Attached are photos of my latest project, a replica of Gordon Buehrig’s modified 1930 Model A Ford Cabiolet 68B. He named the car Baby, and said in later years it was his favorite car he ever owned, and wrote quite a bit about it over the years, including magazine article with good photos of the original car. I was inspired to build my car after I restored a Cord 810 and became a fan of Buehrig, and I started in 6 years ago with a rusty disassembled 68B Cabriolet body. I did all the restoration and fabrication myself on my Baby II, including paint, top and upholstery, except for the engine work that was done by H&H in Los Angeles. There have been several other replicas of his car done, and the previous post is one of the first version of Buehrig’s Baby. I wanted to build one inspired by his second version done in 1932, where he re-modified the car by painting it a deep maroon (instead of the orange-red paint), modified the front radiator shell, headlights, and added an aerodynamic piece below the radiator. He wrote he wanted it to appear more like his favorite car of the time, the Hispano Suiza. He also fitted Goodyear Airwheel disk wheels and tires, and added an aluminum engine-turned dash with custom aircraft instruments. I took some liberties with my replica by adding heat and a/c, 12 volt system, radio, and probably more aircraft style instruments than the original had. I tried to keep my modifications in the spirit of the original car, and used era components where possible and tried to keep it from looking like a new hot rod. I could not find the Goodyear Airwheels, so I use 16” Kelsey Hayes wire wheels with aluminum wheel disks (that many classic era cars used over wire wheels). I plan to tour this car a lot and exhibit it at the Forest Grove Concours in Portland, Ore, next month.
