21.01.2009

Restored Manchester-built Model A Ford reflects company heritage



Launched in America during December 1927, on the back of one of the biggest advertising campaigns the world had ever seen, the Ford Model A was an outstanding automotive success, with more than five million built by the time production ceased. Even today, it is regarded as one of the most popular collector cars in the world, some half a million thought to have been restored, customised and preserved in the States, although comparatively rare on this side of the Atlantic.

The newly-restored Model A owned by John Falder, MD of Manchester paint manufacturer HMG Paints, holds a special place in the history of the company and the city itself. Dating back to September 1930, it is amongst the last Model As to have been built at Ford’s Trafford Park, Manchester plant, before production was transferred to Dagenham, and it first took to the road during the very same year that HMG was founded by Harold Marcel Guest and John’s grandfather, Herbert Falder.

It also featured a unique contemporary ‘hatchback’ design, with a rear opening door to facilitate its use as a commercial traveller’s car.

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