From an International Trolly-Dolly to a Model A Ford 'Tragic'

1st May - 2021

This story all began with a visit to the Easter Powerboat Races on the Manning River, Taree, NSW in April of 2009.

After an illustrious 32-year career with Qantas Airways I decided to retire from the airline industry & enjoy life or what I had left of it in October 2006.

My Dad's words of wisdom still ring loudly in my ears on my first day of retirement. "You realise son that you are going to need a hobby or something else that makes you want to get out of bed every day". Never a truer word spoken, as I am sure all retirees will agree to.

Easter Boat Races on the Manning River,
Taree, NSW in April of 2009.

As mentioned earlier I retired in October 2006, my first handyman job was to rebuild my 18ft Half Cabin Clinker Hull Launch, now that was a challenge as you will find out in my next Blog, so stay tuned for that adventure.

When I started renovating my boat I met up with Jimmy Broadley from Diablo Motors located in Haldon St, Lakemba, NSW - I'm sure that a lot of you old petrol heads would know of Jimmy or had done business with him over the years.

Fast forward two years to the Easter weekend in 2009. Our relationship had developed from doing business to becoming close friends because of our love for motor sports & anything fast.

In August 1999, my first handyman job was to rebuild
my 18ft Half Cabin Clinker Hull Launch

Jim asked me if I would like to accompany him to the Powerboat Races to be held on the Manning River at Taree to be held at Easter (in April 2009). I readily agreed - not knowing what l had ahead of me.

We arrived at Taree, parked his vehicle beside the Manning River to start watching the boat races. Little did l know at that point of time who this man Jim Broadley was, however it sure did not take too long to realise that I was with an absolute legend of Powerboat racing in Australia.

As we walked along the shore line checking out all these magnificent race crafts, every man & his dog were coming up to Jim shaking his hand, patting him on the back wanting to talk to him & have their photograph taken with him, only then did l realise who this celebrity was, I had absolutely no idea how famous this man was until we arrived in Taree.

Why am l telling you this story?

During the day l met various petrol heads like myself, Jim had introduced them to me through out the day. For some unknown reason one of Jimmy's friends asked me if l was interested in buying a Model A Ford, at that point of time l said to him "mate, l already have six motor vehicles, & l need another car like l need a hole in the head." 

Anyway to cut a long story short, l asked Jim if we could make a detour into Newcastle on the way home to check out this Model A Ford that l didn't know the foggiest about, at that point of time l didn't even know what a Model A Ford looked like.

Two days later we arrive in Newcastle at this chap's place, he was there waiting for us, I had no idea what to expect until he opened the roller shutter on his garage. There in all its glory was this 1931 2-door Model A Ford Tudor Delux Sedan. 

I purchased the car in this condition with a
burnt out roof and original left-hand drive

There was only one slight problem this vehicle was burnt out (as you can see in the photograph above), however I immediately fell completely in love with this car, needless to say we negotiated a price & I was the proud owner of this very rare 1931 Model A Ford Tudor Delux Sedan. 

A couple of days later with the help of my son & one of his mates we drove back up to Newcastle to take delivery of the new old car to add to our stable, very proud of my latest acquisition. 

Now that is a quick rundown of how I first become a Model A Ford tragic, way back in 2009 (12-years ago).

The undercoated body shell prior to painting  

This vehicle took me 2-years to restore to its present condition, along with many hundreds of hours of labour, not forgetting the many thousands of dollars I spent importing all the parts brand new from America.

When I restored my 1931 2-door Model A Ford Tudor Delux Sedan in 2009/10/11, l removed the body from the chassis, starting from scratch, we powder coated the chassis plus all the vehicle's panels.

All the body panels required sandblasting
prior to painting

Meticulously rebuilt the engine, fitted a downdraft Weber carburettor, hand made exhaust extractors, overhauled the differential, suspension, installed a 5 speed synchromesh gearbox. 

I upgraded the electrical system from 6-12 volts, added transistorised ignition, converted the car from Left to Right-hand drive. New roof, new interior & seats, new paint job with pin-striping to highlight the panels & guards.

The reconditioned engine mounted into the frame of chassis

Now for a little piece of Trivia... did you know that you can still purchase everything brand new from America for a Model A Ford & also the Model T Ford right down to the last nuts & bolts?

My Model A Ford is better now than when it rolled out of the Ford factory floor 90-years ago, (see photographs) what's more it's a pleasure to drive with all the improvements. l could jump in the car right now & drive to Darwin without a worry in the world.

After 3-years of restoration this is the finished 
product. Compare this to the first photo with
the roof burnt out

To prove my point back in March 2012, immediately after I had completed the restoration I drove to the 22nd Annual Model A Ford Nationals in Ipswich in Queensland towing my Teardrop Caravan (photo below).

Heading off to Ipswich, Qld for the 
22nd Annual Model A Ford Nationals 

Then in Sept-October 2018 we drove to Adelaide, SA for the 25th Annual Model A Ford Nationals. While we were in town we competed in the Bay to Birdwood Vintage Car Rally. The Bay, being the beachside suburb of Gelenelg to the National Motor Museum in Birdwood, SA.

Lined up at the starting line in Glenelg of the
Bay to Birdwood Vintage Car Rally

Now let's get into the nitty gritty part of this blog. Yes, I suppose you are all wondering how much l have invested in my 1931 Model A Ford 2-door Tudor Delux Sedan, that I call 'Henry'. 

Purchase price $11,000, 2-years labour that I have not included in the final amount, parts imported from America, including six brand new tyres, paint job, pin-striping, engine rebuild, 5-speed Synchromesh gearbox imported from the US, differential overhaul, 6-12 volt conversation, left to right hand drive conversation, Weber Carby, transistorised ignition, tailor made exhaust extractors, & the list goes on & on.

The completed 'running gear' stage before
the body goes onto the chassis 

However I do now own a brand new 1931 Model A Ford 2-door Tudor Delux Sedan that I just love to pieces. All up the car owes me $55,000 that does not include my 2-year's labour.

Some of you may think that I am completely crazy, & yes, I probably am. However l now have a Vintage-Classic car that absolutely nobody else has just to my liking & I made it with my own two hands, this is not a cheque book restoration which is very important to me.

For those of you that know me - that suits me right down to the ground, because I love to own things that nobody else can have - no matter how much money they have.

Thanks & Cheers for now...

Warbo

In the blog to follow... you will learn how restoring this first vintage vehicle of mine gave me the Model A Ford affliction, where I went from owning one Model A Ford to owning five... and there's no known cure for that!