1931 Ford Model A

Added 10/6/2007

My good friend and fellow air traffic controller (and GA pilot), Tony Munday and I arrived at the Good Guys show at 0800 on Saturday, October 6th. For the uninitiated, the Good Guys car show is the grand daddy of car shows. Kind of like Oshkosh or Sun-In-Fun but with cars instead of airplanes. But I digress; Tony and I wandered around and drooled over cool cars from 0800-1700 and still didn't see every vehicle that was at the track. I heard an estimate that there were over 2,500 pre 1972 cars at this event.

Tony had his wife pick him up at 1700, but I stayed because the "icing on the cake" was the opportunity to drive on the race track. They sent about 20 cars out at a time for 4 laps behind a pace car. The '31 handled just fine at 100mph on the straights and I slowed to 90 or so in the corners. Speaking of corners, there are no sideways G forces when the corners happen to be at least a 45° angle. The car had plenty of power left at 100mph, but I didn't have the guts to push my luck since there is not much holding this 76 year old hotrod together, let alone the lack of safety equipment. My safety equipment consisted of a lap belt and a WWII US Army steel pot helmet for head protection (thanks again Harlan). I played tag with a good looking Deuce Coupe for the entire 4 lap "race". Sadly, when I exited the track I noticed a "formerly" very pretty orange '49 Chevy truck that had somehow slid into the wall on turn #4. Poor guy, his right front and rear fenders were caved in but other than his pride, the driver looked okay. The gang behind me must have gotten yellow flagged, because I never saw anybody in my rear view mirror after the 1st lap. My little pack of 3 cars stayed with the lead pace car and never had to slow down since the wreck was behind us.

Enjoy the photos.

Hugh II

The grand stands as seen from pit row

My registration sticker that got my car in the show

My safety helmet!

Pit row

Gorgeous flathead in a '32 Roadster

I like the "rattier" look

This paint job was too cool to pass up

This is the craziest looking Nash I've ever seen

Take a close look at that speedometer

Nice blown flathead

Good looking Track "T"

This crazy motor resides in a Willy's. It's for sale. $250,000! The owner says it makes 1,500HP WITHOUT the Nitrous.
See all those thin tubes below the dual carbs; that's the nitrous system. I asked the owner if they ever raced the car, the
answer was "no". I'm told the straps will keep the blower from leaving the car if it ever separated from the engine.

I also love the lines of the Mercury "lead sleds"

Back to the crappy looking rust buckets.

Notice anything strange about the front wheel/axle on this rust bucket?

NO BRAKES! This truck only has brakes on the rear axle.

Nice decoration on an optima battery

This was a true "barn find" '32 5 window coupe that was trailered to the track then driven into the show under it's own power.

The owner said this car sat in the weeds for 23 years. Obviously that isn't the original engine, but this flathead 8 was installed many decades
ago. The owner said he replaced the lower radiator hoses, changed the plugs, fiddled with the points and she fired up after a 23 year slumber.

This is the real deal. I imagine it's worth over $50,000 just as it sits. '32 Fords are very popular with the 'rodders and their prices
reflect their popularity.

Cool looking Buick.

Another very pretty Buick. This one was originally powered by a straight 8. I'm not sure what is under the hood now.

'28 or '29 Ford 2 door sedan. Notice how the cowl is smaller than the body. This is how you can tell the difference between the
'28-'29 Model A and the '30-'31 Model A.

Another cool looking '28 or '29 Model A sedan.

This was just too cute. His bed is the trunk of a '40 Ford sedan.

I've never seen a Tin Lizzy before. It's so tall, it looks like you drive it standing up.

There is a seat in the Tin Lizzy, but very little knee room.

Look how small the engine compartment is.

Look at the teeny weenie V6 that got shoe horned into this engine compartment.

This is a Model T Ford

Surely it's named for it's ride quality

The rat rod crowd has unique tastes.

Pretty funny stuff

Another gorgeous lead sled Merc

This was another very creative car. It's called a Ford COE (Cab Over Engine). Check out the gold tooth.

The exhaust says "Here's Your Sign REALLY HOT" Notice that they didn't put the engine under the cab on this beast.

Check out the label on the radiator overflow tank at the top left.

Another really cool '28 or '29 Model A coupe. Nice exhaust manifolds and grill.

This is a pretty '33 or '34 Ford 3 window coupe.

This is a bare metal '30 or '31 Model A coupe. See how the cowl is wider and smoothly flows into the body sides.

The metal craftsmanship is amazing on this car. The top has been chopped several inches, but you can't see the seams from the outside
where they welded it back together after the chop.