1929 shay roadster reproduction

Has anybody had any experience with the Shay bodies,this is a full fendered 29 roadster,finished car ,guy wants to trade me for my 66 Pontiac LeMans,GTO clone,400 -4-speed muscle car,The 29 is painted,doors operate good ,nice windshield and frame.Are these bodies anygood and worth anything or not.?

 

Arent these the pinto Model As from the 70s?


Would you trade a Pinto for your car?

 

A thread

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=465846&highlight=shay&showall=1

 

This guy has 43 threads looking for a shay

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=437589&highlight=shay

 

Bet you will have more fun with the GTO.

 

The Shay that I had experience with was a one piece body and fenders.(fenders not removable) and looking from the front at the firewall is was molded in canted,(not straight) a REAL MESS
I'd p*** on it...

 

yes they were based on a pinto frame

 

I also had a guy wanting to trade a Shay for my 38 Chevy Sedan. Sorry but I didn't like them when they came out (ugly duck) and knew of several that had signed up for them when new. Not many kept them very long.

 

The Shay just don't look right. I'd keep the '66.
You want a model A, get a real model A.

 

My understanding is that the Shays were Wescott bodys and fenders on reprduction frames with Pinto power. They had wire wheels (same dia. as stock as I recall and either 4spd (Pinto) trans or automatics.
The one the local dealer had sat in the showroom for almost a year before someone stepped up and bought it. That Guy with the Coupe nailed it. They just didn't look quite right if you had any knowledge of real Model A's.

Frank

 

They don't look right and they do not adapt well to hot rodding. Just a parade car.

 

I've seen Shay's listed for $10-12K most often; almost all are in good shape as they were never driven hard. They don't seem to sell quickly at this price. I've seen them sell at $8K.

I'd guess your GTO clone is worth more.

 

maybe the guys gambling that in the future the shay will be the next 32 roadster

i would stick to the real deals

 

There used to be several of them floating around here years ago as I think one of the Ford dealers in the area sold them at one time. They are usually very crude in fit and appearance for the most part. Only interesting if you are 70 years old, not really into cars but want something old looking to haul your grandkids to the DQ for ice cream and haul your politician buddy though the local parade every year. Still not as bad as the ones that were built on the IH Scout frames though.

 

I bought a low mile 29 shay roadster for $5000 about 12 years ago, put in a modified pinto race engine in drop spindles, shot it flat black and added steel wheels. It made a sweet little car for my sons to play with. I sold it years ago and to this day it remains one of their favorite memories. They drove the wheels off that car and are still hot rod guys to this day!!!

 

I doubt they were Wescotts considering what a piece of **** they were,I lived 15 minutes from Dees place for years and NEVER saw anthing about them in all the stuff he had on the Wescott history.......its kinda like ridin a vespa to sturgis,yeah it two wheels but.same with a shay.Keep the Poncho!They made these also

 

i would stick with the pontiac there alot more desirable than the shay

 

I've only saw a couple up close but i've always thought that with a few modifications they would make a neat little beater. But no way would i trade a '66 GTO,clone or not, for one.

 

If my memory serves me correctly the bodys were built by State of Michigan inmates. Jim Downs of Downs bodys told me they hired him to try and straighten out the problems they had but it was to late to remedy them.............

 

i had a customer that had 1 it was not built well at all
body was rough not straight. under powered for the day
the heater vent was a house grate under the seat doors did not fit well
i will stop there
most likely will be worth $$$$$ due to the fact not many around
keep the Pontiac

 

Thanks for advice,I went and looked at the roadster and it doesn"t in anyway compare to my GTO,

 

hell if ya want fibergl*** and to keep the goat try this from batzrods (yeah I'd build it in a heartbeat)

 

A clone for a repo.......sounds about fair.

 

Shay replicas have been the laughing stock of the restorer world since they were first built... I can't figure out for the life of me how they sold more than one or two of those things.

Those, along with the other "Kit Cars" gave the word Kit Car a bad name... sheesh, try calling a fibergl*** Cobra a kit car, and you'll see what I mean!

Sam

 

Cheevy57,there is no difference in putting GTO badges on a LeMans Pontiac than taking a 57 Chevy six cylinder body and putting a v-8 in it and putting the chrome V on the front and rear.

 

Run away FAST..... Keep the poncho!

 

I completely agree with you on this. As long as someone isn't trying to p*** a clone off for monetary gain, who gives a **** what it came from the factory with.
Back-in-the-day, no one gave two-****s if a car had matching numbers or not. If you stuck a 409 in your grandfather's Biscayne, it was a 409 Biscayne....period!
I understand the value of a numbers correct factory car, but it's not for everyone.
Back to the Shay's: The Shay Model A's were bad, but not nearly as bad as the "Gl***ic" Model A's. Now that was an ugly piece of ****. Apologies to any Gl***ic owners out there.

 

We had a 29 Shay it was bought new at the ford dealer here. We drove the wheels off the shay I had a blast in it. I drove it to high school. It was my dads car we took it to Oh,In,Mi,ect.....neaver had a problem lots of good memories in that Shay. Grate little car grate DD. As for the trade look at it this was do you want something that gets grate gas mileage or do you want a hot rod. I would in a heart beat but thats me...

 

I was at a local car show a couple of weeks ago and there was a "tired-looking" grey and black Shay roadster being displayed by an old guy who kept telling everyone that "it's a '29 Model A". I don't know if he didn't know the difference, but he thought he had a "real" Model A. Kind of speaks to the mentality of the guy! I think he was pissed when he didn't win the trophy for "Best Ford".

Jim

 

I'd rather have a pinto with a real pinto body........................