Art & Inspiration How would you "coach build" a Model A?

I like that a lot. It's modified, but you can still tell it's a Model A.
I'm afraid if you change an A too much, you lose its fundamental character- you might as well build a Deuce.

 

Some pics i found at a flea market in Germany of an actual coachbuilt Model A.

 

^^ Model A? Not much left. But interesting none the less. Gary

 

I thought you meant you wanted to build a new body. That's what i understand by 'coachbuilding'. Just leave the grille and maybe the cowl.

 

Gary, it seems we're thinking along similar lines.

Things that cause a Model A not to resemble a coachbuilt late-Vintage car include fenders being too low, which causes the wheels to look too small; and the A-pillar sitting too far forwards, causing the nose to look too short.

I've thought this through backwards and forwards for many years. What we're aiming for is a wheelbase around four tyre diameters, an overall height around two tyre diameters, and an A-pillar near the midpoint of the wheelbase.

Z-ing or "faux-channeling" the frame, as you put it, seems the obvious route if you're thinking in terms of stock fenders. Somewhere along the way I started thinking around fullish cycle fenders, something between the usual cycle fenders and the set-up The37Kid is contemplating for his '29, and consequently not having to worry about how the fenders meet the frame etc.; and that led to the 3° reverse-raked frame idea. You might recall a thread in which I played with some of the implications, which drew some flak from certain quarters. The lesson there was that the frame can work at such an angle, as it has in numerous early-post-Vintage European cars, provided the frame angle isn't expressed to the outside of the car.

Wheels and tyres: that majestic aristocratic look wants tall tyres all round. On the A I reckon around 28" is the range to aim for. My latest thinking has been around a sort of fats-and-skinnies set-up which features 27½" front tyres and 28" rears. (I'm almost afraid to mention the 18" and 15" rims, as that would also be clearly impossible to some minds until it's done.) But applying the abovementioned 4-diameter rule gives us a wheelbase of 111", i.e. a 7½" stretch. I took forever trying to figure out how to combine a stretch and a Z until the 3° idea started off a spiral of simplifications which led to simply shifting the firewall back on a stock-configuration frame, and adding some sort of extension at the back to handle the 300 design considerations that happen around that part of the car. The firewall would need to be notched very mildly to fit, and the grille shell would obviously need to drop lower between the rails.

More: build the body for a more horizontal seating position. That makes headroom inside a chopped body; more importantly it moves the steering wheel rearward, allowing the dash and A-pillar to shift back likewise. Then: I really like the idea of a hood that ends a good bit aft of the firewall, so you can look into the footwell when the hood is open. Many cars of the target era did that, especially the rawer, more sporting ones. It also helps with the proportions.

Headlights need to be big. How about a total new design of grille shell, indicating a "total phantom" marque? How about phantom headlights made by Woodlite and E&J's forgotten competitor, by being creative with combinations of projector-lens and conventional lights of various shapes?

My wife and I like to go antiquing. My eyes are always peeled for something which can make a cool radiator-cap mascot; something distinctive but not corny.

 

One mod or a whole new car, I'm interested in all the possibilities. Gary

 

Dawie,
That's a lot to take in! I hope to start my 29 SC in earnest next month, little steps. Somewhat on the same plane(s), I'm thinking of 100" wheel base now and a 2-4" increase in tracks. Those changes, ICW setting the motor back in the cowl and sliding the entire body back, say 3-4", should help put weight in the back and stretch the nose, so to speak. I also plan some sort of slanted wind screen / A pillar and possibly a hood stretch or extra deep grille shell (chromed!?!?). I'm looking at 25/29" tall tires (but they could go a little lower) with cycle fenders front and body mounted bobbed fender flares in the back. In my mind's eye, it's an early 50's combo of an Allard and a hot rod, but with an all WX top and wind-up windows instead of an open roadster. In terms of a road car, it would be like a factory light weight version of a GT car. A split wind screen and removable top are also still on the list.

A few ideas I'm considering, coach built-wise, is to pinch the rear of the body a little - just enough to take the "square" feel from the very bottom of the body. The other, while raising the rear fenders / wheel well, is to somehow flip or reverse mount the fenders (with appropriate mods) before mounting, so that the former outside curve to the wheel opening now fits next to the body. In my mind's eye, the change would create an interesting curve downward from the horizontal top of the fender to the body sides (mounting the fenders about 1/2 way between where the wheel wells are now and the contour line above it) all the while allowing more room under the fender for wheel clearance over bumps. But who knows how hard that might be to so (also ICW the rear pinch) or weird it might really look. Time will tell, Gary