Can somebody identify the truck in this photo?

[WIRELESS]

Hi auto enthusiasts, you have helped me in the past & I hope you can help me again.

 

I need some help in trying to identify the delivery truck in this photo.

 

I have been told it might be a Ford Model T, but I'm not sure if that is the case.

 

Does anyone know the make and year of this short bed - and whether it was a special order

or was it a stock item with such a small bed? The radio displayed on the side panel is a Radiola 20,

which was manufactured in 1925.

 

Thank you in advance for any help you might give me.

 

Best Regards, Jim Kreuzer N2GHD

Librarian, AWA Museum           (Antique Wireless Association)

[Layden B]

Definitely a Model T Ford that started like as a 1917-1918 Coupelet, note the door handle on the leading edge of the door.  The demountable rims were added later along with the wheel center covers.  The original rear deck has been removed and the bed is an addition. All the modifications would have been aftermarket and probably done to a good used low milage car.

[WIRELESS]

Hi Layden,   Thank you very much for your kind response, I had never heard of a "Coupelet" before- now I have

a new word to throw around at the museum!

 

Is the front tire a whitewall?  l didn't know they were producing whitewall tires back in the teens.

 

All the Best, Jim Kreuzer

[wayne sheldon]

That particular style couplet was only manufactured by Ford for several months during 1917. The general style was called a "removeable pillar couplet" and was built mid 1917 through the 1918 model year. The door and middle body pillars above the belt line could be removed with the door and side windows lowered all the way down. That resulted in a fixed roof and open sides for fresh air driving in nice weather. Sort of like a "hard top" with the windows down in the 1950s and 1960s.

They were a bit inconvenient, and owners often lost the removeable pillars while they were out, leaving them with a problem when the seasons changed and rain was coming. So the style was dropped for the 1919 model year. 

What makes this one so unusual, is the shape of the roof. Only for a few months in mid 1917 model year did the roof have that high humped shape. In late 1917, and throughout the 1918 model year, the roof was changed to basically flat. It continued that way even after the removeable pillar feature was dropped on otherwise similar coupes into 1923, and even the updated coupes through 1925 and the improved model T coupes in 1926 and 1927. The "couplet" name was essentially dropped when the removeable pillar feature was dropped for 1919. 

 

That appears to be a peddler's box on the back of the car in place of the factory trunk. It would have a couple little doors in the back which may or might not have been lockable. Radios then were quite expensive, so I would imagine in this case they would be lockable.

 

 

Edited August 24 by wayne sheldon
Additional thought. (see edit history)

[WIRELESS]

Hi Wayne,

 

    Thank you so much for the additional info... now we can narrow down the build date of the delivery truck.

 

The roof line is interesting, I bet there are not many examples of the hump roof model still around.

 

Many of our members are also owners of early automobiles, so this info will be of interest to many.

 

One of our late members, John Caperton III from Louisville had 15 brass era autos in his garage.

 

All the Best, Jim Kreuzer

[wayne sheldon]

Jim,

The pillarless (or removable pillar) couplets are today quite rare. They were costly versions of a cheap car, and the bodies tended to break down more quickly than other more practical body designs, especially if the removeable pillars got lost early.

There have been numerous discussions about them on the MTFCA forums (Model T Ford Club of America) over the years. Including two "body only" in collector's hands, the total known removeable pillar couplets numbers about ten to (maybe?) a dozen known to exist (for certain known count I believe is nine?). One is being restored in Europe, and I haven't heard any updates in a couple years now. A few have changed hands in recent years, and other than one of them, I do not know who currently own them. 

I "think" there are two surviving "hump" roof model T couplets. (Could be three?) So yes, they are rare today. Even era photos of them are few and far between.

 

You had also made a comment about the "whitewall" tire. Early tires were hand made using soft rubber and sheets of some sort of material. They were crude, soft, and not very reliable. Their color or lack thereof was largely a natural off white. As the number of automobiles grew rapidly and demand for good tires grew as well, production, materials, and design also improved rapidly. In the early 1910s, manufacturers began putting heavier treads on the tires to make them stronger and last longer. They also found that adding other materials like carbon black (like soot) made tires better.

"Whitewall tires", something we think of as a "style" thing, began as a compromise. Beginning in the early/mid 1910s, and continuing into the early 1920s, many tires were made with softer natural rubber sidewall casings, and tougher black tread. They were actually cheaper to make, and sell that way. Tires were expensive, and when one needed to replace a tire, one often had to choose from what happened to be available as well as cost considerations. So it was quite common for cars to have two or even several different tires on the car at any given time. Tires were seen as utilitarian, and consumable. Roads were bad and very dirty. Tires and wheels were usually covered in mud or dirt. So why worry about the tires not matching?

By the early 1920s, most tires were nearly all black. Although some cheaper common sizes (like used on model Ts) were still available in white sidewall. It is interesting to note, that only a few years after white sidewall tires were cheap, and most tires had become fully black, that "Whitewalls" became a fashion statement and cost extra in the late 1920s! Gotta love marketing. 

And speaking of marketing? In the 1910s into the very early 1920s, Tire companies marketed tires in a variety of unusual color combinations. Sometimes whole tires, often tread and sidewall in various combinations, in addition to white and black, sidewalls and treads could be had in reds, green, blue, gray, and even yellow. The colors do not show in the black and white photography of the era, and advertising for them is also tough to find, but it is well established that for nearly ten years many tires were sold in bright colors.

 

A fellow I know, with an impressive collection of early and prewar automobiles, has several original surviving colorful tires hanging on his shop walls. His include red walls and gray tread, a green walls (I forget which tread color), and a blue walls if I recall correctly.

[KURTRUK]

That is a VERY sharp looking rig!

[Lee H]

To me, that looks more like a superhet 25 than a 20. Maybe the artist took liberties with the knob placement.

[dibarlaw]

Lee:

 Yes a Radiola 25 Superhet. Pretty much putting the photo being taken in the late 1925-early 1927 time period.

 I have had 2 of these sets. I even had an accessory stand for full size batteries with slide out shelves for the loudspeaker. Nice as they were they take up a lot of space with the loop antenna. I did keep my Radiola 20.

[WIRELESS]

Hey Wayne,  Thank you so much for your clear explanation of the tire construction in the teens & 20's.

 

I had never thought there were red, green, blue sidewall tires- I can see how they are rare today and would

make excellent wallpaper in your display room. I had no idea that the hump roof Model T was that scarce,

I'm happy to share this image with the early car collectors.

 

Kurtruk- Thank you for you kind comment, I plan on blowing the image up and placing it on display in our 1920's

Radio Store at the museum.

 

Lee- I would have called it a Radiola 25 if there was a loop antenna, but there only appears to be an escutcheon

painted on the side panel, the knob layout as you mentioned reflects a Radiola 25.

 

Hi Larry, I believe we may have met years ago at the AWA Conference or at Kutztown, your name is familiar.

 

Thanks for all the help guys-- you have a great group of knowledgeable collectors here.

 

Jim Kreuzer

 

 

[dibarlaw]

Yes Jim it has been a long time. The last AWA meet I was at was probably back in 2008. We do set up at Kutztown twice a year. Our space 2 years ago with a Radiola 25 for sale with friend Monty taking a snooze.