MTFCA Forum

I guess I'm not able to say "no" when it comes to Coupelets! This one just landed in my garage two weeks ago. It is a 1919 pillerless coupe (some call it a Coupelet) that was manufactured on January 16, 1919. Some might say that this car is a 1918 Coupe, but the sales literature dated April 1, 1919, clearly states that in 1919, the coupe had plate glass windows with a piller that could be removed. I don't think I'm going to do anything to the car other than drive it and enjoy it! It is VERY comfortable, has plenty of leg and hip room , AND you can see out of the car while you are driving (unlike the 1915 and 1916 Coupelets). It has many 1919 features, including a dash board, early spare tire carrier and square gas tank. The car has very sturdy accessory bumpers, Firestone wheels and tires and an accessory steering wheel. I has been restored in the past and is in quite good condition. When I told some MTFCI members about this car, they exclaimed, "You now have quartet of Coupelets!!" The old car hobby is GREAT fun!

Send some my way. Your cars are works of art. My 1919 could use some breeding stock!

Congratulations Russ F, on another fine addition to your special collection!
Very interesting car. I feel a dozen questions knocking in my head. It has a Ford early version spare tire carrier? With Firestone demountable wheels?
I know that the transition from 1918's earlier designs had a somewhat late transition into 1919's newer designs. While the demountable rim wheels and necessary parts for the electric "option" were being delayed in the supply chain, coupes and center-door sedans continued into very late calendar year 1918 outfitted more like the 1918 model year. Like the 1915 model year open cars, the 1919 model year closed cars were a few months later than the usual Septemberish debut.
I have seen a few era photos of 1919 style coupes with oil sidelamps (indicting no electric package yet?) and non-demountable wheels. I fully expect that the Firestone clincher rims would have no trouble fitting on the early spare tire carrier.
I find it interesting that a 1918 style coupe appears to have been built as late as January of 1919? The car does have the oil sidelamps on it. Is it equipped with a starter and generator? Can you tell if it was originally so equipped?
It is a wonderful car for certain. And likely a very interesting transitional model at that!

I sure hope that someday I can see all of your fine collection.

Looks great Russ. Four down, one to go! You're going to have to do it. I think you must realize that now. That gray '17 in New York is calling your name.

there's an '18 advertised in the last Antique Automobile too.

Wayne, I did some research and found an original Ford sales catalog dated April 1, 1919. It clearly describes and shows the coupe with removable window pillars. It is my assumption that the removable pillar coupe was the "normal" coupe body well into 1919, and is not really a transitional 1918 body style. I know this flys in the face of things Bruce McCalley said in his book. Another piece of information is there is a "coupelet" body for sale in Montana. This body is very similiar to mine and even has, what appears to be, an original dashboard! I'm becoming convinced that the removable pillar coupe was just "the" 1919 body that transitioned to the suicide door coupe sometime after April 1, 1919. The Ford sales catalog dated November 23, 1919 no longer lists the coupe with "removable window pillers", which indicates to me that the 1920 Coupe was now the standard suicide door coupe that would continue until 1923.

The original motor is not in the car and has been changed to a later motor. The registration number indicates the car was bult in January 1919. The Firestone demountable wheels are in great condition and will stay on the car for now. The car has all original sheet metal that is in good condition. Unfortunately, the floor under the seat has been replaced, so I cannot tell how the storage area for the post was done. Also, the mount for the square gas tank appears to be original, so the round tank that was used in 1918 was not mounted in this car. Finally, it has the early style frame with the cast running board brackets.

Bryan, I'm now out of room in my barn, so the Quartet will have to do!!

One more comment, the dashboard is a critical piece of evidence dating this car. As far as I know, the dashboard was introduced in 1919, not 1918. There would be no reason to have a switch plate with an ammeter on the dashboard unless the car was equipped with a generator, and that would have taken place in 1919.
Just my thoughts
Russ Furstnow

You are now the coupelet King! Of course, you were anyway. Congratulations!

Congratulations Russ. And your trailer will make a good “mobile garage” for that next one….

Thank you Russ F!
Very helpful information, and pretty much along the lines I expected.

And a "curious" question. Do you offhand know how many removeable pillar coupes (in good condition, or body only, maybe restorable?) are known to exist? I know a few years ago, the count of five was tossed around a bit, but I am fairly sure the count has gone higher since then.
At least one has the 1917 first version higher padded top. A few era photographs exist of those. They were followed by the more typical flat top, of which there were at least two variations. One exists in Europe in one of the Scandinavian countries. It has some minor yet significant differences. Although it looks very much like the USA production removeable pillar coupes, maybe it was Canadian? Or somehow European built?

So much more to learn!

Oh so many years ago, I had a couple opportunities to sit with Bruce McCalley and seriously discuss the state of model T historic research. He was very aware of and open to the fact that some of what they had found and published would later be proven wrong. However, ten or twenty years earlier, most of what was "known" about model Ts was from faulty memories and flat out wrong! There were maybe a dozen "best experts" in the model T hobby.
More than anyone else, in part due his position as editor of the "Vintage Ford" magazine, it was Bruce who really got the ball rolling for serious and accurate research into the facts and details of the model T's history. We all owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude for his contributions. The opening of the "Ford/Benson" archives and the (probably?) hundreds of people sorting through and noting huge amounts of information lost therein also made great contributions!

Russ, this evening Tom V.M. showed me a video of your Ford dealer parts storage units. I realize that it's just shelving but, WOW, that is amazing. Maybe you can share photos here for others to enjoy? I appologize if I overstepped my bounds.

Respectfully, Mark

Wayne,
Bruce was a good friend of mine since I was a teenager. He was a true jewel to our hobby, and made significant contributions in researching the Model T. When I wrote the Sixth Edition of the MTFCI Judging Guidelines, Bruce was kind enough to proof read the entire book and provided valuable comments. I think as the hobby progresses, we will alswys find new information that changes some of the things we believed to be true, and that is good!!

Regarding the numbers of coupelets and removable pillar coupes, Kathy Tagert is working on a list of owners of these cars. Dave and Kathy have a 1916 and 1918 coupelet, and they have an interest in these cars. I have never really counted these cars, but I can tell you that it appears the rarest one is the 1917 "leather back" coupelet with only six known survivors. I'm hopeful that anyone who has a 1915-1919 coupelet/coupe will contact Kathy Tagert so she can compile this information.
Russ Furstnow

Mark,
I had a great visit with Tom V.M. and Dan Protexter on Sunday. Dan had purchased a beautiful 1909 Buick and they were travelling through Flagstaff on their way home. I have had the Ford dealer shelving for about 10 years and Tom and Dan seemed to enjoy seeing these shelves. I'll start a new post that will have photos of the shelves so forum members can see them too. Thanks for the nice comments,
Russ Furstnow

Russ, out of room in your car barn? Park the Shelby outside. Get your priorities straight!

It is great to see that. We had one in Pocatello in the '60s thar we let get away.
Rich