Like lobster at a diner, a Model A Ford Town Car seems like a contradiction in terms, yet it was an official Ford Motor Company product.

While an Town Car might be the most unlikely body style one could imagine for a Model A Ford, it did have a precedent (above). The Ford Motor Company offered the open-front limousine style at various times on the Model T, the Model A’s predecessor.

And it makes sense from at least one angle: The Model T was widely marketed as “The Universal Car,” which we can take to mean a car suitable for anyone. And that would also include high-hatted plutocrats and ladies in evening gowns on their way to the opera, we suppose. “Go ahead,” we can almost hear Henry Ford saying. “You’re nobody special.” The practice continued with the Model A.

While the Model A Town Car wasn’t usually included in the dozen or so body styles featured in the regular sales catalogs, it was an official Ford product (style 140-A) sold through its  franchised dealers. Production began in late 1928 for the 1929 model year, with the bodies constructed by Briggs Manufacturing of Detroit, a major supplier to Ford and to Packard and Chrysler as well. Like other Briggs bodies for the Model A, it featured a straight cowl, which wouldn’t be seen on other Ford products until 1930. The top rear of the body was covered in leather in the classic landau manner of the carriage trade.

While the chauffer’s compartment was upholstered in plain black leather with a snap-in top for inclement weather, on the other side of the partition glass was a cozy passenger cabin richly finished in French broadcloth or Bedford cord. Meanwhile, the accoutrements (Ford’s term) included a vanity case and notebook, a clock, and an electric cigarette lighter. Of course, all this finery sat on top of an absolutely standard Model A chassis with its modest 103.5-in wheelbase and equally modest four-cylinder, 40 hp engine. The price was $1,400—dirt cheap for a open-front limousine, but breathtaking compared to a ordinary Ford Fordor Sedan at $625.

And there was the problem, really. A rolling contradiction, the Town Car wasn’t a great fit for the affluent opera crowd or for everyday Ford buyers. Ford produced approximately 1,000 examples for the 1929 model year, but as the limited demand quickly dried up, only around 200 were built for 1930. Dealers had trouble moving them off the lots and some ended up as taxicabs. While the project could be called a failure, it depends on your perspective. If Packard or Lincoln had managed to sell 1,000 of their coachbuilt town cars in a single year, they would be over the moon about it.

With even greater optimism, if we may editorialize, Ford also briefly extended the open-front town car theme to a commercial vehicle. The Model A Town Delivery (below) was perfect for, say, a florist in Beverly Hills. But again, the problem was price: more than twice as costly as the regular De Luxe Sedan Delivery at $595. The experts believe only 192 copies of the Town Car Delivery (style 295-A) were produced in 1930-31, which makes it the rarest of the many Model A Ford body styles.