MTFCA Forum

Today I got the coupelet outside for the first time since buying it. A fellow T club member came over with a spare front wheel to put on the car as the one that came with the car was flat and needs a new tube. I have polished brass, buffed some paint, changed the engine oil, made some pieces for the inside of the turtledeck, repaired the latch on the taillight rim, and done some other things. I still need to lube all grease cups and oilers and wire the headlights and a brake and tail light, along with replacing some front end parts to tighten the steering. but it does run and drive quite well.
I know a 1916 should not have the brass trim on the lights but it came that way and I like it that way.

You will notice the top has a nice headliner, and not shown is the inside of the firewall is upholstered and the floor is carpeted. Altogether a deluxe Model T.

Beautiful!

That interior looks pretty posh for a "danged old Ford"....

She is a looker ! Congrats.

It looks great.
Thanks for sharing the pictures.
Rich

Beautiful couplet!

The 1916 couplets are supposed to have the small windows in the sides of the top. Not that they actually help very much to see out? Since your car does not have those, it looks somewhat more like the 1915 which did not have the little windows. Which makes the brass lamp trim look more right. Regardless, beautiful car! I hope you get many wonderful years of enjoyment with it.

I couldn't quickly find a good picture of the 1916's top, but it is basically the same as this early 1917 folding top couplet.

I agree with Wayne, I believe you may have a '15 there. Besides the top with no porthole windows, some '15 Coupelets and Sedans were a very dark blue color. Some of the 16's were green, not blue. Others will disagree, I'm sure.

If a 16 and a original, then a real early one to have a tapered front spring. 15 is looking good

The coupelet body was found in the hills above Spokane in 1974. There was no chassis with it. It is a 1916 because the turtledeck lid is on the top, not the rear. The person who found it restored it as a 1915, which is why it has brass trim on the lights and no porthole windows in the top. I like the brass trim on the lights which is very easy to change to make the car correct. I am not going to take the top off to put the porthole windows in it as the top and headliner are very nice. The engine they used in the car is an early December, 1915, which is exactly when the 1916 coupelets were being made. It is not a perfect car but is very nice and has an original coupelet body, not a reproduction.
I have a photo of the body as found, with the son of the man who found it sitting in the body. He is the person I bought the car from.

Nice car Keith. I may have to stop by and take a look. It's been a while since we have caught up on things.

Dave Harmon

Total eye candy. Likes the color scheme. One of the top three most beautiful Model Ts that I have ever seen.

It looks very good to me.
Norm

You should check with Russ Furstnow about the trunk door issue. He is the coupelet expert, and has restored both a very early 1915 and a 1916 models. If I recall correctly, only the early 1915 models had the little door on the back of the trunk. Russ' 1915 has that feature, and I know he did considerable research about it. I am fairly sure that the door (deck lid) was moved to the top of the trunk during the 1915 model year.
Your car likely is a late 1915 or very early 1916 model and may be correct as a 1915. Although black trim began on the model T in July of 1915, still 1915 model year, some cars continued getting the brass trim into at least September. I can't be certain of it offhand, but I seem to recall seeing an original era photo of a late 1915 or 1916 couplelet with brass trimmed lamps and the little window in the top.
Regardless, the car looks fantastic as it is. And I wouldn't change any of the top window, color, or brass trim. (Maybe paint the steering wheel rim black? Sort of a 'thing' of mine.)

As to the color. About thirty years ago, I re-restored a 1916 center-door sedan. The car had been the victim of a bad '50s restoration, however appeared to have been an original 1916. I did a lot of research at the time. It was before the internet, and the Benson archive was just becoming available to local researchers. So I was quite limited in what I had access to. However, I did run into the color issue on both the center-door sedans and coupelets. Although I ended up selling my center-door sedan, I still tended to follow new findings on the research into both those body styles. Enough facts have been found, and I have seen the recent photos of several unrestored cars, for me to accept as very likely that at least some of the coupelets and center-door sedans were painted blue originally, probably at least through 1917.

Real nice looking car you have right there thanks for posting the pictures! -- Craig

Wayne, I talked with Russ Furstnow several times before buying the car. He was very helpful and is very knowledgeable. According to Russ, the 1915 coupelets were made from about October 1914 to February 1915. The 1916 coupelets were made in late 1915 and very early 1916, until about March, as I recall. My coupelet has the lid on the turtledeck on the top, as a 1916 should. The engine was made in December, 1915, which fits in with when coupelets were being made. It is a nice, but not perfect car and a few things are not correct for the year, such as the top missing the porthole windows and the lights having brass trim. I am working on getting it ready to drive safely, and am lubricating all oilers and grease cups. I have changed the engine oil and am wiring headlights, a taillight and brake light, for safety. I have quite a few parts coming from Langs.

Congratulations.
Your new Couplet is beautiful!

Dave, I sent you an e-mail. Call me at 253-841-1126. I would like very much to get together with you. KM

She sure is Beautiful!!!!! Enjoy! Old man eye candy with no tooth decay.

Nice coupelet, exposing the brass trim around the headlights and kerosene lamps seems to be a fade. I have pictures of my 16 coupelet when my grandfather brought it home. The headlights and lamps were black, he removed the paint to expose the brass. Mine is back in my garage after sitting in storage for a couple of years. Can't wait to clean her up and take her for a cruise. My car has been preserved not restored, except for a new interior and top by Ernie Romero, she's all original. My engine has a November 1915 build date (970533).

Wow, what a great looking original car.
Can you post more photos of it, especially the dash area around the coil box so I can see where the light switch and carb control rod should be and of the firewall showing the magneto horn and how it mounts, along with the top of the steering column showing the horn button and its mount? It would be a big help to me for when I put them on my car.

Send me a pm with your email address and I'll send the photos.

I'm a natural wood wheel guy, but I think the black wheels look great on that car.

For the coupelet guys, are these bodies Fisher body built? Rare isn’t used much in the model T world, but these early closed cars are, IMHO. I agree with John, black wheels look beautiful on her.