Original Black 1929 Coupe

R

RyanB

Member
I just started sandblasting the body my great grandfathers 1929 standard coupe and it looks like the original color was black. He was a Model T and then a Model A mechanic at a dealership in Salt Lake City. I am wondering if he had it special ordered in black which I believe was an option (could be wrong). I left a bullet hole in the door and a couple of other things on the car that tell the story of my grandfather owning the car and now I am torn about the color. Any advice or history with black in these years would be appreciated.
 
In the early 60's there was an elderly woman that still drove her original black Model A coupe to church every Sunday. At the time I didn't know years of Model A's, and that was quite a few years since I saw it, but as I recall it would have been a 30 or 31, and sure looked like original black paint.
 
Mine was originally black, still is only with the rusty patina.

I like them in black, you don't see many as lot of people change to a color when the restore them.
 
I originally thought my 29 coupe was also black but just this past fall I started to clean the body with CLR to get rid of some of the surface rust. In the door jams, it sure looks like my car was Andalusite blue. Lots of A's were painted black back in the day by the owners.
 
When I was a kid, ALL BLACK cars were quite common, even Alf Taylor, the Constable, would back his ALL BLACK '37 Ford Tudor into the lube bay of the gas station, at night, alongside Highway 70, looking for speeders ur someone runnin' the 1 only, 4 way stop light! He sed he drove a Tudor, so IF he arrested someone, they couldn't git out & ESCAPE! Everybody LAFFED at poor Ol' Alf, thet thing had a V-8-60 in it & COULDN'T even ketch a Model A!!!
My Uncle, "Mutt" once hit a mule & killed it in his BLACK '36 Chev. Couldn't find a BLACK R/F fender, only a light BLUE one! Quickly, he "painted" it with a brush, (took 3 coats to cover it) with that old runny roof patching tar, that came in a shiny, no label, can, so's thet old man wouldn't spot him & make him pay for the dead mule. (YES, THIS A TRUE STORY!)---Bill W.
 
Just what is assembly plant code and numbers on the inside of the body? To find these codes, go to my website and go to Additional Studies. Then go to Letters, Numbers and Codes...there you will find where to look.

Thanks. Pluck
 
Last edited:
My 29 std coupe was black when I bought it in 1959. Had original paint. I repainted it black in 1961 and that paint is still on today though a bit scratched up!
 
pat in Santa Cruz said:
black was a special order in 1929, but they did not advertise it.
Click to expand...
Black was a factory colour available for coupes [ also other standard models] during 1929, but probably not available all months, as was usual practise.
If someone wanted ''Special Order'' colours, probably the Dealer would have it redone it rather than the Factory?
I know there were special colours for commercial jobs, but what about everyday new Model A's??
 
I purchased a 1929 Standard Coupe from the original owner in the early 60's. It was all black. Always garaged. He lived on 10th Ave. in Sacramento, CA. When he got the owner certificate out it was dated 1930, he said the bank held the owner certificate until he paid off.

Ron
 
29ModelA said:
Mine was originally black, still is only with the rusty patina.

I like them in black, you don't see many as lot of people change to a color when the restore them.
Click to expand...


I do like some of the colors, but mine will stay black as is... No idea why just my gut feeling on it... Was thinking of whitewalls, them looked at the car --no... I guess the car likes the way it looks :) and you know what they say about keeping a Lady happy...
 
Just my opinion but I do not like any model A's with whitewalls. There is nothing better than a black A with blackwalls! Again, just mu opinion.
 
Thanks for all the comments. I really appreciate this website and forum. I am leaning towards all black and will get some pictures up soon. I will have the car chassis all complete with with the engine hopefully running in a few weeks. I am just waiting on a few parts to come and my rims to come back from the paint shop. I will post pictures soon.
Thanks
 
The story of the bullet hole is a little sketchy but I believe that one of my great grandfathers sons was a little mixed up with the other side of the law and someone shot at the car during one of his "adventures". From what I have been told the front frame horn is also sightly bent to one side due to a wreck with a police car. We did straighten that but you can still see the crease. The car is full of fun little stories that each have an accompanying dent.
 
Black could be special ordered, but it was discouraged by Ford. Ford wanted to use the new colors for the Model A.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top