1929 Ford Model A Snow Bird Was an Unstoppable Rural Mail Carrier
This 1929 Ford Model A Snow Bird was created to tackle unpaved, snow-packed roads, a task that it excelled at.
The United States Post Office has always touted its ability to deliver the mail through all sorts of weather, including “rain, sleet, or snow.” But that’s easier said than done in the rural confines of areas that see heavy snow in the wintertime – places like Wisconsin and New York. That’s where this 1929 Ford Model A Snow Bird, which was recently featured over at Ford Truck Daily came into play – this unstoppable vintage winter mail carrier is a truly cool piece of history that has beaten the odds and survived to live through the modern era.
B.P. Arps Company handled the conversion of this Ford Model A Snow Bird, which consists of a pair of caterpillar-style tracks. Those tracks are driven by the rear wheels, just like a normal Model A, along with two leaf-sprung auxiliary wheels on each side. A pair of skis up front aid in moving this vintage machine along through deep snow, which it encountered frequently while delivering the mail in rural parts of the Empire State during its heyday.
The idea for the Snow Bird was originally conceived by Virgil White of West Ossipee, New Hampshire before it was brought to reality by B.P. Arps‘ and Adolf Langenfeld‘s Farm Specialty Manufacturing for Admiral Byrd‘s 1931 Antarctic expedition. This Model A was then used for a while by the New York Guard before being converted to a mail carrier and eventually landing in the personal collection of John Moir. Moir noted that his unique machine “was an elegant solution to a problem that does not bother us anymore,” though there are plenty of snow-packed dirt roads still out there in the world.
Regardless, this Model A looks no worse for wear today, shining in its Manila Brown exterior hue that’s accented by black and yellow wire wheels with Taupe cloth upholstery. It was treated to a full restoration a number of years ago, but looks no worse for wear today and reportedly runs great. The only problem, as one might expect, is that you can’t drive this cool old hauler on pavement without chewing it up. But if you live in a snow-heavy or rural area, we’d wager that it’s still plenty capable of delivering the mail, decades after it did just that in its early days.
Photos: Ford Truck Daily
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