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Home-Built "Model A" Limousine
Henry Ford never made a limousine in his day. But Iky Wipf did. The Huron, S. Dak. man recently combined parts from a 1930 Ford Model A truck and a 1930 Model A 4-door car to build a "Model A" limousine. It can haul up to 12 people plus the driver.
    The limo is built on the truck's frame, which was 5 ft. longer than the car's frame. He mounted the car's front and rear axles under the frame and added big 17-in. tires off a 1934 Ford car.
    The limo is powered by the car's 4-cyl., 40 hp engine and has 2 Model A car 3-speed transmissions hooked together to gear it down. The car's body was stretched out and has 3 doors on each side. There are 4 reupholstered school bus seats inside, with the back 2 seats facing each other.    "It gets a lot of attention wherever it goes. It even has the original Model A car horn," says Wipf.
    "I had to use 2 transmissions because when the car is full it's pulling a lot of weight, and with the small 4-cyl. engine I need to start out at a crawling speed. I always keep the rear transmission in low gear when I start driving. Once I get some speed up, I shift the rear transmission into direct gear and then shift gears on the front transmission. I can go 40 to 45 mph with no problem."
    The car's big tires help support the limo's heavy passenger loads, says Wipf, who recently sold the limo to John Morley of Forest Lake, Minn. It's been used at weddings and high school proms.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Iky Wipf, 616 Nicollet Ave. S.W., Huron, S. Dak. 57350 (ph 605 352-7090) or John Morley, 21661 Fondant Ave. N., Forest Lake, Minn. 55025 (ph 651 464-2778).


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2011 - Volume #35, Issue #1