1931 Model Aalways got him to work on time

It was 73 years and two days ago that Ford Motor Co. built its 20-millionth car, a 1931 Model A Ford.

In the early 1960s Dave Frost was a Navy officer stationed in Mechanicsburg, Pa., who went to work with other officers in a car pool. The other car poolers had benevolent bosses who thought 5 p.m. was a good time to go home. Mr. Frost recalls that his boss thought nothing of working until 7 p.m.

One day in 1962, the rest of the car pool was parked in front of Mr. Frost’s office building at 5 p.m. honking the horn periodically as a reminder of the time. Learning the reason for the noise, his boss suggested that Mr. Frost buy a work car.

Mr. Frost was car pooling because, with a growing family, he didn’t want the expense of a second car. However, with the boss breathing down his neck, he had to find his own transportation.

A civilian co-worker came to his rescue with an offer to sell a 1931 Model A Ford rumble-seat coupe that hadn’t been started in years. While he was in high school in the Dalles, Ore., the younger Dave had had two very used Model A Fords.

He learned how to keep a Model A Ford running and on the road. Learning that the price was $125, Mr. Frost leapt at the offer. He purchased a new battery and, with a gallon of gas, he had his wife, Dolores, drive him to the old Ford.

Calling upon his high school experiences, he was confident he could get the car to run. He sent his wife back to the comfort of home.

Before him, knee-deep in snow, was a cancerous coupe. Following his time-tested rituals, he coaxed the long-dormant, four-cylinder engine to life. “It started almost immediately,” Mr. Frost says. He drove home in the rust-riddled Ford.

“Mechanically,” Mr. Frost says, “It ran like a top. Cosmetically, it was not a very well-maintained old car.”

The old Ford solved his car pool problem by providing reliable, if antiquated, transportation.

Roll-up windows and a hot-air manifold heater were not only nice to have, but essential during winter months.

About a year later he discovered a Model A roadster body that was in superior condition to the one he had. There was no engine, fenders or chassis, but it was rust-free, he recalls. “It looked like it had been painted blue with a mop.”

He bought the body and began a junkyard search for the missing irons that support the fabric top. Once all the necessary accoutrements were found, Mr. Frost swapped the bodies. He transferred both rear fenders from the coupe to the roadster body as well as the splash aprons and running boards.

An authentic set of 30-spoke, 19-inch wire wheels was found to replace the incorrect 16-inch wheels on the car.

While the Model A was undergoing restoration, the wheels were painted the correct straw color that matches the pinstriping on the two-tone copra drab and chicle drab paint job. About this time Mrs. Frost began referring to the now-snazzy car as, “My cute little Ford.” Despite that exclamation, Mr. Frost says that she has driven the car only one time in the past 42 years.

In subsequent assignments the Navy sent him to Norfolk, Va., Athens, Ga., and Newport, R.I. In Rhode Island a severe snow storm paralyzed the area — except for the Model A. Word spread fast that the old Ford was the only vehicle that was mobile and each trip thereafter included emergency supplies for some of their stranded neighbors.

Mr. Frost and his Ford have struggled through two major hands-on restorations, the first from 1965 to 1968 and the second in 1976, and countless refreshenings.

“The second restoration was fairly thorough,” he says. “That’s when I restored it for real.” That also was when he undid what he had done previously. When he first acquired the car he installed hydraulic brakes. In 1976 he reverted back to the original mechanical brakes.

A total of 22 louvers on each side of the engine hood help the four-cylinder engine breathe. At the other end of the car, the spare tire nestles between the two pieces of the split rear bumper. Two step plates help rumble-seat passengers climb up the right rear fender.

For a car that was old when Mr. Frost purchased it, the old Ford certainly has staying power. A 1931 Model A roadster sold new for a base price of $475.

With the exception of the internal parts of the differential, Mr. Frost says he has held every part of the Ford in his hands. He estimates that his car has been driven at least 300,000 miles. “This car has a lot of history.”