Budd cab pickup question

wjbgthom@mac.com

wjbgthom@mac.com

Junior Member
I see on my local Craigslist a 1931 steel top pickup for sale, one of the photos is of the body ID tag. The tag is for a Briggs body.
Did the Budd company just make the top and supply it to Briggs or did Budd make an entire cab? I understand that this truck could have had the top replaced with steel after it was produced.
 
Budd made the complete cab. Either someone converted a sedan or they just added the Briggs tag. Without pictures it is hard to tell.
 
Someone playing the "VIN game" probably bought a Briggs tag from a vendor and applied to the cab playing on ignorance of DMV personnel or was assigned and VIN and used the tag to display it.
 

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Great article.
I still wonder, did Ford or Budd build the 30-31 Closed Cab body? I read in the above article that Budd built the bed.
 
The truck in question has a AA grille as Mr Mellor pointed out. If an AA grille fits an A hood does that imply that AA cab is the same size an an A cab? Are A and AA bodies interchangeable?
 
The tag in the photo is the cheaper repro (yellow) Briggs tag, and has nothing to do with that cab. All 1928-1929 closed cabs and the steel top 1931 closed cabs were built by Budd. The other 1930-1931 closed cabs were built by Ford. Cabs on Aa and A chassis were the same. The grille and radiator on 1930 AA trucks were thicker, but will work on any 1930-31 Model A if used together

Steve @ Bert's
 
Great Article, Thanks for posting. A good friend of mine has a Budd pickup. I will share this great information with him.
 
The truck mentioned in the OP appears to have a steel top cab and a narrow bed. The bed was superseded by the wide model in May 1931. The steel cab wasn't introduced until August of that year. Assuming the number on the Briggs tag is an engine and/or frame number, it codes to February 1930. There was a lag between production of parts and assembly of vehicle, especially since Ford tended to use up old stock before implementing new. But even allowing for that, there's too much spread in the dates on this truck. It appears to be a conglomeration of parts.
 
My pickup is the '31 Budd cab (with the steel top), but came to me with the narrow bed. Given that it spent it's career in Southern California before I got it 7 years ago, anything could have happened. My firm belief, in talking to the gent that restored it in the late '80s, is that it came that way from the factory. I have seen all sorts of variations in '31 pickups, any combination of tops, beds, & firewalls.
 
SteveB31 said:
All 1928-1929 closed cabs and the steel top 1931 closed cabs were built by Budd. The other 1930-1931 closed cabs were built by Ford. Cabs on Aa and A chassis were the same. The grille and radiator on 1930 AA trucks were thicker, but will work on any 1930-31 Model A if used together

Steve @ Bert's
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Thanks Steve
 
wjbgthom@mac.com said:
If any of you come across a Budd cab wide bed for sale could you please let me know.
Thanks for all the great information.
Bryan
Click to expand...
If you do find one of these, try to get one with the fenders. The fenders are unique to this application and are not very plentiful. Good Luck
 
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