Camelot cars for sale
About these listings
Every Camelot listed on MotorLoop.
Overview
Camelot Motors built reproduction Ford Model As — new cars with the outward shape of a 1929–31 Ford, a fibreglass body and a modern chassis and powertrain underneath. It is the second of the two firms that made these cars, and knowing which one built a given example dates it precisely.
The reproductions are not restorations and were never sold as such. They were built new, in the late 1970s and 1980s, for buyers who wanted the look without the maintenance of a ninety-year-old car.
History
Harry J. Shay founded the Model A and Model T Motor Car Reproduction Corporation in 1978, renamed Shay Motors in November 1980, and built the cars from 1979 until the firm filed for liquidation on 6 July 1982. In April 1983 a federal bankruptcy judge approved the sale of Shay’s patents, tooling and equipment to Camelot Motors Inc. for 2.4 million dollars.
Camelot built the cars from a former warehouse in Marshall, Michigan between 1983 and 1986, offering the Model A replica in several body styles alongside a Thunderbird reproduction. In June 1983 the roadster listed at 11,765 dollars and the pick-up at 12,495; the Thunderbird was around 19,000 dollars and, unlike Shay’s four-cylinder version, came with a V8.
Buying one
Identify the builder first. Shay-built cars date from 1979 to 1982 and Camelot-built cars from 1983 to 1986, and the owners’ clubs for these cars are the practical source for chassis records and parts.
Mechanically these are 1980s cars, so parts follow the donor components rather than the Model A. In Australia an imported example needs import approval and compliance paperwork, and because the vehicle is not what its body suggests, make sure the registration describes it accurately.