Edison Car update from Gilmore Museum

duffer

duffer

Senior Member
Here are more pics of the engine , and the story from the gentleman guarding the car is Ford gave the car to Edison as a gift and Edison saw the car and said he wanted a convertible so Ford told him to drive it to the factory and he took the body off the frame and put the convertible body on the same frame..He said this IS most defiantly the A-1 engine. In one of the pictures you can see Edison getting his car.I took a lot of detail pictures of the car that i will post later tomorrow.
 

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Except for the radiator shroud and the number, it could be my March 29 Pickup.

That is a two tooth steering I see isn't it?

Joe K
 
I would think there would be MORE effort and time put into the engine and compartment, detailing it and making some affordable correct changes see it is all about being #A1.
 
I wonder how many years Edison drove it, and wonder what the history is after he quit driving it?

I see many changes from original:
Glass sediment bulb
Copper fuel line
2 tooth steering
Later starter and switch
Later hose clamps
Later ignition cable (too long)
Later dip stick
 
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Steve Ciccalone's take on it at http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showpost.php?p=260197&postcount=4 was

The so called A1 car in Dearborn is a fabrication. The previous owner of A189 (Sen. Charlie Bass) had sufficient stroke to get the body of A1 removed at the museum. It is a '29 chassis with the bogus engine as Gary previously indicated here.
Click to expand...

What I see is consistent with this thought. Probably has a black steering wheel?

Thinking further, the Edison "Festival of Light" occurred at Dearborn on October 21, 1929. It may be that the car No. 1 in it's converted/remade version was given to Edison at that time.

I would be curious to know if "spacer pads" were used under the radiator mounts which would definitely date the chassis as a late 29.

Did anyone come up with any other pix/dates of the stamping of Engine No. 1? I've seen several, can't find them now online.

Joe K
 
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Doesn't have the early starter switch. I guess if it was driven a lot these items may have been changed as maintenance. Wonder how many miles the odometer shows?
 
Also it has the later alloy water pump shaft nut. But the important thing to remember is that the car has an important historic connection between Henry Ford & Thomas Edison & it has the A1 stamped engine.
The real original cars are few indeed; probably the late Dave Lopes '29 Fordor & that 1930 Town Sedan found awhile ago [ featured on FB] with about 1000 miles on it & the delivery sticker still on the windshield.
 
Remember the car was updated over the years by Henry Ford, it was returned to Henry Ford in the '30s by Mina Edison.

I think the car underwent an amateur restoration in the 1970s. I remember reading about it in an old 1970s issue of Model A News. Perhaps this helps explain alot of the inconsistencies.

I have seen photos of Edison's Phaeton down in the Everglades in the book "The Edisons of Fort Myers" by Tom Smoot. A very elderly friend of mine who worked for the Ford dealer in Fort Myers told me of having to go pick up this Phaeton and later Mina Edison's '35 Ford for service when he first started working there. My friend is no longer living. Wish I had picked his brain some more.
 
In addition to the error items previously mentioned, I noticed it has the 2nd generation fan schroud and the 2nd generation hood sills which do not match the early cowl. It also appears to have a 3 brush powerhouse generator with top mount cutout and painted cover?

Ron
 
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