What a brilliant video (apart from those digital green flashes)!! Can we have more of these vintage reviews please, Matt? They're so enjoyable (says he, sitting next to an operational 1931 Belling electric fire as he types). I've never understood the whining of the anti-EV brigade though when they seem quite happy to buzz around with ten or more gallons of an incredibly flammable liquid in a plastic tank near them.
Fantastic Matt, thank you for risking life & limb to share this death rtrap with us. I'm sure that the "No turning/parking" place were quite charmed by the appearnce of the truck. It is sweet looking.
Manufacturers who sold commercial cab/chassis units made the cabs as narrow as reasonably possible. That allowed the section behind the cab, perhaps a van or pick-up bed, to be just a bit bigger to maximise the volume/load that could be carried.
The original wiper would have been a vacuum one, mounted directly into the windscreen frame. The shortness of gearing wasn't an really issue back then, as all commercial vehicles were limited to 20mph.
@@Deanxm1 I imagine! I should have said at least the first US cars had electric since the wiring diagram in the owner's handbook shows that. There was a blank I believe in the intake manifold that could be drilled and tapped for a vacuum take off. Whether it was an option, later mod, to have a vacuum wiper, or a British thing; or even aftermarket I can't say. I might add the Model B and V8 that followed were vacuum. Cheers.
Great review, as always. I would love to drive more 1920s and '30s cars, but I'll have to enjoy them vicariously through your channel. When you said that the AA was built in the USSR, I half expected an "In Soviet Union, truck picks up you," style joke.
I drove the car version in 1988 in Argentina, friends lent it to me as a daily run around and it was absolutely hilarious, like yours it was recently renovated but in bright yellow!
What a delicious old machine. Mind you, I confess I have a very slight soft spot for 1920s and 1930s vee-hickles. I think it's the relative simplicity and "diy-ness" of them that appeals. (BTW, the cap goes very nicely with the truck. Good choice Matt).
What a fantastic vehicle! Henry Ford didn't like hydraulic brakes very much and used 'The safety of steel from pedal to wheel' in the advertising... according to Jay Leno.
Good to see a British new Model AA truck. There was nothing 'unsafe' about the cowl fuel tank & I have never heard of any Fords of this era 'exploding'. When they were new, salemen in the US would take the cap off & hold a lighted match over it. There was a baffle fitted in the filler that reduced vapor. The whole point of it was that Henry did not want to pay a license for a fuel pump so used the power of gravity instead. Millions of Model As later & 95 years or so, it still works & no one has died. These old Fords will still be around long after the hybrid & electric cars are languishing & everyone is queing & waiting for buses & trains....or walking.
Well played, I’d love to have a go of that on private land but I doubt I’d be brave enough to take it out on a road, mainly because of those pedals. I imagine the ride is significantly smoother, and everything else made worse, with a ton of car on the back.
This must have been a brilliant experience Matt. A vehicle this old and it's still on the road. I won't bother asking if it's ULEZ compliant but I do hope it's all set up for unleaded fuel. Joking aside it looks absolutely brilliant. As you say safety clearly wasn't top of the list with the location of the original fuel tank. Many thanks for sharing.
Wonderful vehicle. The lever to the left is actually spark retard and advance. You needed to have it in full retard for starting or you could wreck the starter gear/motor or break your hand, if using the starting handle, which could even shoot out, with the kick back. After warm up you would move it for normal driving to mid position, then full advance at top speed, backing off again when under load. The throttle lever was moved to mid position for starting. On the car the mix was on the choke cable (full left for starting in cold weather). The car had conventional pedal placement, i.e. clutch, brake and accelerator, with a rest by it's side, starter pedal above that. The gearbox although a crash one (part synchromesh only came with Model B and V8) was a huge advance over the unique planetary awkward box and hand throttle only, on the Model T, odd even then to many. The fuel gauge obviously is missing due to the modern tank here, that was also quite a thing when many cheaper cars 30 years later didn't have one. Nice video.
