USA TODAY’s Chris Woodyard talks to Larry “Cigar Larry” McCullah about his 1928 Ford Model A/R at a car show in Huntington Beach, Calif. Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — We’ve come across plenty of Ford Model Ts. And our share of Model As.
But we haven’t seen a Model AR.
As Larry “Cigar Larry” McCullah explains, his 1928 Ford AR filled the gap between the two famous models.
McCullah, of Fullerton, Calif., loves collecting cars and the Model AR is a special part of it.
He says the original AR had a mix of parts that represented the two famous eras of Fords. It had a multi-disc clutch and different rear end. The car still has the original engine block.
McCullah, who owns cigar shop, has made some modifications of his own to make the car safer and easier to drive.
It’s not McCullah’s first roadster pickup. He says he owned a 1929 model when he was 15, but wrecked it. Now, he’s out to have fun with the new one.
“It’s got everything you bolt on to it to make it go faster,” McCullah told us at a car show at a doughnut shop in this city recently.
How fast? It’ll go 60 miles an hour on the freeway, he says. Not that we would want to try.
