Ford verse Chevrolet

[Bob-A]

I've owned two original unrestored 1929 Chevrolet's in my life. The first back in the late 60's while in high school. And the second for about 15 years, selling it just a couple of years ago. Both where great running cars and I miss them. But, my age and lack of proper enclosed parking space caused me to sell the last one. In my opinion the Chevy's were more stylish and with the OHV "Cast Iron Wonder" 6-cylinders more powerful. However, for ruggedness and simplicity, you can't beat the Model-A Ford!

Parts availability: Yes, spare parts for Model-A era Chevrolet's are not that plentiful. The reason being is because Chevy's are such great running cars they don't need the spare parts!


Why there are not many old Chevy's left compared to "A's": Chevrolet's were made with a lot better metals/materials vs Model-A Fords, so the scrap drives of WWII decimated the numbers of Chevy's left.


The above 'tongue-in-cheek' statements are what I would say to people and fellow Model-A'ers. While answering questions about the '29 Chevy
at car shows and cruise-in's.


Bob-A

 

[ericr]

Mike, while the Great Depression was definitely felt, 75% of the citizens in this country still had jobs during that economy. Chevrolet outsold Ford during the worst years of that depression, so I am not sure that most buyers were tilted towards Ford. I think it had more to do with the echelon of the Buyer at that time whether they chose a Ford or Chevy.

one factor that no one mentioned was the great reputation and likeability that the owner of the Ford Motor Company had, despite his blips in the '20s. He was a larger-than-life personality in his prime and surely some buyers felt loyalty to him. All the dealerships were required to have a framed photo of him in the showroom.

 

[updraught]

There's not much to go wrong with the head. Not much to go wrong with the fuel pump.

Usually the brakes still work on one wheel. Suspension still works with no shocks. Doesn't have wooden wheels. Can take boiling every day. Gravity oil pump. Light weight. Simple electrics.
There were a lot more advanced cars here that sold well, but they didn't last as long down on the farm.

 

[77Birdman]

I read an article maybe in old cars awhile ago that showed the figures for Ford vs Chevy sales numbers. Almost every year after the model T, Chevy bested Ford. Every few years Ford had the upper hand but Chevy would bounce back. However its not like they were outselling by huge numbers. Both had very high sales figures and were running neck and neck. Having said that I would could only surmise why model A's seem to outnumber compatible Chevys of the era. Perhaps the same reason that the tri five chevys seem to outnumber any other make from the 50's. Popularity.

 

[Licensed to kill]

I was always under the impression that it was the abundance of wood in the chevy's that was there demise but do not know that as fact. I find these kinds of topics quite interesting when reading the responses. There are 3 basic categories. 1, those that skew their assumptions in favour of one team because they are their favourite. 2, those that skew their assumptions in favour of the other team because they are their favourite, and 3, those that look at the big picture and form their opinion on that without playing "favourites". Those in category 3 are typically very much in the minority as it can be difficult to see the "flaws" in ones favourite team and the strengths in the "other" team.

 

[rotorwrench]

Yes on the wood body framing. Fords low production bodies such as Fordors, Cabriolets, and Station wagons used a lot of wood for framing so you don't see as many of those model A types around. The Tudor Sedan, commercial bodies & beds, open cars, and the various coupe bodies only used wood for internal trim mounting attachment and the tops. The wood in these cars is a lot easier to replace and there really isn't a lot of it there when compared to the wood body cars.

Chevrolet cars by contrast, had a lot of similar traits to the wood structure used in Ford's lower production bodies which used wood for the primary structure and the sheet metal was tacked and screwed on to that structure. There are exceptions but Chevrolet just didn't build as many cars with steel as the primary structure. This makes them harder to restore and replacement parts are not as plentiful. Many an old Chevy ended life in the scrap iron drives of world war II. My great grandfather had an old Chevy that caught fire due to an electrical short and there wasn't much left of it after the fire was out.

I think the used car scrapping was not all that common. Dealers needed to make money and their respective manufacturers could not just step in and completely take that away from them. For one, it wouldn't be practical to ship all the scrap all the way back to the manufacturers and their sub-contractors.

 

[alexiskai]

 

[alexiskai]

It makes sense to me that, by 1942, the used-car pricing of both 1930 Fords and 1930 Chevys would be pretty low. But the Model A would have been less expensive to operate/maintain, and thus would have been more likely to be kept on as working cars by someone for whom maybe it was the only car they could afford – thus escaping the scrap heap.

 

[ericr]

I think I have said this before, but some of Dad's contemporaries had like used, 10-year old Chevrolets in the late '30s and commented that they had to install carriage bolts through the doors to make them operable.

 

[marc hildebrant]

My first car was a 1933 Chev. master coupe.I raced my car against a Model A (on route 128 in Ma.) and won after going over 60 mph.

The 1933 Chev. was made well, had no rust and was solid. It also had a 6 cylinder motor with air filter, automatic spark , water heater, and a built in radio antenna.

Much nicer than my 1931 Ford and was a mistake when I sold it (1976).

Marc (Car in my picture)