers didn't run out and didn't have a lot left over.To use an oval speedo they had to use the different tank,dash,pop out switch,dash light,speedo cable,and speedo drive.Probably a couple of other parts I'm not remembering.All those All those different parts had to co-ordinated to show up on the line to be fitted together at the exact right time.The most telling part was the Ford statement saying that superseded parts went to spares.
 
Marshall V. Daut said:
I believe the oval speedometer continued to be installed until supplies ran out in the factories. The month I always hear for oval speedo E.O.L was October, 1930. Of course, this would depend upon each assembly plant and how soon they ran out of oval speedos and when the new round ones became available. So, I would imagine that DeLuxe Roadsters also were made with the oval speedometer. in 1930.
Marshall
Click to expand...

Yes, to kinda align with Keith's point, this is a very common misconception that Ford "used-up" supplies on hand. Without any intention of disrespect, in reality nothing could be further from the truth as confirmed by EI notes about revisions from the Engineering Departments and notes in the Foreman's logs about what day they were instructed to make the switch and what quantity of particular parts were to be returned to the Depots.
 
I just looked up the date in the three year-old "JS" I own (Thanks, Jim B.!) and now it states that June was the end of life for the oval speedo, as you say. 25 years ago on the old "Ahooga" website, this topic was discussed multiple times (nobody did topic searches back then there, either). Until then, I was of the opinion that June was the changeover date, i.e., mid-way through the year. I got roundly jumped on and told that it was the September-October timeframe, especially for AA trucks that usually got the passenger car reject parts and obsoleted parts to be used up in the factories. I also recall seeing in the "JS" 30 years ago that the oval speedometer is accepted to this date. Memory tricks??? At my tender age??? Funny how "facts" change, depending upon who the current authorities are.
O.K. I'll change my opinion back to what I had originally thought 26 years ago - June.
But I gotta' ask: If this is so, how's come we see FAR more 1930's with oval speedometers than round ones? If the change took place halfway through the year, one would think the division between the two speedo styles would be 50-50. Perhaps the Great Depression was being felt more in the latter half of 1930, so fewer cars were being produced because there were fewer buyers. That would help explain the numbers discrepancy. 'Gotta look up 1930 production numbers to see if this theory holds water. Maybe tonight.
So, correction noted. It's June, 1930 for me until the next round of wisdom and uncovered research changes it again. :)
Marshall
 
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Brent -
We know that the gas tanks are different for each speedo type. Are you saying a factory that still had 100 oval speedo gas tanks on hand would send them back to the depots rather than use them up? Speedometer heads maybe. But heavy and bulky gas tanks, too? Or am I reading your comment about obsoleted parts incorrectly?
Marshall
 
Hello, as far as shipping parts back to depot, remember that parts were shipped by rail then , boxcars were modified just to carry specific parts, and would return empty,as they were considered in dedicated service. So returning parts would not be that hard just fill out paperwork.Also as a side note, a friend of mine had a 1930 Deluxe , that he had converted from a standard, marked down points as it had an oval dash and tank , this was around 1971 .
 
The restorer here,Stan Brown,told me that EVERYBODY deluxified their standard roadsters in the 50's,60's,and 70's.He built a couple of his own that way.He said that the junkyards had carcasses in them back then that were pretty well rotted down,but the stanchions,W/S frame,and top irons were usually OK to fix up.While they were at it they would usually go to dual sidemounts too,instead of the original drivers side single.He used to say,(as a joke) there are more 30 deluxe roadsters running around now than were built in 1930.Before he passed he also told me that his early high point restorations would be touring class now.
 
your end statement is so true Keith.


more 32s on the road today then Henry ever built, but of course, 32s are worth a pretty penny and much of the reason. How many times do you go to a show, see a really nice standard and say, well thats refreshing?
 
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