A promotional photograph by noted American artist and photographer Charles Sheeler, shows the 1928 Ford Model A Roadster with students from Dearborn High School, taken in November 1927
LINCOLN PARK — With the 90th anniversary of the Ford Motor Co’s. legendary Model A this year, Lincoln Park is using the occasion to host Model A Rendezvous, a gathering of the classic Ford automobiles produced from 1928 to 1932.
The free event, rescheduled from a June 9 rainout, will be held 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 11 at Youth Center Park, 3525 Dix Hwy. Free parking is available in the community center lot.
Co-hosting the event are members of the Downriver Model A Club, the Lincoln Park Historical Society & Museum, and the Parks and Recreation Department. Area Model A owners are invited to take their cars to the anniversary gathering. Check-in begins at 9 a.m.
The car show coincides with the museum’s summer exhibit, “From the Eagle Boat to the Model A: The First Decade of the Rouge Plant, 1918-1928” running through Sept. 1 at the Lincoln Park Historical Museum, 1335 Southfield Road.
The exhibit features items from the museum’s own collections as well as original pieces on loan from the collection of the Dearborn Historical Museum.
Regular museum hours are 1 to 6 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday.
For additional information, call 313-386-3137, email [email protected], or find the museum on Facebook.
The 1928 Model A represented a leap forward for Ford, coming at a time when the company was feeling the effects of heightened industry competition with its popular Model T. Although the Model T incorporated improved mechanical and design elements over its 20-year history, it was much the same reliable, affordable single-color car Henry Ford had introduced to the world in 1908. The much-anticipated Model A, when it came off the line in Dearborn in November of 1927, was a car for a new era. Chic and sporty, it had mechanical features the Model T lacked: a three-speed, sliding-gear transmission, four-wheel brake system, and hydraulic shock absorbers. Production of the Model A, along with the Rouge plant’s substantial expansion that year, signified the shift from Ford’s Highland Park plant to the Dearborn plant as the manufacturing and administrative center of Ford Motor Company.