For me it is unforgivable to fit flashing indicators to a vehicle that never had them. Hand signals should never have been dropped from the driving test, had to do them throughout mine as the trafficators had frozen up overnight and with no heater in the van never thawed. Some idiot (me) washed it the evening before. The temp never rose above freezing all day. The examiner had a frozen bogie hanging from his nose by the end of the test, his signature on the pass slip was very shaky from shivering.
40hp? Not all that much less than my '92 Transit! I think the original 2.5DI in there was supposed to be 70hp from factory. It's currently got a slightly later one which (I think) supposedly had a whopping 76ps from new!
The 201ci (3.3 litre) Ford A engine might only have been 40 hp, but those horses were fully released at 2,200 rpm, and it has 128 lb-ft (174 Nm) of torque at 1,000 rpm already. That amount of torque combined with the crawler gear meant you'll always get moving.
Somewhat alarming to drive, not very comfortable and pretty noisy in the cab it would seem. Its still a very interesting vehicle! I was fascinated recently by a YT vid of an American guy driving 700 miles home on backroads in his newly purchased (but mechanically in very poor condition) 1928 Model A Ford, which is a somewhat more civilised beast than the truck version, and despite all it's problems, it seemed pretty invulnerable too.
I noticed that while driving the Marden Mobile Crane, you turned around in the car park at Marden’s Garage. Was that a coincidence, or is there a connection?
I've been a oassenger in model A and when I had the offer to drive it, I declined. Watching the driver fight the gears and steering,I didn't fancy it. A terrible ride as well.
Wow I always wondered what a Ford model T would be like. This must be a museum piece worth a fortune. Looks & sounds a lot faster than it actually is. Truly scary at 30mph. Surprised the gear shifter is floor mounted…I would have expected a 3 on the tree column change. Brake and accelerator pedals reversed 😮 I was aware they were like that. So the peculiar thing is, most of us call that vintage, museum, scary….but when it was new that was probably considered exceptional.
A brave man. Imagine what it was like driving it on the roads of the time.
Even more brave, I have a friend who has a Model T. Talk about a sketchy experience
Roads? what roads? where we going, we don't need roads!
Unless you edited out the really crunchy gear changes and associated swearing, I must say that you did brilliantly well with the gearbox!
Such a great video of something you don't see every day on the road, looked a right handful to drive, you did well Matt.
What a brilliant video (apart from those digital green flashes)!! Can we have more of these vintage reviews please, Matt? They're so enjoyable (says he, sitting next to an operational 1931 Belling electric fire as he types). I've never understood the whining of the anti-EV brigade though when they seem quite happy to buzz around with ten or more gallons of an incredibly flammable liquid in a plastic tank near them.
You can always remove the oxygen from a fuel fire, some battery fires produce/release their own.
Fantastic Matt, thank you for risking life & limb to share this death rtrap with us. I'm sure that the "No turning/parking" place were quite charmed by the appearnce of the truck. It is sweet looking.
Manufacturers who sold commercial cab/chassis units made the cabs as narrow as reasonably possible. That allowed the section behind the cab, perhaps a van or pick-up bed, to be just a bit bigger to maximise the volume/load that could be carried.
Fantastic. I genuinely fancy buying a Model AA but never expected to finding consumer advice on one !
The original wiper would have been a vacuum one, mounted directly into the windscreen frame. The shortness of gearing wasn't an really issue back then, as all commercial vehicles were limited to 20mph.
It was actually electric on the car, with a manual control (missing here) as well.
Ours still has the vac wiper, not great driving slowly up hill in the rain!
@@Deanxm1 I imagine! I should have said at least the first US cars had electric since the wiring diagram in the owner's handbook shows that. There was a blank I believe in the intake manifold that could be drilled and tapped for a vacuum take off. Whether it was an option, later mod, to have a vacuum wiper, or a British thing; or even aftermarket I can't say. I might add the Model B and V8 that followed were vacuum. Cheers.
