.......Good point. I just always wondered about that particular body style. I mean they're not really coupes and not really sedans, but something in between. I guess if a family needed the extra seating not found in a coupe, but didn't want the "formality" of a sedan, they could have chosen a Victoria. Not even sure that explanation makes sense
The Model A Victoria was introduced in late 1930 as a way of creating a more sporty and sharper looking Tudor Sedan. A two door, five passenger vehicle with the slant windshield, no exterior visor and a rounded bustle at the back gave it a sleek shape that was part of the move towards more sporty cars in the final year of Model A production (see the 400A, Deluxe Phaeton, etc). This was all part of Edsel's influence on the styling of the vehicles as a way of competing with other brands of the era... -Tim
....Thanks for that explanation, Tim. I kinda figured it must have been an attempt at something a little more sportier than a regular sedan.........Don.
Lothiandon1940 I read that sales were dropping off, don't remember the year, but Ford came up with the Victoria as a way to boost interest...and sales. Don't know how true that is.
Congrats, That's a whole lot nicer than the body shell and frame I picked up a few months ago. I like your plans for it too.
Got home and looked some information up for verification/whatever and because I can't contribute much in way of information pertaining to 99% of the threads on this board, I figured, what the hell, throw what I do know out there. A Victoria in 1930 or 1931 could come in five colors, Ford Maroon is closest to your car, it would have originally come with black upper body, belt and moulding with a vermillion stripe. The bodies were built by both Briggs and Murray. It was sometimes referred to as a "Victoria Coupe" in Ford advertisements. I just watched a DVD of old Ford newsreels and they refer to it as such there. -Tim
thanks for all of the info guys. the paint is old, not original, but looks good as far as i am concerned. maybe down the road i can reshoot the top and to the pinstripe. i do have a set of 35 wires with brand new rubber i might toss on, but they are supposed to go on another project. i would like to pick up a dropped axle and do the juice brake conversion, but we will have to see what money will allow at this point. thanks again for everything... oh.... can anyone help me get more info by way of the vin number... ie, where the car was assembled, maybe number produced, etc etc. just wondering how to decode the vin. thanks
There were 35,830 Victorias made in 1931 and 6,447 made in late 1930. There is no VIN on Model A's. Originally, when the engines were built, assembled and then tested at the Rouge Plant, they were stamped with a number. The engine was then sent to various assembly plants across the country/world. When the engine was dropped into the chassis on the assembly line workers would stamp the engine number into the top of the frame rail near where the driver's side cowl would be attached to the frame. There could be about a 90 day lag between when an engine was assembled, shipped and then dropped into a chassis. You can figure out the exact date of your engine's production by going here...http://www.modelahouse.com/cgi-bin/enumbers/numdate but remember, that isn't when the car was built. In 1931, Ford built less engines than he built cars because he had over-produced engines in the years before and thus just grabbed from his stock. If you were trying to determine where your vehicle was assembled, there is a chance that there is an assembly plant number stamped into the subframe inside the vehicle. Pull up the carpets and look around on the body subframe to see if you can find any stampings. It would be a series of letters and then numbers. The letters indicate what plant they were assembled at and then the numbers indicate the number of that particular body style that plant had built. So, say you had Coupe that was CHI 1234. That would mean it was assembled at the Chicago plant and was the 1,234 Coupe assembled at that plant. There are other features that could help ID when your car was actually assembled. Easiest thing to do would be to look for what is referred to as an "indented firewall" this is an upside down tear drop indentation on the passenger's side of the firewall on the engine side where the gas line comes out of the tank, to a brass valve and then down to the carb. If you have one of those, you'll be looking at a car built after April/May of '31 (if you have one of these and want to sell the carb...let me know, I need one for my truck). If you have a gas shut off valve inside the vehicle, located beneath the dash, then you're looking at somewhere between November '30 and April/May of '31. -Tim
Have you ever seen a Vicky with a bad ass? One of the most pleasing body styles ever designed IMO. Bob
got it home today and took some pictures. sorry they are crappy... the light was odd... anyhow, check out the miles on the odometer.... i wonder if that is correct... wishful thinking. the fenders need some work as do a few other small things. work out the bugs then get her on the road. thanks again guys for all of the info.
Very kool. I'm jealous. I love the Vicky body style. Definitely one of the cars on my bucket list. I agree with the dropped axle, 35 wires and juice brakes. Then drive the wheels off of it! CTJ
Just now saw the updated pictures. The indented firewall on the car dates it to the 2nd half of 1931. The carb is technically "wrong" for that setup but will work as shown. Looks to be in pretty good condition, probably a 60's or 70's restoration (based on the interior). Hope you got it running and have been able to play with it. -Tim
hi tim, thanks for the info. what carb set up would be correct for this application? thanks a million. and... right now we have about a foot and a half of snow outside, so no driving the a today. be good and have a great day
I think what he is saying is that the carb is not 100% correct for a restoration that you would be showing in Model A shows against other fully restored Model A's of that year model. Not that it won't work well on that car to drive it.
Double check with the HAMB experts but I think there are adaptor rings that need to be used if you plan to use the '35 Ford Wire wheels. Has something to do withpreventing the lub holes from distorting. Bob
Ok, so the majority of A's had a fuel shut off underneath the tank inside the passenger compartment, near where the passenger's knees would be. In mid 1931, some sort of law took effect somewhere (I have heard PA but haven't been able to prove it) requiring that fuel shut offs be located outside of passenger compartments on vehicles. So, Ford moved the shut off to the passenger side firewall on the engine side. A brass valve (top left of below picture) was fitted to there, a fuel line ran down to a filter commonly referred to as a "sidebowl" that was attached to the carb. Here is a crappy shot of my '31 Truck with the sidebowl carb. You'll notice that the inlet into the actual carb is about an inch and a half back from the front of the carb where as the one you have, it is much closer to the front. That is how you tell the difference on the top half of a model A carb as to whether it was a sidebowl or not. Here is an NOS sidebowl filter I got at Hershey this year (minus the internals). The carb you have on there right now will work just fine as the internals are almost exactly the same. The only difference between a regular carb and the sidebowl is the delivery of the fuel from the tank to the carb. The excessive fuel line you have in your pictures is done so as to hook up the filter located just in front of the carb. If you wanted to clean up the look of the engine bay you could put a modern inline filter in place and significantly shorten the line and remove the existing filter. However, if you go the route of an inline filter, remember to get one for a non-pressurized gas tank, the gravity feed of a Model A tank doesn't produce enough pressure for those filters and you'll be starving for fuel. The modern shut off valve indicates the original isn't functioning but a repro of an original can be bought for a respectable price so if you wanted to clean up the engine compartment a bit you could do that. Overall, still a good looking car and once the snow melts, drive the hell out of it. -Tim
Opps, one other thing from a restorer-minded guy... Based on the fact that the firewall and gas tank are black, I'm going to guess that was the original color. One of the five color options for a vicky was black with apple green pinstripe, it is possible that the stripe on the face of the tank is original but it looks a little too thick, originally the tank was 1/16" wide on the gas tank. -Tim
That's the way to do it.Mull it over for a good long while before you make your next move. Nice score!
I had to sell my vicky this past winter, it was a 31. I've really felt bad about it since. I needed the cash. Slowed down at work and had to replace my heat pump and and water heater at the same time. I'm building a RPU right now. Saving up and trying not to have too much invested in it. I'd love to have the Vicky back though. I'm trying to keep a positive perspective and I'm happy to have any project at all but, I don't think I'll luck into one cheap enough to own one again. Good Luck with yours, here's a pic of my old one.