Tudor Sedans
By Rick Black, Las Cruces NMThe Tudor sedan body style was one of the first Model A body styles. In fact, the "mysterious new Ford" seen on the streets of Detroit in the fall of 1927 was indeed the new Model A Tudor Sedan. The most popular of all Model A body styles, the Standard Tudor was available in all 4 Model A years, with well over 1.25 million of them being built. From 1928 to mid 1931, Ford produced the Standard Tudor Sedan. In 1931, as Ford sales began to slip, the marketing group came up with the idea to release some new models to help increase sales. Read the letter from Ford to the Dealers. |
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The De Luxe Tudor Sedan was introduced in June of 1931. Ford hoped to boost sales during the early years of the depression by adding features the Standard Tudors lacked to make it more desirable. Most of these changes were inside the car, where the interior resembled the Victoria. Fewer than 24,000 De Luxe Tudors were produced and all were "late 1931" models with indented firewalls.
The table that follows outlines most of the differences between a Standard Tudor and a De Luxe Tudor. You'll note that most of the changes are in the interior. The exterior differences (paint combinations and cowl lights) can easily be applied to Standard Tudors, making the two somewhat difficult to differentiate. The discriminating Model A fan will look at the interior (especially the front seats) which is the key to identifying whether the Tudor is a Standard or De Luxe.
| Features: | Standard Tudor | De Luxe Tudor | Remarks |
| Cowl Lights | ** | Yes | ** Dealer Installed Option |
| Driver's Seat on Tracks | No | Yes | Tracks also used on A400 and late Victoria |
| Interiors | Standard Fabrics | Mohair or Bedford Cord | Mohair by far the most common |
| Dome Light | No | Yes | Center of Ceiling |
| Stripe on inner gas tank | No | Yes | Exterior striping identical |
| Dash and Moldings | Maroon/Brown | Wood grained | |
| Rear Seat Armrests | No | Yes | |
| Assist Straps | No | Yes | |
| Rear Window Shade | Standard Cloth | Silk-like Cloth | |
| Wheel Color | Black | Match Stripe | See colors below |
| Floor Coverings | Rubber Mats | Carpets |
| Exterior Paint | Standard Tudor | De Luxe Tudor | Wheel Color |
| Thorne Brown | x | not available | Black |
| Lombard Blue and Black | x | not available | Black |
| Chickle and Copra Drab | x | x | Tacoma Cream |
| Kewanee and Elkpoint Green | x | x | Apple Green |
| Black | x | x | Apple Green |
| Ford Maroon and Black | not available | x | Vermilion Red |
| Brewster Green and Black | not available | x | Apple Green |
An excellent article on De Luxe Tudors appeared in The Restorer, Volume 18 Issue 4 (November/December 1973).
That article was reprinted in "How To Restore Your Model A" - Volume 5.
For more details on De Luxe Tudors, click here.
Dome Light Mounting Block diagram
Dome Light Wiring Diagram
Dome Light Installation into Headliner
Some examples of Late 1931 De Luxe Tudor Sedans can be found on the De Luxe Tudor Gallery pages.
Please send additions and corrections to the Webmaster
Last Updated: 03/20/2019