Great review, as always. I would love to drive more 1920s and '30s cars, but I'll have to enjoy them vicariously through your channel. When you said that the AA was built in the USSR, I half expected an "In Soviet Union, truck picks up you," style joke.
What a beast of a machine.
With that steering-wheel logo on the door for a moment there I thought they'd personalised it for Furious Driving.
Great video. That's a lovely old truck. I reckon the suspension on that is softer than on the brand new Corsa that I currently have on hire 🤣
I drove the car version in 1988 in Argentina, friends lent it to me as a daily run around and it was absolutely hilarious, like yours it was recently renovated but in bright yellow!
What a delicious old machine. Mind you, I confess I have a very slight soft spot for 1920s and 1930s vee-hickles. I think it's the relative simplicity and "diy-ness" of them that appeals.
(BTW, the cap goes very nicely with the truck. Good choice Matt).
Excellent review as always Matt, and an excellent looking Truck.
Great double clutch work there Matt, not a single crunch!
Brilliant video Matt. The soundtrack was amazing, played through my MegaBoom for maximum effect😊
What a fantastic vehicle! Henry Ford didn't like hydraulic brakes very much and used 'The safety of steel from pedal to wheel' in the advertising... according to Jay Leno.
Good to see a British new Model AA truck. There was nothing 'unsafe' about the cowl fuel tank & I have never heard of any Fords of this era 'exploding'. When they were new, salemen in the US would take the cap off & hold a lighted match over it. There was a baffle fitted in the filler that reduced vapor. The whole point of it was that Henry did not want to pay a license for a fuel pump so used the power of gravity instead. Millions of Model As later & 95 years or so, it still works & no one has died. These old Fords will still be around long after the hybrid & electric cars are languishing & everyone is queing & waiting for buses & trains....or walking.
Steered like a Master.
Top Furious Pilot. 👍👍💯
I just wonder what happens if you try to tow a 2.5 ton modern EV with it...
Great vid with a lovely presentation of an automotive gem!
I doubt it would even notice it!
Great video Matt, I thought my tdi AA was loud bumpy and uncomfortable but this makes it look like a Bentley 😂
What a fantastic video! Lovely truck
Now that's something I never could have imagined being on your channel Matt, magnificent! Better built than the crown vic?
What a fantastic truck! Excellent video 👌
Fun! Good job driving it!
Well played, I’d love to have a go of that on private land but I doubt I’d be brave enough to take it out on a road, mainly because of those pedals. I imagine the ride is significantly smoother, and everything else made worse, with a ton of car on the back.
To use the term “ Inter War Years” in 1929 would have required truly awesome fortune telling abilities!
Precisely !
Awesome Matt, thanks for sharing 😊👍
It is so much alive with the gearbox whine and engine noises. You really have to watch this with earphones to get the maximum experience 😅
Did u use the tea shelf?😊
Very nice truck, Matt.
Wow what a fabulous car!
You’re a braver man than I, Footpedals would be enough for me
What an enjoyable video.
If someone made a Model A lookalike but with modern mechanicals, I'd buy it!
Thank you for risking your life for us!
Great video, but looks like a challenging drive. We really are spoilt today. Look forward to the next video.
This must have been a brilliant experience Matt. A vehicle this old and it's still on the road. I won't bother asking if it's ULEZ compliant but I do hope it's all set up for unleaded fuel. Joking aside it looks absolutely brilliant. As you say safety clearly wasn't top of the list with the location of the original fuel tank. Many thanks for sharing.
Indeed, you needed not bother asking if it's ULEZ compliant at all, because it doesn't matter. Cars over 40 years old are exempt. Hurrah! 🎉🎉🎉
Fuel was unleaded until WW 2.
Another good video Matt 🚘🚙🚗👏👏👏👏⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️👍👍👍👍
Wow, such an unexpected video. How rare are RHD Ford AA/ BB trucks overall?
