1931 Wide Bed Pickup Introduction

Brewsterbuff

Brewsterbuff

Senior Member
Does anybody have a date for when the wide pickup bed was introduced? The VIN # on the title for the truck I am working on is A 4529605. (the engine has been changed) The date charts seem to show this as an April 1931 production but I was under the impression that the Wide Bed was closer to the end of the year. Even though the truck is in rather "ragged" condition, I believe it is the same configuration as when it left the factory.

We are painting it Lombard Blue. Some research says no stripe and other says some had stripes. Which way should we go? The owner would like it striped! If so, what color? THANKS AGAIN!
 
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I am uncertain about what follows re the wide bed Pickup. My understanding is that the wide bed was introduced by the Budd Company during 1931.
 
Brewsterbuff said:
Does anybody have a date for when the wide pickup bed was introduced? The VIN # on the title for the truck I am working on is A 4529605. (the engine has been changed) The date charts seem to show this as an April 1931 production but I was under the impression that the Wide Bed was closer to the end of the year. Even though the truck is in rather "ragged" condition, I believe it is the same configuration as when it left the factory.

We are painting it Lombard Blue. Some research says no stripe and other says some had stripes. Which way should we go? The owner would like it striped! If so, what color? THANKS AGAIN!
Click to expand...

May 1931.

Pluck
 
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/the-elder-statesman-ford-model-a-pickups


This article talks about the introduction of the wide bed and steel roof.
this is from the article...."In May of 1931, the revised closed-cab 78B Model A pickup rolled out with five additional cubic feet of cargo space. The larger bed also had a floor armored with 16-gauge steel covering a hardwood subfloor. These later trucks also used an all-steel cab roof instead of the soft roof of earlier closed-cab trucks. All of these features would carry over into the 1932 Model B trucks."
 
My understanding of it was that the widebeds were introduced in May and the steel top did not start until late August. With your engine being dated April, that could very well be because of a possible lag in installing the engine into the chassis.
 
Thanks to all for your help on the wide bed introduction. All makes good sense!


However, the striping research leaves a few questions. I have a copy of the Model A Ford Paint and Finish Guide dated 2008. Page 13 has a Factory Photo of a '30 or '31 Pickup on a factory dolly showing it with pinstripe. Page 18 has a paragraph on Commercial Pinstriping (JPG attached)


My Judging Standards are dated 1989. On page 14-5 there is a Ford Archives photo of 1931 Pickup (82-B) with a strip. Is the 82-B the Deluxe model? It looks identical to the one I am working on. What make it a Deluxe, two tail lights and striping?? Is it possible that all Wide Beds were Deluxe? If you were doing the restoration would you stripe it? If so, what color? My customer likes Red on Lombard Blue. I lean more toward French Gray. In the 1931 special section for Commercials it does not list any stripe colors. He is not doing it for show but my thinking is "if you are going to take the time to do it, DO IT RIGHT!
 

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Thanks to hermitrob for the heads up on the Hemming's article. This answered several questions. The truck I am working on has the grained roof, not metal, and the indented firewall. According to the article, it appears that the wide bed was introduced in May and was code # 78-B which I guess had the grained roof. I guess the 82-B was the code for the metal roof model which came in August? I think the original parts book showed that the 78-B and the 82-B took the same rear fenders, but I did not go back to double check that.
 
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1931 Pickups consisted of:

1) soft top or steel top
2) flat firewall or indented firewall
3) narrow bed or wide bed

Despite the formal introduction date of any of these 3 features, and depending on where & when it was assembled it could have any combination of the above features.

Mine has the steel top, indented firewall, narrow bed.
 
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