Stainless Steel A

Oldbluoval said:
When I saw it years ago….
But novel
Click to expand...
I'd say a 1 of 1 car that has survived 95 years is beyond "novel". I would put it down as the rarest Model A ever produced.
Not in the best shape in my book just means unrestored - which is where the value is in a car like this.
It's too bad the owner has decided to hide it from the world and not let others enjoy it.
It was 1/2 million on FleaBay.


https://www.fordgarage.com/pages/1931stainlesstudor.htm
 

Attachments

  • 1931stainlesstudorad.jpg
    1931stainlesstudorad.jpg
    55.4 KB · Views: 38
The stainless Model A is a mix of vanadium steel, carbon steel and stainless steel. Stainless steel in contact with other steels causes galvanic corrosion. My point is that the surviving stainless steel Model A should have some galvanic corrosion protection.
 
ModelA29 said:
I'd say a 1 of 1 car that has survived 95 years is beyond "novel". I would put it down as the rarest Model A ever produced.
Not in the best shape in my book just means unrestored - which is where the value is in a car like this.
It's too bad the owner has decided to hide it from the world and not let others enjoy it.
It was 1/2 million on FleaBay.


https://www.fordgarage.com/pages/1931stainlesstudor.htm
Click to expand...


While it may or may-not be 'novel', the reality is this vehicle at even $500k pricepoint is worthless unless your ego is involved.

FWIW, years ago when it was listed on eBay, I spoke at length with the Nephew (-as I recall) from Indy that was representing the car for his Aunt because I had a customer from Canada who was genuinely interested in purchasing the vehicle if a deal could be made. In the late 90s when this was being discussed, we determined that the car could likely be professionally duplicated for in the $100k - 125k range since all that was unique to this vehicle was the 'sheetmetal'. After much discussion, the consensus was if that vehicle was cloned, likely it would receive much of accolades thus severely diminishing the perceived value of the original Allegany Tudor. In reality, the sole 'novelty' of this vehicle is to see a Tudor Sedan with a Stainless Steel Body.

This is why I feel the vehicle has never truly seen a sincere buyer. There have been discussions over the years that this was actually a project by Allegany Metals -and not Ford. Kinda like a prototype Firetruck that was built by a Fire Apparatus company on a Model-A chassis, -or an airplane or a piece of equipment that used Model-A mechanical components. The Allegany car really was not a Ford-built vehicle unlike the Edsel Ford commissioned LeBaron bodied Dual Cowl Phaeton, or the 1946 Ford Model-A that Gregorie built for Henry Ford II (who also commissioned it), -or the surviving Budd-bodied 3-window Coupe that the Ford engineers commissioned. So why is this Allegany Tudor any more valuable than any other era modified or custom built body that was put on a Model-A chassis??

And realistically, if the Allegany vehicle were in a museum, how many people would actually make a special trip to a museum just to see the original Allegany Tudor? Of those, -how many would take the time to make a second visit of the vehicle? For me personally, it has a place in history because of its uniqueness, but it's true value is likely much less than what the above-mentioned Ford built vehicles are if they were in the same condition.
 
In the mid-80's I bought a stainless Autocar single tractor from Mels Truck sales in Hampton N.H.It was pretty cheap,and Mel,(who I had worked for) told me I would see why within 10 seconds of looking at it.It was made of stainless panels laid over the plain steel cab frame.The doors were regular steel skinned over with the stainless.There was almost nothing left to attatch the stainless panels to.My idea was to skin it off,and put all the stainless on a good cab.The fenders and hood were stand-alone stainless though.I was working for a guy redoing his trucks back then,this was a simple job to me.I didn't give up because it was a project,I gave up because when I got done I would still just have a truck with a C-160 Cummins,a 5 speed trans and a 2 speed rear end,with no power steering.I was using a B Model Mack for my work,and that had it all over this A-car.That A-Car had belonged to Edgecomb Steel.
 
Some years ago I had the opportunity to closely examine a stainless 1936 Ford that at the time was still owned by Allegany Metal Mfg (or one of their sister companies). It was interesting for what it was, but I'm not sure that I would pay a huge premium for it. Just my opinion, yours may vary.
 
At one point, years ago, some of the stainless steel cars were at the Crawford Museum in Cleveland. I saw them when I was a kid, and I ain't been a kid for decades.
Marty
 
why not buy a DeLorean for 60k, put it next to your A and use the flux capacitor to transfer the stainless to your A........

always thinking out of the box...... or in the stars!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top