Jay Pearcy, like many from his generation, bought his first Ford Model A in the 1950s for cheap transportation while serving as a young man in the air force. Nicely established later in life, he recalled those fun and possibly even reckless days with affection, and decided to acquire a Model A again, to recapture those days. But now a more serious man, his thoughts drifted towards the idea of achieving the ultimate goal for any serious Ford Model A restoration enthusiast, achieving the absolute pinnacle of the hobby, the coveted "Henry Ford Award" issued to only the very best of the best by MARC, the Model A Restorers Club. Along the way he has repaired and restored many Model A Fords, for both himself and others. He is generous with his time and expertise. If in doubt he will always refer to the Restorations Guidelines and Judging Standards" book issued jointly by MARC and MAFCA, the Model A Ford Club of America.

To contact Jay, phone him at (210) 867-3257

Attempting to earn the "Henry Ford Award" is not a project for the faint of heart. It is a monumental undertaking, where vehicles better than most Model As in existence will fail to make the grade. The nature of "Fine Point Judging" is extraordinarily difficult. The level of scrutiny to the tiniest details is intense. Jay began his quest in 2002 with the purchase of a very sound 1930 Ford Model A coupe. It took over five years of painstaking work during which time he entered it in local "county fair" events before he thought he might be in the "Henry Ford Award" ballpark. The way the judging system works is that all cars begin with 500 points and then lose them one by one as flaws and incorrect items are discovered. In its first MARC trial in 2007, Jay achieved 407 points out of 500, earning the prestigious in itself "MARC of Excellence" trophy. Then, once the judges notes had been thoroughly interpreted, the 1930 Coupe was stripped back down and rebuilt. Jay sold over $5,000 worth of excellent parts and replaced them with all original 1930 parts, many of which he further restored. On it's second examination in 2008, the car earned 428 points. In 2009, he achieved a score of 435 out of 500, earning the entirely creditable "MARC of Recognition Master Restorer Award. After each MARC show, the painstaking process of analyzing the judges comments, disassembly and rebuilding was repeated. The judges would find even the smallest flaws. For example, Jay lost some points because the horn did not sound exactly the right note. It was determined the roof was not perfectly symmetrical. The curvature had to be exactly the same front to back and from side to side. In 2010, the car earned 454 points, still short of the magic 480 points and above needed to win the big prize, so Jay, once again had to strip the car down to eliminate the few remaining almost invisible flaws found by the judges. In 2011 the car earned 465 points. Having won the "Master Restorer" badge twice he had to be content with another "MARC of Excellence." Then, in 2012, following some health scares and other personal issues, Jay's perseverance and fanatical attention to detail finally paid off and the coupe achieved 486 points, earning, at last, the status of a "Henry Ford Award." Known most often as simply the "Henry," Jay can no longer enter it any any competitions, but there was one more honor in store. When the good folks at the National Ford Model A Museum in Hickory Corner, Michigan, looked at the coupe, they determined it to be the closest to exactly how a Model A would have rolled off the assembly line that they had ever seen, and they asked Jay to lend it to the museum for a couple of years. Of the 4,320,446 Model As built over its four year production run, only 70 have achieved a "Henry." Jay's is the only standard coupe, or unadorned base model, that has taken the trophy. All the others have been deluxe models. The Model A community in San Antonio is proud to have a restorer of this caliber among us.

Jay welcomes owner participation in their restoration projects. He encourages people to know more about their Model A Fords and what better way to learn the intricacies involved than rolling up your sleeves and doing some of the work yourself. In this case you will see Victoria coupe owner jackie Stewart up on the scaffolding surrounding the roof off his car. Jay likes to mark all the original nail and screw holes in the wooden structure with tooth picks, to make sure everything goes back together the way it came from the factory. It's a painstaking task but if it has to be done, you might as well do it right.

Jay Pearcy's Ford Model A restoration shop is well set up for to install a roof on a Ford Model A. The shop has purpose built scaffolding that drops down from the ceiling to provide a working platform for the painstaking process. For it to achieve Jay's rigorous standards, the curvature of the roof must match front to rear and from side to side. He uses tooth picks to mark all of the holes in the original wood work, even if it some or all of it has to be replaced. It's a painstaking process but the car will look good and won't leak for decades to come.