1931 Ford Model A

1931 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan There are two theories often debated for the origin of the Tudor name. One theory says it came from the House of Tudor, the royal house of Welsh and English origin. Tudor monarchs ruled the Kingdom of England and dictatorial minded Henry Ford thought that was cool. The other idea was that it was a marketing strategy and shortened from the term two door just as Fordor is thought to have been shortened from four door.  For consignment, a 1931 Ford Model A Tudor sedan showing 2,729 miles, but the true miles are unknown. This is a very nice street rodded Model A with a 350ci V8 in front, nice paint, and an interior dressed in gray tweed.   Exterior Slightly raked and sitting lower than it would have in 1931, this sedan is perched on 15-inch Eagle Alloy wheels with staggered widths and polished to perfection. The tires are widely staggered and help create that slightly nose down profile punctuated by the smooth flowing front fiberglass fenders and the upright, rounded rears, both in two stage orange and connected by a wide running board. The steel body includes a black textured roof that creates a sandwiching effect for the orange and an attractive profile while the front retains its iconic Ford layout with round headlights flanking the classic grille and some billet flame trim on the apron, all ahead of an open engine. The engine cover comes with the car and is in matching orange paint. Imperfections are limited to some uneven filler and missing paint by a door hinge.  Interior Smooth gray tweed door panels welcome driver and guest into the cabin, where that same material covers the buckets seats along with handsome black piping and the walls are washed in tweed all the way to the back and top, enveloping a rear bench in the same configuration. Up front, a flame sculpted steering wheel leads to a dash backed by black grain vinyl, housing gold rimmed VDO gauges with ivory faces and billet back panel for an especially attractive presentation. Flames lick the red ball handle of the shifter on the floor and black carpet covers the flat surface cleanly and lines the kick panels.   Drivetrain The fire is still lit on the engine where engraved flames adorn the valve covers and spark guards on a crate 350ci V8 with one horsepower per cubic inch and an Edelbrock 600cfm 4-barrel carburetor over a polished intake manifold from the same legendary company. Lots and lots of show ready polished parts here including the headers, and it's all accented by orange ignition wires, and topped by a chrome skull. A mirrored firewall doubles the impact! Behind it, a 700R4 4-speed automatic transmission which routes power to the Oldsmobile rear end.  Undercarriage Clean and relatively simple underneath with no rust and only a drop or two of oil on the pan. A Mustang II front end included coil springs and in back, the coil springs are accompanied by ladder bars. Brakes are configured as front disc and rear drum and dual exhaust hits an H-pipe, then travels through FlowMaster mufflers before exiting through polished tips.   Drive-Ability We go from bright orange to warm gray tweed on the inside and a comfortable little cabin. The 350 comes to life with a pleasing exhaust note and rolls smoothly onto the test loop, providing good power, straight tracking, and with its low center of gravity, decent handling. Our tires have some age, so we won't be flogging this orange rod, but all signs point to a fun filled driver. The speedometer and odometer are not working but all other functions on board operate as they should and we roll this orange back to the mall to find a temporary home under the lights. While Classic Auto Mall represents that these functions were working at the time of our test drive, we cannot guarantee these functions will be working at the time of your purchase.  Nicely built, well sorted, and darn good looking, this Ford street rod is essentially a turn key show car with room