Rear trunk?

[Jim-g]

[Jim-g]

It does have door for small opening 

[keiser31]

I think it lays down lengthwise with the door at the rear.

Edited January 16 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[sagefinds]

Turtle deck probably for an early roadster,maybe coupe.

[wayne sheldon]

Many early roadsters and coupes (some as late as the early 1920s) had little doors at the rear of the "turtle deck"/trunk on the back of the car. It should be interesting to note that the model T Ford added a turtle deck/trunk to their runabout/roadster for model year 1913. It had a moderately large opening lid on the top of the turtle deck (relative to the small size of the turtle deck overall). In spite of that fact, two years later, for the 1915 couplet, the first production couplets had a very small door at the back of the turtle deck/trunk. The door was small, down low and inconvenient. Ford quickly recognized the error of that design, and only about halfway through the 1915 model year altered the design of the trunk to have a larger and more convenient lid on the top of the trunk. Only maybe a thousand (small number given Ford's usual production numbers!) of the earliest Ford couplets have that small door at the back. Maybe a handful of them still exist. I do know a fellow that has a small collection of model T couplets, and he beautifully restored both the early and late version of the 1915 couplets. His attention to detail of the ultra-rare early version coupe is FANTASTIC! The rare (that word may be way overused, but in the case of this particular car, it is appropriate!) early version oil sidelamps and taillamps, odd brackets - - - - (I digress again, looking at his car inside my head?)

 

Anyway. Ford did not use that silly design for long on their cars. But a lot of other automakers did use it for several years. If I recall correctly, I recall seeing a few Studebaker roadsters, a Marmon, and several Cadillac (roadsters and coupes) using those. A very good friend has a 1918 Pierce Arrow coupe with the little trunk door at the back. That one I got to look at closely!

[Jim-g]

On 1/17/2024 at 4:23 AM, wayne sheldon said:

Many early roadsters and coupes (some as late as the early 1920s) had little doors at the rear of the "turtle deck"/trunk on the back of the car. It should be interesting to note that the model T Ford added a turtle deck/trunk to their runabout/roadster for model year 1913. It had a moderately large opening lid on the top of the turtle deck (relative to the small size of the turtle deck overall). In spite of that fact, two years later, for the 1915 couplet, the first production couplets had a very small door at the back of the turtle deck/trunk. The door was small, down low and inconvenient. Ford quickly recognized the error of that design, and only about halfway through the 1915 model year altered the design of the trunk to have a larger and more convenient lid on the top of the trunk. Only maybe a thousand (small number given Ford's usual production numbers!) of the earliest Ford couplets have that small door at the back. Maybe a handful of them still exist. I do know a fellow that has a small collection of model T couplets, and he beautifully restored both the early and late version of the 1915 couplets. His attention to detail of the ultra-rare early version coupe is FANTASTIC! The rare (that word may be way overused, but in the case of this particular car, it is appropriate!) early version oil sidelamps and taillamps, odd brackets - - - - (I digress again, looking at his car inside my head?)

 

Anyway. Ford did not use that silly design for long on their cars. But a lot of other automakers did use it for several years. If I recall correctly, I recall seeing a few Studebaker roadsters, a Marmon, and several Cadillac (roadsters and coupes) using those. A very good friend has a 1918 Pierce Arrow coupe with the little trunk door at the back. That one I got to look at closely!

Thank you for taking the time and a very detailed response 

[wayne sheldon]

What can I say? I have a lot of stuff in my head trying to get out!

 

Thank you for the "thank you".