Al Elliot didn’t know exactly what he would do with the 1928 Model A he hauled home to his home in Lake Havasu, Ariz., about a decade ago. Elliot, 74 years old at the time, found the relic in Libby, Mont. But when he later acquired a wrecked 2003 Dodge Intrepid, the gears in Elliot’s head started turning.
“I do some of my best problem-solving in my sleep,” he said. That’s when the idea for his so-called Tall Hauler, on display at the 2015 Hot August Nights event, started to come together.
Photos by Bradley Berman.
The Intrepid was badly damaged in the rear, but its V-6 powertrain and automatic transaxle and front suspension were in perfect shape, as were the electronic systems, airbags, and body control systems. The irrepressible Elliot consulted a factory shop manual for the Intrepid, and figured out how everything worked—including how to adapt the equipment to the newly formed vision in his head.
Unfortunately, the Intrepid powertrain would not fit in the front of the Model A, so Elliot stared at all of the parts lying in his garage shop. He had revelation. Why not take the Dodge front-wheel setup, and put it in the middle of the model A to have it drive the rear wheels?
Fire extinguisher canisters repurposed as air tanks fit perfectly in the Tall Hauler. They are used for the the air-bag suspension.
The entire drivetrain, including the engine radiators, fit perfectly behind the cab—courtesy of a custom made frame he developed. The cab and bed of the Tall Hauler sits on top of a box frame that raises the cab and bed in a barely noticeable way.
How To Stay Cool
With one problem solved, Elliot saw that his design was missing something that was absolutely necessary in Arizona: air-conditioning. Rather than try to re-engineer the Intrepid’s HVAC system, Elliot added second alternator, crammed a second battery in the now vacant engine compartment of the Model A body, introduced a 4-kilowatt DC-AC inverter, and fitted a home window air-conditioning unit in the engine compartment next to the batteries. With a little custom duct work, the Tall Hauler now offers relief from the hot Arizona summers. “It works like a charm, and has next to no drain on the engine,” he said.
Elliot is a self-described “trial and error engineer.” He did all the bodywork himself as well. He learned to weld and form metal in the navy. He borrowed specialty metal-forming tools to combine the frame, body, and drivetrain sub-frame into a cohesive whole.
He found most of the parts he needed were either at the local wrecking yard, or abandoned on nearby roads near his home. “I got the back cover for the truck bed out in the desert” he said. “I found a 1963 Chevy Station wagon out in a dry creek a few years ago. I took some tools out to where it was resting, cut out the roof, and that became the back cover of the Tall Hauler.
Elliot, now 84, said that he never quite finishes his projects. He is the last of a generation of car enthusiasts who was alive when the Model A was in production. “I’m still fine-tuning and improving the Tall Hauler,” he said. “Anyone can restore a Model A, but this is something entirely different.”
See Ford Model A Ford Model A for sale on eBay.
