Ford Motor Company has a rich history of making automobiles. It all started in 1903 with a batch of cars called the Model A. Only three of them were made in the first batch. One of the first batch of Ford Cars, which could possibly be the very first Ford car assembled, will be offered for auction at RM’s Hershey auction in October. In 1903 the Model A was positioned as Henry Ford’s new light automobile. Henry Ford had founded the company in Detroit with eleven other investors and had designed the Model A as light runabout powered by a horizontally opposed 8hp 100-cu.in. two-cylinder engine. The vehicle with a 72 inch wheel base was priced at $850 compared the larger cars that were being sold for as much as $2,500 at the time.
Ford Motor Company Vehicle Was Produced in July 1903
The first orders that came in for the Model A were very critical for the company as it was facing a financial crunch and could have collapsed without producing any car. The first three orders were received in July 1903 and Ford Motor Company built the three cars in one batch in an assembly room in the Mack Avenue plant. It appears that the cars were numbered randomly, tested, fine tuned and shipped towards the end of the month. Herbert L. McNary, a butter maker from Britt, Iowa received the Model A car that carried the serial number 30. It is this particular car which will be auctioned next month. The two other cars from the first batch of Ford Cars were sold to one Dr. Ernst Pfenning and the Indiana Automobile Company.
In 2007 the Vehicle Fetched $693,000
The Model A #30 served McNary and his family for long and stayed with them for fifty years. Harry E. Burd of Waterloo, Iowa bought it from the family for just $400 and invested in having it restored by Lloyd Sievers. The car went to Europe in 1961 as Burd sold it to a Swiss Ford dealer. The car came back in 2001 when an unnamed collector bought it. The car had become a century old and it reached the peak of its valuation when in 2007 Houston lawyer John O’Quinn bought it for $693,000 at RM’s Arizona auction. After O’Quinn’s death his estate tried to sell it in 2010 at RM’s Monterey sale as the bidding could not climb up to the reserve price.
Ford Auction will be Held on October 11 & 12
The only surviving piece from the first batch of vehicles produced by the Ford Motor Company is coming back to the auction block. The whereabouts of Model A #9 and #11 could not be traced. The #30 has acquired the exclusivity that cannot be matched. It is now the first vehicle made by the century old car maker which over the last 109 years has become a behemoth in global auto manufacturing. The first of the Model As produced has also traveled to Europe and has gained in value with age. It is an opportunity to own a piece of automobile history when RM’s Hershey auction will take place on October 11-12 at the Hershey Lodge. The pre sales estimates have been toned down to $300,000 to $500,000.
Via: blog.hemmings
