Wednesday, October 20, 2010

"V" is for, Umm, Victory? In October 1941?

Two friends of my mother's, photo date-stamped October 1941 on the back. This was the autumn before Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. We weren't at war yet, but is that a V for Victory, anyway? Was there another early forties connotation of the V? 

This seems to be a '31 Model A phaeton, a very used jalopy ten years later. Notice the roof isn't just down, it's missing. Great proportions for this open 4 door car, just about perfect considering the wheelbase and market the A was sold in. The famed flathead V8 would make its debut in the '32 Ford, but this '31 would have had a 4 cylinder, 200 cubic inch 4 cylinder, with 40 hp on tap. Here's a cool site with the technical specs for a '31 A Phaeton Deluxe.

The Phaeton above is missing the sidemounted spares that most seem to have these days. A quick Google search shows at least 9:1 in favor of the side spares. I'm guessing they were an option, as I don't see any wheel wells for them in this photo and you can see a rear mounted spare tire if you look carefully. Either that, or perhaps this is a Standard Phaeton, not a Deluxe Phaeton?

3 comments:

  1. It amazes me how people got around back then without awd, minivans and limos.

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  2. Right Woody, and without dual video viewers in the vans to keep the kiddies occupied.

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