Have you bought your Christmas tree yet or will you be dragging last year`s out of the loft again? Alternatively, this Festive Season why not dispense with a boring old tree and do something a bit different.
How about a Classic Car….. say a 1931 Ford Model A?
This is exactly what PCVC member and American Classic Car enthusiast Christopher Koutsakos has done. Christopher moved his Model A180 Phaeton Deluxe into the lounge of his home in Nicosia, complete with all the Christmas trimmings. We are therefore pleased to feature this magnificent vehicle as our Classic of the Month for December.
Ford manufactured the Model A from 1927 until 1931 as an affordable “family” car, being the replacement for the famous Model T. The “A” was produced with a wide variety of body styles totalling over 15 different versions including commercial vehicles. The featured car is a Phaeton, being a two door, four seat convertible, powered by a 4 cylinder inline engine of 200 cubic inch (3.3 litre) capacity. This drives through a manual, 3 speed, sliding gear transmission which produces 40bhp giving the car a very respectable, for its day, top speed of 60 mph.
The featured car, was subjected to a complete “nut and bolt” restoration by its previous owner, Bruce Cox in Eureca, California, which took over 7 years to complete. This resulted in a vehicle of museum quality which was purchased by Christopher and imported into Cyprus in 2010. Christopher has kept in touch with Bruce, who even left the USA for the first time to visit Cyprus just to see his old car again! This car justifiably takes pride of place in the collection of classic American pre-war cars which normally reside in the Old Garage Museum in Nicosia.
The Model A was the first car that Ford produced with conventional controls, the clutch, brake, and accelerator pedals, and, the handbrake and gear levers being similar to a modern petrol powered vehicle. It was also the first to be equipped with a Triplex shatterproof windscreen and hydraulic shock absorbers. With a sale price of less than $600 the Model A proved to be highly popular, and in the 4 year manufacturing period Ford sold over 4.5 million!
The 180A Phaeton Deluxe was however one of the rarer, top of the range, more expensive, versions with only 6175 being produced, of which 200 still exist.
PCVC wish all its members, other Classic Vehicle enthusiasts, and, the staff and readers of the PALS magazine, our Best Wishes for the Festive Season and would remind you all that if you would like to see fantastic Classic Vehicles you should come to one of our many meetings.
Full details of which can be found on the PCVC Facebook page, or, our webpage (www.paphosclassicvehicleclub.com), or, telephone, 97760997.