During the late twenties and early thirties, the majority of Briggs output went to the Ford Motor Co. whose purchasing manager, A.M. Wibel, was one of the most feared men in Detroit. He required that all of Ford’s supplier make their books available to Ford accountants, and went so far as to dictate who much profit would be made by each supplier, frequently holding competitions between competitors to see who could produce a specific part at the lowest possible price.   

Ralph Roberts recalled: "Briggs operated with Ford without a contract, on 'Open Book,' which was a complete breakdown of materials and labor in minutes and fractions for each operation. This was in a constant state of flux due to engineering and specifications changes. To this basic cost was added overhead and 'profit,' always subject to debate."

For example in 1929, both Briggs and Murray supplied Ford with identical Model 155 town sedan bodies. The Murray body cost Ford $237.98 while the Briggs body cost eight dollars less, $229.71. The amount of profit allowed by Ford was typically ten percent. So to an outside observer it appears that Briggs made a $23 profit on every Model 155 town sedan body sold to Ford. Unfortunately for Ford’s suppliers, they had to pay for their labor, overhead, capital expenses and stockholder dividends out of their 10% “profit”.

Another “debate” involved whether Brigg’s should buy its own steel. While going over Briggs’ “Open Books”, Ford’s purchasing director, A.M. Wibel discovered that they had been marking up the price of the raw steel in addition to getting their normal 10% profit on the finished bodies. From that moment on Ford bought all of Brigg’s steel, and expanded the Ford buying program to a number of other suppliers as well.

One of the first commercial bodies introduced for the new Model A were 9- and 14-passenger bus bodies that were likely supplied to Ford by the Union City Body Co. Dimensions of the 14-passenger prototype were 50” wide x 92” long x 51” high. The steel-framed body was topped off with a nitrite-coated (rubberized) fabric top and fitted with longitudinal fold-away seats. Passengers entered the vehicle through a right front door with integral folding step and an emergency exit was provided by a center-mounted rear door.

Although they were introduced in late 1928, the buses didn’t become a standard Ford commercial offering until late 1930 when Ford introduced the 157” long wheelbase Model AA chassis. Union City supplied the coachwork for the Type 330-A, which was available in versions for school and city service.

Ford became an increasingly important customer for Budd as the twenties progressed. Budd built most of Ford's new line of factory commercial Model T and TT bodies that were introduced in 1924. When the new model A was brought out in 1928, Budd was called upon to provide the factory panel truck bodies for the Model A and Model AA delivery vans as well as the metal beds for model A Pickup Trucks.  1928 Budd panel van bodies were available in two lengths, a 57" long cargo compartment for the short wheelbase model, and a 93" compartment for long-wheelbase Model A’s and AA’s.

Budd built the bodies for Ford's new Model A Deluxe Delivery Car introduced in 1930. Although it looked similar to a Tudor Sedan, the Delivery Car featured a totally different body that featured a slightly higher roof, solid rear quarters and a large rear cargo door.

Among the most popular new commercial bodies offered for the new 103 ½” wheelbase Model A was the Type 79-A Panel Truck, which was manufactured for Ford by Budd. For 1930 Ford elected to replace the 79-A with updated coachwork produced by Murray. The new body, the Type 79-B, was available with stainless steel headlamps and radiator shell in place of the standard body-colored units. The same bodies were also available in Deluxe form as the Type 130-A (Budd-built) and 130-B (Murray-built).

Similar bodies were available on the 131 ½” Model AA chassis, the Budd-built 85A Panel Truck, and the Murray-built 85B which replaced it in late 1930.

The Type 225-A Drop-Floor Delivery, a variation of the Murray-built 130B Deluxe Delivery, was introduced in May of 1931. Developed by Ford’s Chicago branch in response to customer requests, the rearmost portion of the Type 225-A’s cargo floor was modified so that it dropped down about 12” just behind the rear hub providing a two-level cargo hold providing almost curb-height loading for heavy objects. The extra-long cargo doors of the  225-A necessitated the removal of the rear bumper and in practice the vulnerable rear end was easily damaged with only 89 examples – 77 1931 models and 12 1932 models of the $560 vehicle were produced. Pictures exist of a few 225-A’s that were built using Briggs’ Type 300-A Deluxe Panel which debuted in 1931.

