business coupe/opera coupe clarification

[Barney Eaton]

A friend is working on a 1940 Ford coupe....he said it is a package shelf coupe.   He said they also made a business coupe (no package shelf) and it could be

ordered with jump seats making it an opera coupe.

My confusion is being more familiar with GM cars... a business coupe would be the cheapest model.   Don't think GM made coupes with package shelves.

The GM brand business coupes had fixed side windows and on rear seat option.   If you wanted a rear seat in a GM coupe it became an opera coupe,  had sliding or opening 

side windows and either folding jump seats or an actual rear seat.
Is he correct about the Ford (mercury?)     What did Chrysler and other brands call their coupes?

[19tom40]

The names Business Coupe, Coupe, Sedan Coupe and Club Coupe were used by the stylists to designate models in a model year to fit several different configurations, just as Victoria meant a different configuration to different manufacturers.

 

In 1940 Ford made 4 variations of the  Coupe. The Coupe and the Business Coupe in the Ford and Deluxe Ford. They shared the same body, but the Business Coupe had different floor pan and body bracing allowing it to have the 2 jump seats in the behind the front seat. The Coupe had a package shelf and the back of the front seat was hinged to allow access to a storage area. See the link to the sales brochure.

 

http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Ford/1940_Ford/1940 Ford Brochure/index1.html

 

In other years Ford used the name Business Coupe as you described it. They also used the term Club Coupe and Sedan Coupe in different years to describe a Coupe with a back seat.

[Barney Eaton]

were the jump seats standard in the Business coupe or optional?

[19tom40]

Standard in the Business Coupe.

[alexpor]

As a rule, a business coupe was a "no-nonsense" essential two-entryway vehicle with no secondary lounge or a removable rearward sitting arrangement. The vehicle makers planned these models for mobile sales reps that conveyed products or tests and not travelers. You simply need to name your business to make yourself mindful and to do so business entity search process should be finished.