1930 Service Body W/Weaver Crane For Sale

[Drew Mashburn]

All:

There's a 1930 AA Service Body with a Weaver Crane for sale on Craigslist (Ventura County, Ca.). It's listed under "cars & trucks for sale" as "1930 Ford Model Double A Tow Truck". The seller placed it on Craigslist on 07/23/13, but did not indicate an asking price. It says to call Jason (661) 312-3491. It looks like a really nice truck. I called Jason. I told him that he must have a ballpark idea of what kind of money he'd like to get for it. He told me that he saw one for sale a while back that was in pretty sad shape with and asking price of $325,000. I told him that I was doubtful his truck would command a price anywhere near that, but wished him good luck. I suggested that he list the truck on this forum, but don't believe he has done so. Therefore, I'm letting you all know about this rare vehicle.

Best to all of you Big Iron fans,
-- Drew

[lookin-backtexas]

$325,000 - and then he woke up!

[Bob C]

Nice looking truck.

[spectria]

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/ct ... 85323.html

Nice truck, but come on!!!

$325,000

[Drew Mashburn]

Bob C and others:

Any clue what a fair price for this AA might be? It's not far from me. I know it's a rare body style. If it's anywhere in my financial "can do" arena, I might check go for it. No matter who gets it, I sure hope it's a hard-core AA fan.

Thanks,
-- Drew

[Chris Haynes]

You will have to wait for the seller to pull his head out of,,,,,,, the clouds.

[spectria]

deleted

[Neil Wilson]

I talked with Jason about a week ago when he contacted me. I was able to lighten his pictures. I asked him to measure the distance from the rear of the service body to the rear edge of the door. It turns out that the service body is about 12" shorter than the service bodies that I know of. Note that the hand rail has only three uprights rather than four. The frame was likely cut short to accommodate the short body.

This AA was restored by the prior owner (owner prior to Jason's dad). My guess is that the body was shortened at that time. I have asked for more detailed pictures showing the rear and sides. This would give a better idea how it compares to other service bodies.

Jason said that the door was not indented but that the door would open fully. So, maybe the wheel well fender was modified so that the spare could be moved forward. Jason didn't think there was a tool box (compartment) at the front of the service body. He also said that it was a '32 (per his dad). Note that it has dual rear fenders. So, it is most likely a '32 rather than a '30.

The first picture is Jason's (lightened up some). The second picture is from a Ford presentation album.

[spdway1]

Deleted as I was corrected

[Neil Wilson]

The crane is a 2 ton Weaver and was sold during the same time as the 3 ton unit. There was also a power crane.

[Drew Mashburn]

Neil, others:

Was this body on this truck made shorter than most of the Service Body AA's? Or, do you suppose it was shortened? Like, could the back end of the bed have gotten all smashed up by, say, vehicles bumping into it as they were being towed by this truck? So, to make it look better, maybe it was shortened? Thus, removing the smashed up area?

-- Drew

[Neil Wilson]

I am thinking that the service body went thru an extensive overhaul (just a guess). The floor boards run the length of the body. Off the assembly line the floor boards run across the body. The body sides must be removed to get at the floor boards. So, it had to have been off the truck and completely dis-assembled at overhaul time.

The first attachment is of an original service body. Note the floor boards, rear panels, and tool box. The second picture (of the white service body) shows the crane. The floor boards can be seen. And a small amount of the rear can be seen.

I believe the body ends just at the rear fender and it originally would have been about a foot to the rear of the fender.

[oldtimetowing]

My guess is that is that this is either the short service bed or more likely it was shortened up/repaired for a towing application. The typical tow service bed had the three stanchion side rails that wrapped around the back of the bed while the longer bed had four. The stanchion pipe on this truck has an open end and the original should have a closed "ball "on the end closed in the front.
The original auto cranes were basically shop cranes mounted in the back of a big car or truck. They were usually mounted right over or slightly to the rear of the rear axle so that they would have a long reach out behind the body. The usual hook up to a car was either chains or a tow clamp on the bumper brackets and then it was winched up into the air. Often the only thing between the car and the tow truck going down the road was a tire and then later came the stand off bar or tow bars. Without them there was a good chance that the car could swing in the back of the tow truck while braking or turning. Rear body damage to a tow truck was not uncommon.
When building a tow truck the frame and body are usually cut off right behind the rear axle to give better weight distribution while towing. Later truck had longer booms so that the towing equipment could be moved further forward on the chassis keeping more weight on the front axle when towing.
There was an article in the Restorer that discussed the service car bodies and the fact that the longer body would not be practical for a tow truck.

[spdway1]

My guess is that is that this is either the short service bed or more likely it was shortened up/repaired for a towing application. The typical tow service bed had the three stanchion side rails that wrapped around the back of the bed while the longer bed had four. The stanchion pipe on this truck has an open end and the original should have a closed "ball "on the end closed in the front.
The original auto cranes were basically shop cranes mounted in the back of a big car or truck. They were usually mounted right over or slightly to the rear of the rear axle so that they would have a long reach out behind the body. The usual hook up to a car was either chains or a tow clamp on the bumper brackets and then it was winched up into the air. Often the only thing between the car and the tow truck going down the road was a tire and then later came the stand off bar or tow bars. Without them there was a good chance that the car could swing in the back of the tow truck while braking or turning. Rear body damage to a tow truck was not uncommon.
When building a tow truck the frame and body are usually cut off right behind the rear axle to give better weight distribution while towing. Later truck had longer booms so that the towing equipment could be moved further forward on the chassis keeping more weight on the front axle when towing.
There was an article in the Restorer that discussed the service car bodies and the fact that the longer body would not be practical for a tow truck.

What Restorer Issue? Have a copy? I am building an Early 30 AA 3 ton weaver tow truck now with a weaver auto ambulance !

[Drew Mashburn]

Neil & oldtimetowing:

Thanks for all the info and photos. I've come to believe that Jason's AA has an altered body. I never did think the stanchions and top rails looked proper, but it's still a nice looking truck. I would think that with an altered body the overall value of the truck would be much less than one that is unaltered. Would you gents venture to give ballpark figures of what you think would be a fair price for this truck?

-- Drew