Danbury Mint 1931 Ford

When Danbury Mint first announced this limited edition car as an adjunct to their very fine '31 Phaeton, I was rather blase. After all, did I not already have a ton of Model A Fords from them and others? To answer that, consider that as former owner of a real '28 Tudor, I can never have too many. Plus, my personal ownership aside, the Ford Model A is one of the most significant cars in the history of the American automobile.

In the last three years of the Model T, Ford sales had gone from dominance to disaster. In 1924 Ford outsold all competition combined by 600,000 units. By 1926 Ford only had half the sales of its competition. Henry Ford had stubbornly hoped to hold on to the T until his radical X-car was perfected. This was to have eight cylinders in a double-X configuration, but he encountered too many problems. To his mind, the Model A was a stopgap measure at best. Body design was left to his son, Edsel, and he was constrained by Henry's distrust in fuel pumps. Thus, incorporating the fuel tank into the cowl, the remainder of the body followed from that structure. Lines and proportions were borrowed from the Lincoln, and the results were both modern and classical, fresh, yet timeless. Yet by 1931 the sales lead that Ford had regained over the competition was lost to the Depression and Chevrolet's six cylinders.

In this last year of the model run, Ford pulled out all the stops offering 19 different body styles. To date, Danbury has brought us seven of those, mostly Sedan Deliveries with advertising emblazoned on the flanks. This latest LE is a repaint of the Kewanee/Elkpoint Green Coupe – and more. Let's take a look.

What is my impression when I first open the box and lift a diecast out? That feeling is what I rely heavily upon when writing a review. A straight repaint is a ho-hum affair, but not this time. This latest coupe seems like a totally different car than the green one. Although both are the Deluxe Coupe, this car is even more so. It is, of course, attributed to the choice of paint and a multitude of little accessories. The green car is all earth tones in greens, brown and black. Our LE, in Ford maroon and black, has contrasting vermillion wheels and pinstripping. The interior has textured seats of light olive velour and contrasting darker olive door panels and seat base. Opening the rumble seat reveals a further surprise; the seat is depicted as dark brown leather.

Once the cones in your eyeballs get past the sensory overload of color, you begin to notice all the little details which make this car a standout and differentiate it from the green coupe. Starting at the front, there is now a license plate. Of course there are DM's fine representations of the wired Spartan horn and chrome lamps with their finely scored clear lenses. In place of the thermostat radiator cap, a chrome quail now resides. But the most welcome addition is the optional grill guard for fending off stones.

Moving along the sides, we have the covered dual side-mounted spare tires with their blue Ford logo. This car has both right and left hand side view mirrors. The fuzzy, lint prone black top insert of the previous car has been replaced with a more sensible, semi-gloss painted representation. Even the running boards are of a differing texture. The rear fold-down luggage carrier is of chrome and wood rather than just black paint. I have already cited the interior with its richly appointed "mohair" seat covering. The contrast with the exterior hues is inspired and satisfying.

It is worth noting that by utilizing the dual side mounts, Danbury manages to hide a concession to scale: the proper and painted, but oversize door hinges. In truth, the majority of 1:1 Model A's did not have these side mounts, but the DM cars are better for it. As a bonus, we get more of the fine wire spoke 19" wheels to admire.

All these little additions, upgrades, and colors make this limited edition diecast more than a reissue or repaint. With them the Model A Ford attains a status worthy of a trophy and a special place in our hearts. To my eye it is the classiest of all the fine, early Fords from Danbury, a First among equals.

There are three, and only three, minor demerits against this otherwise great image. One is the headlights which are not as crisp as, say, the '31 pickup. Second is hardly noticeable: the reveals are not lower body color. Look at the rear side windows on the green car, and you will see what I mean. Third, had this been a new tool I would have ranked it higher. Still, at a healthy 4 1/2 stars it is a definite must-have in my book.