This Model A Sedan's engine is #A288021, built in July, 1928. The 1928 Model A Tudor Sedan originally cost $495. A very popular family car at the time, Ford produced 208,562 1928 Model A Tudor Sedans.
The Ford Motor Company was established on June 16, 1903, by Henry Ford and a group of eleven investors. The company's creation was not a foregone conclusion in the years leading up to that day. Ford had driven his first successful homebuilt car about seven years earlier, in June 1896. Despite this relatively early success, Ford got sidetracked by his development of race cars, especially his 999 and Arrow. Ford also co-counded two other companies, the Detroit Automobile Company and the Henry Ford Company, before either leaving or being removed from the firms. It was only after many ups and downs that Henry Ford got into the right manufacturing mindset and found the right investors to get the soon-to-be successful Ford Motor Company going.
Beginning in 1903, Ford's company made the first Model A – this 1928 Model A is an example of a second Model A series built in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Along with the original Model A, the Models C and F became big sellers from 1903 to 1905. All had 2-cylinder engines under the seat. From 1906 to 1908, before the shift to the Model T, Ford's Models N, R, and S became popular cars in America. All of these models had 4-cylinder engines under the hood. When Ford came out with the Model T in 1908, it became perhaps his favorite model. It was the best-selling automobile in America throughout the 1910s and into the 1920s, and it made the Ford Motor Company the largest car manufacturer in the world for a time.
When 1925 rolled around, Ford was beginning to lose business to General Motors and other automobile manufacturers. As a result Ford attempted to regain the market it was losing by redesigning its automobiles and giving more options to buyers. In 1926, the company introduced a new Model T, and painted a few of the body styles in green and maroon. Despite the changes, Ford continued to lose customers to General Motors and other companies which provided even more options to buyers.
Having developed assembly line systems equally effective as Ford's by the 1920s, the other automobile companies had also made the transition to what is often called "flexible mass production." In the case of flexible mass production, the assembly lines were still used to produce cars by the thousands; however, the variety of styles increased to draw in a larger market, including women. And each year, newer designs were developed to keep people intrigued and desirable of the latest fashions. The idea that last year’s designs were obsolete did not go along well with Ford’s streamlined, simple, factory-friendly vehicle production.
In response to continuing losses, Ford introduced the second Model A in 1928. The Model A was significantly different in design when compared to the Model T, and many more body styles and more colors were provided to entice buyers. Between late 1927, when the 1928 model was introduced, and 1931, Ford made nearly 5,000,000 Model A automobiles.
Having developed assembly line systems equally effective as Ford's by the 1920s, the other automobile companies had also made the transition to what is often called "flexible mass production." In the case of flexible mass production, the assembly lines were still used to produce cars by the thousands; however, the variety of styles increased to draw in a larger market, including women. And each year, newer designs were developed to keep people intrigued and desirable of the latest fashions. The idea that last year’s designs were obsolete did not go along well with Ford’s streamlined, simple, factory-friendly vehicle production.
In response to continuing losses, Ford introduced the second Model A in 1928. The Model A was significantly different in design when compared to the Model T, and many more body styles and more colors were provided to entice buyers. Between late 1927, when the 1928 model was introduced, and 1931, Ford made nearly 5,000,000 Model A automobiles.
Notes
A nice website for information on Ford automobiles is the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village site. It has some great pages geared toward the model T. You can view these by clicking or touching here.
A brief narrative of the second Model A's history provided by the Ford Motor Company can be accessed here.
For some technical information, including the colors used, on the Model A Sedan (and on other body styles), you can access the Model A Restorers Club (MARC) here.
A brief narrative of the second Model A's history provided by the Ford Motor Company can be accessed here.
For some technical information, including the colors used, on the Model A Sedan (and on other body styles), you can access the Model A Restorers Club (MARC) here.
For a list of Model A serial number dates, visit the fordgarage.com page, which you can access here.
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