Shown here is a photo from the Budd Company archives showing the initial development of the 1928 Model A Roadster, body style 40-A. This photo was taken September 9, 1927 in Budd's Philadelphia body plant.
Note the smooth surface of the inner wheelhouse area, with no stiffening ribs.
Refer to the links below for the development of other Model A Ford body styles by Budd.
The Edward G. Budd company was based in Philadelphia, PA, and was an industry leader in the design and construction of all-steel auto bodies. Unlike Ford, GM, and others, Budd did not have access to vast reserves of timber for wood framed bodies, and so developed their expertise in sheet metal stamping and structural panel sub-assemblies capable of being efficiently nested and shipped by rail to Ford plants for final assembly. These modular panel constructed bodies used minimal wood content, primarily for top and trim.
In addition, Budd was a large supplier of completely assembled all-steel bodies to Chrysler Corporation in the 1920s and 1930s.