1980 Shay Model A Deluxe Roadster Replica
• Replica Model A
• Dove Gray over Black wings with a removable, black, folding canvas top, wing windows and side curtains
• Black bench seat
• 2.3L SOHC four-cylinder engine
• Fully-synchronized four-speed manual transmission
• Rack-and-pinion steering and disc/drum brakes
• Side-mounted tires
• Reverse light and rumble seat
• Wire wheels with center lug knock-offs
• Rear storage rack and available tow hitch
• 103.5-inch wheelbase
Are you smitten with the looks of Ford’s classic Model A, but you would rather not deal with an engine and transmission that are nearly a century old? Consider this 1980 Shay Model A Deluxe Roadster Replica.
Finished in Dove Gray over black wings, the paint and trim are in overall very good order. There is a removable, black, folding canvas top that looks good. Wing windows and side curtains are included. The chrome, bi-level bumpers fit tightly to the car. The gas tank is mounted between the car’s frame, under the front seat floor and holds 10.5 gallons.
This Model A rolls on Milestar Touring SLE whitewall radial tires, size 215/75R15 at all four corners. Each one is mounted to a wire wheel with center lug knock-offs. The tires are in good, original order while the wheels look great.
Under the vee’d hood is a modern 2.3L SOHC four-cylinder engine from Ford’s Pinto of the late 70s. Backing this engine is a four-speed manual transmission, also from Ford’s Pinto. This Shay stops via hydraulic brakes, with discs in front, a far cry from the original Model A’s brakes. The car retains the Model A’s 103.5-inch wheelbase and it features rack-and-pinion steering with front disc and rear drum brakes.
Inside is a black bench seat that looks good. Most of the driver-related items inside are also from Fords around 1979 – a two-spoke steering wheel from a Ford Mustang II and steering column from a Ford Fairmont. Speedometer and fuel gauges from a Ford passenger car along with the floor pedal assembly. The steering wheel rim shows signs of enjoyment from previous owners, the black carpeting is in good order and has floor mats while the floor-mounted shift lever and hand brake are in good, original order. Any heaters or radio speakers are mounted under the seat.
Five different body styles were offered including a left hand spare tire mount behind the front fender, a dual spare mount behind each front fender, a spare tire mount on the rear of the vehicle, a pickup truck version, and a Model A C cab/panel truck. Harry Shay was quoted at the time that the vehicle was “an illusion of a Model A” and only the appearance would be authentic.
Shay Motors Corporation was an automobile company founded by Harry J. Shay in February 1978 as the Model A & Model T Motor Car Reproduction Corporation. Harry Shay arranged with Ford Motor Company to build a limited run, modern-day reproduction of the Ford Model A Roadster, with a rumble seat, that was to be sold through the network of Ford Automobile Dealers and built in Battle Creek, Michigan.
After the initial 10,000 Roadsters, Shay planned to build these other replicas by batches of 10,000 units: a 1955
Thunderbird; a 1930 Ford; a 1932 Ford Roadster; a 1936 Ford Roadster; a 1937 Ford Street Rod; a 1940 Lincoln Continental; a 1965 Mustang; and a 1924 Model T.
Shay was to manufacture the following body styles and quantities for his Model A: 500 Super Deluxe Roadsters (twin spare mounts), 1,928 Deluxe Roadsters (left spare mount), 6,641 Standard Roadsters (rear spare mount) and a handful of Special Series models such as a pick-up truck, Polar Bear, College Classic and Golden Oldie models and a very rare Model A C-cab/panel truck (between three and 10 of the latter were produced, with automatic transmissions, before production was halted due to poor sales). In reality, few Standard models were produced, and much more Super Deluxe models were, because that’s what buyers asked for. Sales had bee