On the 131½” wheelbase Model AA chassis, an all-new Deluxe Delivery body became available starting in early 1931. Built by Briggs, the Type 300-A featured more aerodynamic styling as well as substantially increased cargo-carrying capacity over the significantly smaller Type 130A/130B Deluxe Delivery bodies found on the Model A chassis.

The 300-A featured a stainless steel cowl molding, radiator shell and headlamp buckets. Also included were chrome-plated windshield wipers, rear-view mirrors and bumpers - front and rear. Special interior appointments included leather seating, faux leather headliner and a Masonite-lined rear cargo compartment. Optional equipment included a roof vent, steel-spoke wheels and a drop-down tailgate with half-height barn doors at the top.

A number of derivatives of the Type 300-A Deluxe Panel were made available soon after its February, 1931 debut. Among them was the Type 270-A Funeral Service Car which was available with or without side windows with prices starting at $1550. The rear casket compartment measured 54” wide x 102” long x 55” high. Standard equipment included casket rollers, side window covers, a removable flower tray, black leather seats, stainless steel trim and cowl lights as well as chrome bumpers front and rear. Although pictures exist of a disc-wheeled prototype, most of the 17 Type 270-A’s known to have been built featured steel-spoke wheels.

Much more popular (and more expensive) was the Type 275-A Funeral Coach, priced at $1900. Its body was a specially constructed four-door derivative of the Type 300-A. Standard equipment included: casket rollers, rear compartment window curtains, removable center pillars for side-servicing and green mohair upholstery. A total of 96 Type 275-A’s were built including three with a combination Ambulance option which was offered at $1950.

Introduced at the same time as the Funeral Service vehicles was the 1931 Ford Type 280-A ambulance. Using the same Briggs-sourced side-door-equipped body shell as the Type 275-A funeral car, the Triplex safety glass-quipped $1700 dedicated ambulance included a glass partition, 2 attendant’s seats and a white lacquered rear compartment with built-in dome lights, heater and fan. Emergency equipment consisted of a medicine chest, folding stretcher, spring-equipped cot, fixed bed with two mattresses, rubberized curtains and folding rear steps.

The Ford Motor Company archives reveal that not all of the 84 Type 280-A ambulances were sold for transporting the injured. One 1931 Type 280-A was used by mid-west bandleader Red Wilson and his Zenith Rhythm Kings as a tour bus.

An additional Deluxe Panel truck derivative was the Type 285-A Deluxe Police Patrol, a 2-door body type priced at $1250. Its companion, the $975 Type 290-A Standard Police Patrol was adapted from an entirely different body shell, the Murray-built Type 85-B Panel Delivery.

Proctor-Keefe also re-worked Briggs-built Ford Type 300-A Deluxe Panel Truck bodies for specialized uses. One popular conversion was their small Briggs-based insulated bodies that included locker-type doors for the transport of meat and other perishables. They offered special light-weight oversized van bodies as well as a line of municipal bodies which included ambulances, hearses, service cars and small buses.

It is thought by a number of historians that Proctor-Keefe is responsible for modifying, painting and trimming Ford's Type 275-A, 280-A, 285-A and 290-A professional cars. They look identical to Proctor-Keefe's corresponding offerings and both firm's bodies were clearly built using Briggs Type 300-A body shells. 

Ford finally introduced a long wheelbase Model AA chassis on June 9, 1930.  The 157" chassis eliminated the need for aftermarket slip-on frames or cut-frame extensions and proved popular with freight haulers and movers.

Ford contracted with Proctor-Keefe to supply them with a  75” wide x 132” long x 78” high furniture body with a drop-down tailgate with half-height barn doors for the new chassis, but the scheme never reached fruition. Consequently the manufacture and marketing of the stillborn Type 230-A Furniture Body was relegated to Proctor-Keefe, who delivered a fleet of the attractive vehicles to J.L. Hudson, the Detroit Department Store.

The Type 210-A Large Panel Body was the first factory offering for Ford’s long wheelbase 1½-ton truck. The cargo area of the Murray-built body measured 57½” wide x 136” long x 60” high and was available with a drop-down tailgate with half-height barn doors.

What follows is a chart of OEM Ford Model A & AA Body Suppliers with approximate dates each firm worked with Ford.