The Model A

• Henry Ford may have perfected the assembly line and provided a car for the masses at a low cost, but the Model T between 1909 and 1927 was not known for its engineering innovations. By the late 1920s, the Model T was outdated and underpowered. At the relentless urging of his son, Edsel, the Fords came up with the much prettier Model A. The 1930 Model A featured 14 body styles. It sold for less than $500 and in every way carried on the Model T's legacy of a car that the working man could afford. Even as the United States fell deeper into the Depression, the 1930 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan accounted for 376,271 units sold. The coupe sat on a 103.5-inch wheelbase. Power, however, was nothing to write home about. The engine was a 200.5-cubic-inch in-line four cylinder generating a modest 40 horsepower. It was not a technological marvel, but attractive nonetheless.
  
  

The '32 Deuce

• Although the four-cylinder was Henry Ford's pride and joy, he recognized that its days were numbered. Ford engineers sought to develop a reliable, compact and powerful V-8. The flat-head V-8 was ready for 1932. Edsel Ford meanwhile styled the 1932 models that looked remarkably like the luxury Lincoln. Lincoln was a Ford division and Edsel's pet project. Ford produced the '32 Ford coupe, affectionately dubbed the Deuce, with Edsel's body style for only one year. Yet the Deuce became a favorite among returning World War II veterans who founded the postwar hot rod movement. The V-8-powered Deuce became the original performance street hot rod. In all, just 53,771 coupes and deluxe coupes left showrooms.
  
  

Flat-head V-8

• Buyers paid an extra $50 for a V-8 in the 1932 Ford models. Formally called the Ford 18 V-8 Series, it featured a 106-inch wheelbase and weighed a scant 2,398 lbs. But it was the engine under the hood that counted. The new flat-head V-8 displaced 221 cubic inches with a 3.1-inch bore and 3.75-inch stroke. Its compression ratio was 5.5-to-1 to help develop 65 horsepower. By 1936, the compression ratio leaped to 6.3-to-1 with a horsepower rating of 90 on the Ford Model 48s and 85 horsepower on the Model 68s.
  
  

Mid and Late 1930s

• Later 1930s models, such as the 1936 Fords, featured a longer wheelbase at 112 inches and an overall body length reaching 182.7 inches. There was nothing particularly advanced about the chassis components. The 1936 and later Fords featured transverse leaf springs in the front and rear to cushion the ride. Ford enlarged the mechanical brakes from 11 to 12 inches. Ford pushed the engine towards the front end by 8.5 inches over the 1935 models for better weight distribution, but otherwise the chassis offered few differences from previous models.