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Ford started building the Model A in 1927 and ended production in 1931, so how could this A been built in 1980? Well Shay Motors started building g replicas in ’78 and has been selling them through Ford Dealers ever since! This one was built in ’80 and driven sparingly until 2004, when it was parked and forgotten. It isn’t quite like the original thing but as close as you can get. This lovely example can be found here on eBay in Wurtsboro, New York with current bid of $9,100.
1933? That doesn’t sound right.
1928/-1931. The famous 1932 model B was next up.
No link.
Sorry about that, I’m working from my phone and for some reason it doesn’t like to insert links. I’ve fixed it now though! Thanks for letting me know.
I believe they only built them from ’79-’82.
Another company called Camelot Motors built them from ’83-’86. http://www.shayhistory.com/
An individual in Victoria, B.C. was building and selling “new” Model As in the late 1970s and, for all I know, later on. These were assembled using only remanufactured and reproduction parts, including original-spec. drivelines and bodies. No plastic, nothing that looked out of place. Not inexpensive, but you’d have to know a lot more about As than I did — or do — to know for sure that these weren’t the Real Thing.
Parts came from everywhere, including the then-Soviet Union and India, as I recall.
These replicas used a Pinto 2300cc engine and 4 speed transmission.
The Victoria company was the Timmis Motor Company but they built 1934 Ford Roadsters.
http://timmismotor.com/timmis-ford/factory.htm
It reminds us that there was once a demand for prewar cars. Now, you can buy a nicely restored Model A for $15,000 or less.
This is a very cool car, all the looks with out the age. I would like to know what was used for steering suspension and brakes. Is this an all metal body, and is it made from all new materials when it was manufactured. I would have no problem having this car in my garage and I even like the wheels.
Most mechanicals were Pinto or Mustang II. Obviously the wheels were custom built for this application though.
I think RayT might be a bit confused. Andrew Timmis of Victoria, BC was building new 1934 Fords with flathead V8s back in the 1980s.
There is a market for these, they always have buyers when I see them at auction.
Drove one when I ran the Classic Car Collection in Kearney, NE. Gray with black fenders, white walls, Pinto 4 banger with a stick shift. The gas filler on the side was a dead give-away that it wasn’t a real “A”. Plus the modern suspension and the turn signals. Plastic body.
Truly a fun car to drive in parades. People loved the old-time “ah-ooo-gah” horn.
Shay was to make 10,000 of these and had a contract in 1980 to have one on display in every Ford dealership in the US. He had teams of five or six people work on each car. It took way too long. Henry Ford knew what he was doing with the assembly line!
Shay went bankrupt and the dream was never fulfilled.
$10,000 is about the right price for one.
yes them Shay’s are holding their value….
yes them Shay’s are holding their value….and then some…..