This is either an ashtray or paperweight from the Universal Credit Company which was the finance division of the Ford Motor Company in the 1930s and 1940s. This unit has the radiator fan on the crankshaft of the engine so it is of 1940 or so vintage. 

     This little gem is 3-3/4 inches tall with a 3-3/4 inch diameter base. The length of the engine, transmission, and cooling fan is only 2-3/4 inches. The base has a nice touch which is green felt on the bottom to keep it from scratching the surface this jewel is setting on.  

     I believe this beauty was cast from some type of relatively low melting point alloy using a rubber mold process. It is still in very nice original condition with no noticeable cracks, nicks, or dings of any kind. The silver wash finish may have been slightly brighter originally but it still looks very nice for something that is around 82 years old. 

     The BIG bonus on this item is the fact that the original and very fragile 6-bladed radiator cooling fan is still in excellent condition with no missing or even bent blades. This fan spins freely on a small round-headed nail that is driven into the front of the engine. The blades have enough pitch to them so this fan will even spin if one blows hard on it. 
 
     I can still remember how excited I was when I bought this about 35 years ago here in Bozeman Montana from Don Clark who had a small antique shop here at that time. It has been in my display case ever since then until I took these photos recently. I have thousands of automotive-related collectible items and am now 70 years of age. Therefore, I am trying to list several of them here every week. 

     The following information regarding the Universal Credit Company comes from our friends at Wikipedia:

     The Universal Credit Corporation (UCC) was a car financing entity for Ford cars that existed in the US in the 1930s. It was established in 1928 and was capitalized by Ford in conjunction with the Union Guardian Trust Company of Detroit. It was set up in response to GMAC (now Ally Financial) through the efforts of Edsel Ford and Ernest Kanzler at Ford to allow customers to buy Ford cars on credit. In 1932, Henry Ford sold the corporation for $US 50 million in order to finance his manufacturing operations during the 1932 Bank Moratorium. Ford's share of the company was sold to Commercial Investment Trust (CIT) Corporation and UCC continued to serve Ford dealers and customers.

     I have seen an item like this sell here on eBay in the last year for around $695. Believe it or not, the cooling fan was completely missing on that item.  Therefore, I believe that this gem with the fan in nice condition should be worth at least half again more to a serious Ford flathead V8 collector. 

     If you have an interest in this very hard-to-find Ford V8-related item, you might do very well to give some very serious thought to hitting the "Buy It Now" button before some other serious collector does so. In all my years of collecting automotive-related items, I have never seen another one of these except for very few here on eBay. 

     I can ship this jewel anywhere outside of the USA or Canada most economically using Priority Mail International from the United States Postal Service. Thanks a lot, Bob Woodburn     4O6 plus 7 nine 9 plus I847     in Bozeman Montana USA