From the day it started rolling off the assembly line in 1927, the Ford Model A was a tremendous hita $500 automobile with a dependable four-cylinder engine and what then seemed low-slung, sleek lines. Cars have changed more than a little in the succeeding half-century, but that has only enhanced the Model A's nostalgic allure; its wire wheels, arching mudguards and stubby body give it the jaunty appeal of an old boulevardier. In fact, a restored Model A today sells for as much as $17,500.
To Frank Laumer, a Florida entrepreneur, such love (and money) spell opportunity. He knows the Model...