THIS MODEL A PASSES 'GO'; 1929 Ford Model A Speedster.(Escape Roads)

Byline: LARRY SANATA

In the spirit of Henry Ford, the Model A was built as a car for everyone. And that certainly was true for most of the Model A's that were produced. But not this one.

Many weekends of the year, the streamlined 1929 Model A Speedster owned by Bill Stelcher can be seen racing with vintage sports cars half its age on tracks across the country. And the Speedster is usually giving those other cars and drivers plenty of competition. "It's a wonderful car, and it's a hoot to race,'' said its owner.

This Model A is equipped with a rare Riley four-port intake cylinder head-the envy of many of today's hot rodders-and dual Stromberg carburetors. It's also infinitely more valuable than the market value of ordinary Model A's.

The affable Stelcher bought the bright silver Ford after many years behind the wheel of race-prepared three-wheel Morgans. "I'm a big guy,'' he explained, "and so I had to get a bigger car.''

There was also the growing problem of finding parts for his collection of Morgans. Despite being a member in good standing of the Morgan Three-Wheeler Club in England, he found it difficult to locate things, especially for his 1936 and 1937 models.

As Stelcher contemplated a jump from Morgans to something else, he learned about the Model A he owns now. At the time, it was under construction in Chicago by auto enthusiast Jack Bowser, who took a different approach to building the streamlined Speedster.