A couple of months into the new year and I hope you haven’t broken all your new year resolutions. I hope you are still getting that “little bit of exercise” each day, eating wiser and healthier and haven’t slipped back into that bad habit you swore to yourself to stop. Staying true to the course on our new years’ resolutions, as my father once said after trying to hit a golf ball for the first time in his fifties: “It’s harder than it looks”. After a slow year in 2023 at least for Elaine and me, and driving our Model A only a little more than 5,000 miles, my resolution is to drive my Model A weekly during 2024, weather permitting. Not to necessarily make it my daily driver but to get it out and about on a regular basis. So far, so good. Good ‘ol south Texas weather makes that possible. Maybe not in your area, but good luck getting your Model A out and about on a more regular basis in 2024.
I recently met Bruce Witwer, current President of the Tyler, Texas Model A Ford Club. We met at the Winnsboro Autumn Trails annual tour held in beautiful Winnsboro, Texas. Last year was the 65th annual tour so you can see it has deep Model A roots. Brothers, David “Tex” Willis and Kevin “Scarecrow” Willis along with the rest of the Autumn Trails A’s members put on a great tour.
Anyway, back to Bruce. Bruce had recently completed some historical research on a 1931 A400 Convertible Sedan he acquired and determined a previous owner had a rich history with MAFCA beginning with the founding days of MAFCA. The car was purchased in 1949 for $125 for Mr. William Robert “Bob” White by his father so Bob could use it to commute from his home in Carlsbad, CA to San Diego State University. Bob wrote an article on his car titled “my bAby” and it was published in Vol 1 Issue 3, Sept – Oct 1956 issue of The Restorer. Besides having a long rich history with the A400, which included driving the car ~2,700 miles one way to Detroit, MI to attend the first MARC national meet in 1957, Bob was also very instrumental in leading MAFCA in the early years. In 1955 Bob White was on the list of 15 Model A owners that Claude ‘Red’ Grow sent notes to asking them to attend a casual meeting to form the MODEL A FORD RESTORERS CLUB OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, which we all know later became the MODEL A FORD CLUB OF AMERICA; our beloved MAFCA. Bob became a founding member and served as Corporate Secretary for the club. Bob wrote many of the articles in MAFCA’s “Restorer” magazine in the first years of operations. He and other members of the original group can be seen on the cover of the 10th anniversary “Restorer” magazine (Vol 10 Issue 4). Bob White served on the MAFCA board in many capacities through 1971. His last position with MAFCA was Director of Membership.
I always enjoy stories of car owners that can determine this level of history on their cars and the pride they must feel making the connection with their cars past. In this case, not only has Bruce Witwer, President of the Tyler Model A Ford Club, acquired a very collectible Model A but he has also been able to connect it to one of the founding fathers of MAFCA. A double treat if there ever was one.
“See you down the road.”
Robert Bullard, 2024 MAFCA President