The San Fernando Valley Model A Club: Keeping the Tradition Moving
This page tells the story of our club, its place in the wider Model A community and the people who keep the hobby alive. The account below draws on the club’s published newsletter and MAFCA’s historical records and public messages.
A Valley club with roots in 1960
The San Fernando Valley Model A Club’s June 2024 Rumble Sheet describes the club as established in 1960 as a chapter of the Model A Ford Club of America. Its story is one of sharing enthusiasm for the Model A Ford with neighbors in the Valley and surrounding communities. Source: The Rumble Sheet, June 2024.
That newsletter describes a club whose activities include driving tours, member luncheons, general meetings, swap meets and car shows. The monthly Rumble Sheet helps connect members through club news and information. Together, these activities make the club a place to enjoy the cars, exchange experience and build friendships. Source: The Rumble Sheet.
The Southern California beginnings of MAFCA
The national organization has local roots of its own. According to historian Charlie Scott’s account, published in The Restorer in September/October 2007 and reproduced by MAFCA, fifteen Model A owners met at Red Grow’s auto sales lot in Glendale on October 16, 1955. They began organizing a Southern California regional club that November. The first issue of The Restorer appeared in May 1956.
MAFCA identifies September 23, 1957 as its official founding date and October 21, 1957 as its incorporation date. As the magazine’s readership grew, the organization developed a national chapter network. Bakersfield became its first chapter in January 1958. The San Fernando Valley club’s 1960 beginning belongs to this early period of chapter growth. Source: Charlie Scott, About MAFCA; MAFCA History.
Helping one another: the A-Team
A more recent chapter in the club’s story received national recognition in MAFCA’s October 2025 President’s Message. The message praised the San Fernando Valley A-Team, naming Arthur Bender and Wade Ratzlaff alongside their fellow volunteers, for helping members keep their Model As running. The message connects that practical help with the enjoyment of touring together: more cars ready for the road means more members able to join the fun. Source: MAFCA, President’s Message, October 2025.
A history that continues
Our club history belongs to the members who have contributed their time, knowledge and enthusiasm across the decades. This account provides a starting point for a fuller archive of photographs, memories and documented milestones. Members with early newsletters, dated photographs or recollections are invited to contact the club so that additional history can be researched and shared.
Research and credits: Original summary prepared for this website from the San Fernando Valley Model A Club’s The Rumble Sheet (June 2024), Charlie Scott’s MAFCA history (The Restorer, September/October 2007), MAFCA’s history page and its October 2025 President’s Message. The cited MAFCA message spells Wade’s surname “Ratzlaf”; this page uses Ratzlaff. Founder names and early local milestones are omitted until supporting club records are available.