"The strength of steel from wheel to wheel" brakes! Don't fear it!
I'd like to see how yer precious, moderne Porsche runs 100 years from now....
Pedal to wheel?
The safety of steel, from pedal to wheel.
Wonderful vehicle. The lever to the left is actually spark retard and advance. You needed to have it in full retard for starting or you could wreck the starter gear/motor or break your hand, if using the starting handle, which could even shoot out, with the kick back. After warm up you would move it for normal driving to mid position, then full advance at top speed, backing off again when under load. The throttle lever was moved to mid position for starting. On the car the mix was on the choke cable (full left for starting in cold weather). The car had conventional pedal placement, i.e. clutch, brake and accelerator, with a rest by it's side, starter pedal above that. The gearbox although a crash one (part synchromesh only came with Model B and V8) was a huge advance over the unique planetary awkward box and hand throttle only, on the Model T, odd even then to many. The fuel gauge obviously is missing due to the modern tank here, that was also quite a thing when many cheaper cars 30 years later didn't have one. Nice video.
8:17 BEEP!! BEEP!!
For me it is unforgivable to fit flashing indicators to a vehicle that never had them. Hand signals should never have been dropped from the driving test, had to do them throughout mine as the trafficators had frozen up overnight and with no heater in the van never thawed. Some idiot (me) washed it the evening before. The temp never rose above freezing all day. The examiner had a frozen bogie hanging from his nose by the end of the test, his signature on the pass slip was very shaky from shivering.
40hp? Not all that much less than my '92 Transit! I think the original 2.5DI in there was supposed to be 70hp from factory. It's currently got a slightly later one which (I think) supposedly had a whopping 76ps from new!
The 201ci (3.3 litre) Ford A engine might only have been 40 hp, but those horses were fully released at 2,200 rpm, and it has 128 lb-ft (174 Nm) of torque at 1,000 rpm already. That amount of torque combined with the crawler gear meant you'll always get moving.
49 variations built around the world that will be the 1929 Transit
Great video thanks very interesting, even made me laugh when you said people weren't fat back then (I mean smaller)
im sorry but thats gotta be the best intro youve ever done lmfaoooooooo
Holy moly what a racket! Drivers really are spoiled with comfort these days compared to something like this.
Somewhat alarming to drive, not very comfortable and pretty noisy in the cab it would seem. Its still a very interesting vehicle! I was fascinated recently by a YT vid of an American guy driving 700 miles home on backroads in his newly purchased (but mechanically in very poor condition) 1928 Model A Ford, which is a somewhat more civilised beast than the truck version, and despite all it's problems, it seemed pretty invulnerable too.
now for something completly different Matt. a 1929 truck.
"Trouser burp" parpage.
Truck drivers in the 1930s were tough and fit
I noticed that while driving the Marden Mobile Crane, you turned around in the car park at Marden’s Garage. Was that a coincidence, or is there a connection?
Same place in Kent.
Just nearby
You drive the most interesting things. At least we now know that, in this case, we don't have to. Phew, what a racket.
Hang on have I missed Saturday, is it Sunday already 🤨
38mph?!? You maniac 🤣
I've been a oassenger in model A and when I had the offer to drive it, I declined. Watching the driver fight the gears and steering,I didn't fancy it. A terrible ride as well.
... and much of our western societys where built using vehicles like this!
Yipee I'm 10th today
😁👍
Wow I always wondered what a Ford model T would be like.
This must be a museum piece worth a fortune.
Looks & sounds a lot faster than it actually is. Truly scary at 30mph.
Surprised the gear shifter is floor mounted…I would have expected a 3 on the tree column change.
Brake and accelerator pedals reversed 😮 I was aware they were like that.
So the peculiar thing is, most of us call that vintage, museum, scary….but when it was new that was probably considered exceptional.
Its a truck, not a car
What would have been funny was if you had driven past a broken down car and pretended to pick it up...