My 1915 coupelet is coming along and, hopefully will be completed for next year’s MTFCI tour. The car is totally original and was produced on December 31, 1914 (engine number 655XXX). The car has a twelve rivet rear and came with a Ford Special Johns-Manville speedometer. The top and interior have just been completed by Ernie Romero of El Cajon, CA and the paint work was accomplished by Mark Stevens on Globe, AZ. The body sheet metal and all hardware are original and Ray Well’s re-wooded the body.
It looks spectacular so far Russ!
I just finished restoring the steering column and the bulb horn support for the coupelet. The steering column quadrant and throttle and spark levers were brass plated by a company in Tucson. The horn bracket is unique to the 1915 coupelet and sedan as there was no place to mount the bulb horn bracket other than underneath the steering column. The chassis is going together fine. The car has smooth grey Firestone tires and the hubcaps are the “high F” style with the black background. I have installed a new gas tank so there will be no fuel related problems. I hope to have more photos soon of the project.
Like! 
Finally picked up the body and married it to the chassis. My grandson and I are installing the body to frame bolts in this photo. Ernie Romero of El Cajon, CA did a fantastic job withe the top and upholstery. Now I need to install the fenders and it should be on the road soon (hopefully!).
Just got the Coupelet out of the trailer and was able to photograph the body married to the chassis. For 1915, the Coupelet had a trunk lid that opened from the rear of the car, making it very difficult to use, and this feature was changed for the 1916 model year when the trunk lid was moved to the top of the trunk. The blue felt headliner was unique to the 1915 Coupelet, and the 1916 headliner was green. The car is an early 1915 model and retains many “1914” parts (riveted rear axle, lettered pedals, riveted steering gear case). All of these “1914” features are found in original Ford photographs from the Benson Ford Library.
Very nice!
Beautiful car. Nice to see your grand son involved with the project.
Went to Arizona DMV and got my title and registration for the car. I decided to go with the “year of manufacture plate” on this car. The 1915 Arizona license plate is very rare and is only the second year that AZ issued a state license plate. I also am restoring the unique headlamps for the car. The headlamps are larger (10 3/4" in diameter vs. 9 1/4" for later electric headlamps) and they give the car a distinct appearance. These headlamps can be clearly seen on original photos of the early Coupelets.
Beautiful!
Ought to be a Stynoski winner soon!
More progress on the Coupelet, and it is close to completion. The firewall was installed with the original data plate, Jones speedometer, steering column, horn and coilbox. An original 1915 Arizona registration disc was also placed on the firewall. The splash shields, rear fenders and running board were also installed along with the original E&J Model 6 sidelamps and E&J Model 7 tail lamp. Interestingly, there is no place to mount the license plate, but I assume people screwed the plate to the rear trunk door (I’m not going to do that!). The rubber floor mat is not going in the car, but is there to keep the floorboards from being scratched. The original style black, wool carpet will be installed later.
Wow! It is exceptional. Well done.
RE: the license plate, can you not use a typical Neverout license plate bracket?
Royce, Unfortunately, the Neverout bracket does not fit. I think I’m going to make a bracket that will screw to the bottom of the body below the trunk door. Thanks for the nice comments. Russ
ALL DONE!!! The Coupelet is all finished and now ready to tour. The engine details are complete and the sheet metal is installed. One little item often overlooked are the locking devices on the prop nuts, and the ones used on the car are original. I’m anxious to get it out on the road! 
Wow, great job Russ! Will you be bringing it to Hershey?
Hi Mark, I will be at Hershey with my son, both grandsons and my son-in law, but the Coupelet will have to stay in Flagstaff (2800 miles is a bit too far to go for a swap meet and show). We are planning to take the car to the MTFCI Ohio annual tour in 2020, and we will also be taking it to the MTFCI Annual Meeting in Phoenix in January, 2020. Finally, I have sent a story describing the challenges Ford had in 1915 selling the Coupelet to Natalie Weaver for the “Model T Times”, and I think she wants some photos of this Coupelet.
Thanks for the nice comments, and now “on to the next project!”
I am going to try to be at the MTFCI meet in Ohio next year so hope to see it and you there Russ! Well done.
