Taken from a Glass Negative.
Nice picture of a late 1914.
I have to wonder though if the rear fenders were replaced, or if the round 1915 style rear fenders were original to the car? The 1915 bodies didn't get into production until late, but did they ever put curved fenders on 1914 bodied cars?
Over the years I have seen two pictures of late 14 Touring cars that appeared to be new with the curved rear fenders.
The splash apron looks a little deformed along the top half of the edge where it meets the rear fender. To me that is an indication that the car may have been in a little accident and the original fender was replaced.
Erik J,
Difficult to say. Originally, most all brass era Ts had a "bulge" at the back end of their side-aprons. Most reproductions and most after 1918 do not. That may be the usual bulge.
Many early 1915 model model Ts have the earlier flat back rear fenders. It has been debated many times without a true resolution whether or not they are original that way. There is some (slightly disputed) old photographic evidence to support they may have been original. So far, I have not heard of a good photo showing such a car at the factory or still in the showroom.
The reverse, is also true. There are 1914s with the 1915 style rear fenders. There are old photos like this one that seem to support they may have been built and sold that way.
I would believe that both cases may have occurred, probably dozens and maybe hundreds of cars. We know that the '14 style runabouts and tourings were built at least well into March '15 with the earlier bodies in a few of the branch assembly plants. It should be easy to accept that at least some may have been sold like this one.
Can anyone here look closely at a "proper" '14 at close to exactly this same angle to see if the left rear fender end should be visible if this car had a mix of fenders? I doubt that it does. Both rear fenders are probably 1915 style. However, even if it did, it may not show in the picture.
Nice photos! Thanks.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2
I meant to add also, that some of the distortion near the top of the apron is very common on brass era Ts. Many of them have a metal bracket between the fender and the apron. Many of those brackets are too flat compared to the curve of the apron and result in a couple wrinkles.
What years did or did not use those brackets? I know my original '15 fenders have them.
I'm not referring to the bulge.
The tail end of that splash apron has lost it's curve right along the edge. Go halfway up the edge and the splash apron has gone flat where it is screwed to the fender.
The curve in the splash apron should follow the curve of and lie below the bead on the fender. In this case it doesn't. It has a bend it in half way up and subsequently it obscures part of the bead on the fender.
At least to me, it looks flat or has a little wrinkle where it is screwed to the fender. To me, that indicates damage.
I'm not referring to the bulge.
The tail end of that splash apron has lost it's curve along the edge. Go halfway up the edge and the splash apron has gone flat where it is screwed to the fender.
The curve in the splash apron should follow the curve of and lie below the bead on the fender. In this case it doesn't. It has a bend it in half way up and subsequently it obscures part of the bead on the fender.
At least to me, it looks flat or has a little wrinkle where it is screwed to the fender. To me, that indicates damage.
whoops - I got an error message and subsequently ended up with a double post.
I doubt that's "factory" distortion in the photo - it's too severe.
Note the splash apron follows and lies under the curve of the fender bead on my '17 roadster. (The splash aprons have the bulge.)
Erik, your front top bow looks like it hangs out farther to the back than the other bows. Do you know whether that is the original set of bows? I have a 22 roadster with bows like that too and I might be ready to replace the top.
Norm
1917 still had the oval top sockets. 1918 forward had square sockets.
The original top for my car is in really rough shape and is sitting in my basement. The top on my car in the photo is another correct oval bow top.
On both tops, the front bow sits further back than the bottom or rear most bow when the top is down.