who here can tell us more about the 3 window Model A coupes?

you are all wrong. they were a regular production car and Ford made plenty, otherwise why would so many people refer to thier A coupes as 5 windows?

 

^^^^^ DRAMA QUEEN ^^^^^

49ratfink ... trying to get this thread shut down too?

 

sorry.. Model A 5 window is one of my pet peeves. like fingernails on a chalkboard.

 

Someone asked if the license plate on one of the cars was a 1963 California plate.

Maybe . . . if it had the metal tag indicating the year was on it.

In mid1955 dad brought home a pair of plates for each of his two 50 Ford sedans.
Yellow background and black numbers.
The V8 plate read GWN 427 replacing the old black plate which read 9X4749.
The six cylinder plate read GWN 428.

That color combo lasted quite a while and then the blue background yellow number plates came in.
Not sure when that was.

Was kind of a pisser when California - courtesy of Governor Moonbeam (Jerry Brown who's now the mayor of Berkely, an entirely fitting place for his persona and methods) - turned the attractive white reflective plate with the California sunset on the bottom into a generic white plate.

No pride, no pride at all.

Now Arizona, they've got a bitchin' plate....

 

They are five windows, but since no differentiation is required on the A's those who call them a five window simply don't know any better.

Making my roadster a 'no window' I suppose....

 

wow - did not now about any model A 3 windows...learned something!

 

Gotta define a bunch of terms before we can have a proper argument...the 2 steel top 3 windows shown are in no way production cars...they are just two different styling studies that reached a level of development calling for a prototype. There were probably lots of proposals that led to prototype hand made bodies, and the unusual thing here is that one made it out of the company and survived. Probably someone of high rank at Ford just took it home as a toy when it was scheduled for scrapping. The slant one probably relates to the conversion of the whole Model A line to slant window style in case the V8 program stalled and the Model A survived for another year...
Another issue is the several cloth top 3 windows made '28-31...they were full production cars, they were coupes, and they had three windows except for the one with odd little portholes... nobody called them three windows since Ford assigned them other names, but there they are, coupes with three windows.

 

Didn't 'Brewster Body' build all the 3-window coupes in 1932, and Ford built all the 5-window coupes?
It would seems logical that they would be experimenting and prototyping around with the Model-A if they were contemplating a 3-window for '32.
Since Brewster Body was a more-or-less custom coachbuilder at the time, I would imagine that they were probably involved with the 3-window prototyping several years before the 1932 3-window came out.

JG

 

An old Comand Sergeant Major reminded me once that an "Expert" indicated 2 things. An Ex is a former (has been) and a spert is a drip under pressure.

They never counted the windershield. I guess in ain't a window.

 

Love this! Been looking for these pictures. I knew about the "prototypes", or whatever you want to call them, but hadn't seen the pictures. I also think it's kind of amusing when someone is absolutely, positively SURE that there was no such thing. There was a lot of crazy stuff going on that was never produced during the Model A era, as well as every other era of Ford vehicle line in the hopes of seeing how the public would react. I'm sure there's stuff never seen or photographed as well.

Even though we're on the topic of 3-window coupes, I saw a picture of a Slant Windshield coupe once. Not sure if it was ACTUALLY a real car or something that was made to look real, but maybe someone can expand and produce some pictures. I can't find them anymore. If I recall it had a tan-colored body. This was also just a prototype car, if was ever even made. Anyone have info?

 

Thanks for bringing this up. I had always heard that there were a few 3 windows but had never looked into it. Very cool car.

 

Actually ... he was the mayor of Oakland (not Bezerkely) ... and now he's the Attorney General of California (with aspirations of replacing Arnold as Governor) ... now aren't you even more happy you moved to AZ?

 

Me too, it always makes me wonder a little when I read this in a publication written by "car people." There are a lot of things I read in the rags that make me chuckle but, I'll keep them to myself for now. It's not a great surprise that Ford may have built a prototype or two. I'm sure the '32 3W didn't just pop off the line one day fully developed. I've never been crazy about the glass 3 window A Model body. It looks somehow out of proportion to me.

