MTFCA Forum

it pays ,when you get a chance to do some rummageing , to look in every nook where there might be something put there to keep it safe, well i got a chance to go through a old shed in RI, found lots of goodies,and tucked up over head wrap'd. in a folder was a book and pictures, one of witch is this 1915 ford, they are 8x10 others are a race down hill very early early cars, other pictures are a stainless body car' and a bunch of neat old car photos, the book is old time automobiles 1946, by John Bentley, vol #1 [a Fawcett book, 75 cents,] and in this book is two of the pictures ,this ford and the race with what looks like the Stanley bros, in a steamer out front. the owner has no idea about them as this shed had not been used by this family , they bought the home in 1968, its been a eye sore for years, and was to be taken down, so glad i made that visit to my friend next door.

Wow - Don Booth would love to see this - check out the door side lamps - beautiful.

Very early ‘15 centerdoor. Artist’s rendition? Fork mounted carbide headlamps and curved front fenders. Congratulations on your discovered treasure !!

That's how I always thought they were.

That 1st picture may have been in some of the Floyd Clymer books. Seen it before somewhere remembering that the headlights didn’t look quite in proportion with the rest of the car.

Yes that photo is Henry's Wonderful Model T, Floyd Clymer on page 69 but does not have the rays coming out behind it.

Almost looks "cartoonish" doesn't it?

From a Ford factory photo. Pardon the slightly distorted perspective. I had to angle the camera to get the flash glare to go away.

Note, Sep 23, 1914 Ford had several photos taken of prototype closed cars including a Sedan with gas lamps. Probably it is one of those photos or at least one of those cars. Notice also that instead of the standard six louvers in the hood the sedan with the gas lamps has nine louvers in the hood.

From: https://www.mtfca.com/encyclo/doc14.htm Bruce has:

SEP 23 Acc. 509, Letter, Ford Archives
Sedan and Coupelet announced.


SEP 23 Acc. 833, Photo 1527, Ford Archives
Photo of 1915 Coupelet. Shows fork-mounted electric headlamps.


SEP 23 Acc. 833, Photo 1528, Ford Archives
Photo of same Coupelet, rear view, shows 1914 rear axle.


SEP 23 Acc. 833, Photo 1621, Ford Archives
Photo of 1915 Sedan. Fork-mounted headlamps and lantern-like side lamp. Curved front and rear fenders.

************* Below is the info on the Sedan with the gas headlamps********
SEP 23 Acc. 833, Photo 1546, Ford Archives
Photo of 1915 Sedan with gas headlamps.

Note the Sedans and Coupelets would not be assembled for routine sale until Dec 1914. Ref Mike Walker's Saturday, February 20, 2010 - 11:24 pm posting at: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/11 ... 1268414053 which quotes an e-mail from Trent Boggess. Summary is:

Month/Year Sedans Sedan Cost Coupelets Coupelet Cost

Dec. 1914 331 $577.927 801 $373.95

Jan. 1915 441 $612.215 211 $408.918

Feb. 1915 204 $601.066 160 $398.826


Thank you for posting the photo.

Respectfully submitted,

Hap l9l5 cut off

Here are a couple more that pop up from time to time.

Rich,

Thanks for posting the additional photos. One of the things I enjoy is seeing a photo I have seen before – but noticing something new about it. This is the first time I noticed (or at least I remember noticing….) that the photos of the prototype(s) have a different cowl and different hood former than the ones used on the production 1915 Centerdoors.
Below is a complete shot of the original unrestored 1915 Centerdoor that Kim had at that time and the shot above is cropped from.
And as someone else pointed out – the prototype also has a non-standard running board.

If anyone happens to have access to one of the Pre-production photos that has not been cropped for printing, would you please look in the lower right-hand corner and see if there is a date or a photograph number? Many of the photos taken by/for the Ford USA factory had a date and number located there. Below is a sample showing that number in the lower right-hand corner:
Respectfully submitted,

Hap l9l5 cut off

HAP,-- your statement about seeing things that may have been missed on first look, take a close look at the crank , looks like the crank in photo to the right looks shorter and has a bullbis looking grip, (love those big head lights,) i never see them, did they make it to the market ? , I wish i knew more about the photos found in that old shed, how they happen to be there , there printed on heavy card stock, and how two of them ended up in that fawcett book, the photos look to be professional , i guess its one of those things that will bug me. Rich.