FOR SALE: HISTORIC MODEL A
“The world’s oldest Ford” goes under the gavel at RM Auctions’ Phoenix event
The third Ford Model A sold by Henry Ford in 1903 is up for sale again. The oldest surviving car built by Ford Motor Company and the oldest known example of the historic Model A will be offered at RM Auctions’ “Vintage Motor Cars in Arizona,” to be held at the prestigious Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix on Friday, Jan. 19, 2007.
“The Arizona Biltmore event is known for its important historic vehicles and the variety of great cars,” says RM founder Rob Myers. “The ‘world’s oldest Ford’ is one of the most historically significant automobiles we’ve ever offered.”
The 1903 Model A Rear Entry Tonneau, car no. 30, has seen only four owners in its 104-year existence. The car was purchased initially by Herbert L. McNary, a butter maker from Britt, Iowa. Records show that McNary put down a $170 deposit on the $850 car. The Model A sat on a 72-inch wheelbase and featured a two-cylinder, 8 horsepower, 100 cubic-inch engine; two-speed transmission; live axle rear suspension with full-elliptical leaf springs at the rear; and mechanical brakes.
The second owner, Harry E. Burd, a historic-car collector from Waterloo, Iowa, negotiated the purchase from the McNary family for three years before buying it for $400 around 1950. Burd then had the car restored.
In 1961, Burd sold the Model A to a Ford dealer in Switzerland for $6,500. The Swiss owner loaned it to the Ford Motor Works in Cologne, Germany, in the late 1980s; it spent the next 15 years on display in the company’s foyer at the Museum of Nurburgring and the Engineering University of Aachen. The current owner purchased the car from the Swiss dealer in 2001.
The world’s oldest Model A is expected to bring between $400,000 and $500,000 at the auction and will join an impressive roster of 115 classics, including a 1967 Shelby 427 S/C Cobra Roadster — one of only 30 semi-competition Cobras built — and the 1942 Lincoln H-Series seven-passenger presidential limousine used by Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.
“Vintage Motor Cars in Arizona” begins with a preview on Thursday, Jan. 18 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., followed by the auction on Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is by catalog ($80), which admits two people. More information, including a complete list of cars for sale, is available at
http://www.rmauctions.com.
RM Auctions Inc. was formed in 1991 as part of RM Restorations, founded by Rob Myers in 1976, and RM Classic Cars, founded in 1988. The company has established a long list of prestigious collector-car auction events, including those at Monterey/Pebble Beach (California), Amelia Island (Florida), Meadow Brook (Rochester, Michigan), Phoenix, and Maranello, Italy.
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Originally Posted by Quiggs
