'31 Sportsman

I know " If if and butts were candy and nuts" but if I had not already started my boat tail for my speedster and I had the fenders I would seriously think about making one of those sportsman tail section and doors.
 
Ross/Kzoo said:
I know " If if and butts were candy and nuts" but if I had not already started my boat tail for my speedster and I had the fenders I would seriously think about making one of those sportsman tail section and doors.
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Sounds like a reasonable excuse to start the search for an appropriate chassis and fenders for the NEXT project...:D
 
Absolutely awful. Looks like someone had some leftover firewood late into the spring and couldn't think of something better to do with it. Nothing more I can say without cussing about it. Rod
 
Rowdy said:
Absolutely awful. Looks like someone had some leftover firewood late into the spring and couldn't think of something better to do with it. Nothing more I can say without cussing about it. Rod
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Is that like taking the ugly girl to the prom?

At least they'll be talking about you. LOL
 
"What caught my eye in that picture were the tires on the blue huckst

CarlG -
Sharp eye ! You are quite right about the stock 19" hubs with spokes being cut-down to fit into a 16" rim. This was common during and shortly after WWII, when stock 19" tires were very hard to come by. There were several specialty wheel companies that did this. I know that there was one in Oakland, California.

I had a set that came with my 1930 Town Sedan when I bought it in 1965. I appreciated their uniqueness, but never really did like their looks. Of course it was MUCH cheaper to just run standard Ford 16" rims, which is what most everybody did. So I never did fully understand why any one would want to go to the extra expense to buy a set of these custom cut-down wheels. But I guess that is why we have different kinds of cars - different kinds of colors - different kinds of . . . well, just about everything ! "Different folks - different strokes".

I still have one of these odd-balls. I keep it for it's novelty value, just like the set of Motor Wheel Corp. 21" wood wheels for my '28 Phaeton, and the 19" Kelsey-Hayes "Bent-Spoke" wheels for my '31 Dlx Coupe.

And I too join the camp that says this Model A 'Sportsman' looks UGLY ! Nothing that Edsel would be proud of. And I am not sure I would want to say that it IS a '31 Model A. - Ignoring the front ldentifier plate on the headlite bar ("1930") and the distinctly 1930 radiator shroud, there are just too many odd-ball issues that would give me pause to call it a Model A - 1931 or otherwise.

This vehicle does help 'muddy the waters' on the answer to an earlier thread which asked "When was the last Model A produced ?" Perhaps we need to clarify with a modifier - "Factory" . It just goes to show that Henry Ford's iconic Model A seems to have a life of it's own - and just keeps going, and going, and going !
 
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I've drank a lot of beer and never ended up with anything that ugly. Guessing the guy was drinking rum. Rod
 
Your right, the dash seems to be a one-off custom, of course the firewall must be as well as there is no cowl, but does have a split hood. I wonder why they did not use a 32 cowl with a vent? Seems modifying one is as easy as building a one-off dash and firewall. It would have look appropriate with a vent. They clearly custom-built the hood halves so a custom hood between the 31 shroud and a 32 cowl should not have been a challenge.

I would love to see photo under the hood. Notice that the hood goes up to the windshield, and the dashboard is directly below the windshield. The fuel tank must be in the back as in a '32, it may have a filler on the drivers side.

If I knew the fellow who owned it, I would love to contact him and request an opportunity to see it.
 
Ross/Kzoo said:
I know " If if and butts were candy and nuts" but if I had not already started my boat tail for my speedster and I had the fenders I would seriously think about making one of those sportsman tail section and doors.
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I'm with you. I have too much into my current '31 Speedster build to go in this direction. But I would like to. I have a set of 4 '31 fenders that are pretty good , and I know where there is another rolling chassis I could get my hands on.
 
Ive always thought an A400 body style, made out of wood, would look neat. Steel cowl and fixed windshield with a woody body, roll down windows and a fold down top.
 
That looks exactly like the one Henry Ford II had built out of NOS parts sometime in the 40's to run around his estate in. I read an article on this sometime back but can't remember where I read it.
 
You are right GD, it was designed by E.T. Gregorie who had been hand picked by Edsel to be his chief designer when Edsel initiated a styling department in 1931. Ugly? Not to me. Rare? Absolutely, it was designed by someone with a connection to Edsel, hand built on a remaining Model A engineering chassis by Ford craftsmen, and used by HF II until he presented it to Gregorie for his own personal use. Oh, and it was probably the inspiration for the rare Sportsman series, but some of you guys might consider that ugly too.
 
No reason for this car to be on the hamb. Built by ford and more than likely Henry 1, Edsel, and HF2 rode in or drove it at one point. That's pretty rich ford history to me.
 
I saw tonight that the 31 sportsman is on loan to the Model A Ford Museum at Gilmore. A good opportunity to see it if you're in the area.
 
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