 

Nope ... Murray Corp. of America built the 1932 Ford Deluxe (3-window) Coupe bodies.

 

Now I know what "in the nick of time" means....

 

I did some research a few years ago at the Model A national meet when it was held in Dearborn. The pictures posted above were a part of the archives that were on display there. It was thought at that time that the 3 window coupes, of which they thought there were 2 or 3 made were prototypes, but not mass produced. I did the research for a project I was involved with. A man came to me at a car show asking if I could rebuild the floors and sub-rails on his model A 3 window. I thought he meant a sport coupe. I agreed to look at it and in the end did the repair work. He did have a three window 31 coupe. He bought it from an old lady in Chicago and then stored it for about 20 years. It had the quarter window blanked out and it looked very well done. During part of my work I stripped the old paint off it and we discovered that someone had welded patches in the quarter windows and filled where needed with lead. It looked very good, but did not look like any of the prototypes from the photos, so I assumed the car had been modified at a body shop sometime in it's past. I believe as has been stated before that the prototypes were part of the transition from Model A's to 32's. If a body shop could experiment why couldn't Henry and the boys. Attached are a couple of construction pics. Last I know it's sitting in the guys garage, he didn't want to pay me any more for my work and wasn't capable of finishing it himself.
Red

 

Nice phantom from the Minneapolis area




Marcy

 

I am glad I found this thread today. I found this car this morning and was thinking about it all day. It looks like maybe someone took an early sport coupe and grafted on the back portion of a sedan roof although I could be wrong.

 

All right then, If you liked the prototype on that page, try this one on for size:

http://www.fordgarage.com/pages/160astretched.htm

 

It could be worse, a guy emails me up on eBay the other day asking where he can get '32 Model A doors. I said nope, but good luck, you'll need it.

Anyone have archive pictures of one of those?

 

You're right!! The second I hit 'send' I had my doubts about the name. I was thinking "Murphy Body" but knew that wasn't right either, because they did a lot of High-$ Deusenberg-type stuff.

Murray Body was somewhere back in the 'foggy-area' of my brain somewhere!

Yes, Murray Body Corp. built the 3-window '32's and Ford built the 5-windows.

I would guess that Murray Body might have been involved with the porotyping of the up-coming 3-window 1932 model, and probably experimented around with the Model-A to see how it would look and if it was feasible to build.

Thanks for the correction!

JG

 

I have magazine that says there were some Model A taxis made in 1928- 29 that had the coupe and tudor reveal instead of the 30-31 reveal. I have never actual seem one but I imagine they are around. THese did not look like a Murray or briggs body, they looked like a 29 tudor just with four doors. Anyone know anything about it.

 

They are about as rare as the Model A 3-windows. Bruce Lancaster (I think) posted a link somewhere to a page that had drawings of the A body styles, and it showed the taxis. Darned if I remember the link though.

 

http://home.cogeco.ca/~deuceguy/Model_A_Scans_Main.htm has the salesman's handbook drawings...
There was also if I remember correctly a 1928 fordor with the regular cowl that was shown in an early brochure but never actually produced! The drawing somehow made it out to the world before some project was discontinued, just like the famous ad that shows a '55 Chevy Coupe!

 

Here is a link to a page on my site with pics of the 1929 taxi. A fordor body with the coupe pillar cowl.

http://www.fordgarage.com/pages/1929taxi.htm

 

I just went out and counted again 1-2-3 .Also checked and the top does not go down. never did. Checked the bill of sale and it says Model A Sport Coupe. Plenty of kicken around

 

Just fumbling around online looking for something else and I ran across this '28...

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1928_Ford_Model_A_Special_Coupe.jpg#filehistory

Probably home brewed... but still kind've interesting... roadster with a roof grafted on... maybe? It's not actually a "special coupe" as those look more like a 5 wind'er... but oh well... back to what I was actually looking for...

 

fantastic and very cool the model a 3 window,,i really want to change my sportcoupe roof like this!!some wood work and a new upholstery roof...

 

Three window Model A...check this out www.aaltered.com

 

Kind've cool.... but kind've spendy IMO

What's a good quality '32-3W body go for?