It is one of three cars that may have saved the nascent Ford Motor Company 109 years ago. A red and brass Model A that more closely resembles a horse-drawn carriage than today?s modern cars.
The 1903 Model A Rear Entry Tonneau that will be auctioned off in Hershey later this week is the also the oldest surviving car sold by the Ford company, one of more than 100 antique autos that will cross the stage at the annual RM auction.
The auction is one of several events happening this week as part of the annual national fall meet of the Eastern Division of the Antique Automobile Club of America.
Each year the event, which begins today and runs through Saturday, brings thousands of car aficionados to Hershey. This year the club expects to have more than 9,000 flea market spaces with 1,500-plus show cars on display.
It is one of the largest show and swap meets for historic cars in the United States.
The flea market opens this morning and continues through the weekend. Several thousand cars for show and sale will also be on hand at the Giant Center and Hersheypark parking lots throughout the week.
As in the past, RM Auctions will be on hand to sell more than 100 historic automobiles Thursday and Friday nights.
This year?s crop includes the red Model A Tonneau, which will grace the stage alongside a historic 1931 Duesenburg.
While the 1903 Model A isn?t the well-known Model A of the 1920s and 30s (that was the second generation of the car) it is still an important vehicle. Here, in the flesh, or rather the wood, is the oldest surviving Ford sold by the iconic American brand.
It is, said AACA Museum Executive Director Michael Barrett, a ?completely different beast? from the later Model A.
This Model A (like most early cars) is essentially a horse drawn carriage minus the horse. While it only has an eight-horsepower engine, the car had one key selling point ? the driver could cover more ground in a day than a horse and buggy.
It also didn?t need to be fed when it wasn?t in use, although it did cost $750, a huge amount in those days.
?These were extremely expensive conveyances,? said Alain Squindo, the director for private collections at RM. ?The owners would have been the blue-bloods of Detroit.?
The car for sale in Hershey ? which is estimated to go for $300,000 to $500,000 ? was one of the first three of an eventual 1,700 Model As that rolled out of Henry Ford?s production facility on Mack Avenue in Detroit. According to records preserved, the buyers of the three vehicles paid an advance for their cars.
Those first three Model As were critical to Ford.
Without the income generated by the deposits placed on those first three Fords (the other two have been lost to history) the company could have folded in the summer of 1903.
Instead, those initial orders allowed Henry Ford to keep his company going and ultimately become the automotive powerhouse that it is today.
In the history of U.S. car manufacturing, there have been roughly 2,500 car makers, Barrett estimated, and most were ?one-and-done.?
This Model A likely kept Ford from that fate.
?It?s a pretty remarkable story,? Squindo said.
Joining the Model A is a 1931 Duesenburg, expected to sell for $1 million-plus, that was made famous for a bet between then owner Phil Berg and Chico Marx over which was faster ? Berg?s Duesenburg or Marx?s Mercedes.
The two met on a track at a salt flat in California, to settle the $25,000 wager. It was a star-studded affair and when the dust settled, the Duesenburg was the winner.
Both cars are expected to cross the auction block on Friday. The auction, which usually attracts a who's-who of the automotive collecting world, is closed to the public.
However, the cars that will cross the auction block are usually on display outside of the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center throughout Thursday and Friday.
Source: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/10/hershey_antique_car_fall_meet.html
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