MTFCA Forum

A friend called me up and said he listed this super rare light for 1915-16 centerdoor, what do you think, I have never seen one like this, Bob

I think he meant that it came off the front of the garage they kept the centerdoor in. Good thing there is a quarter in the photo... that makes it worth something anyway!

I’d bet the farm it’s not even Ford

If you take a look at Don Booth's thread, he has a pair of the correct side lights. While these are similar I don't think they're the same.

Cheers,
Terry

No Ford sedan sold retail came from the factory with those. I consider the well-known factory photo of the sedan posted above with those lights to be a prototype. Note that it has crowned or after-market fenders and husky, fork-mounted headlights.

That type of light was used as sidelights on electric cars as well as door post mounted courtesy lights on high-end sedans and town cars such as Pierce Arrow. They could also be installed on a car as an after-market accessory. Some of them had a lens on the bottom that would light up the running board.

I know from personal experience that style of lamp is not rare - they are quite plentiful. My dad, who owns an early electric car, has owned a number of sets over the years. I have run across them at swap meets and they are not hard to find on eBay.

65 years ago, Frank Kelly of Minneapolis installed a set on his 1915 town car. See first photo.

Second is a recent photo of the same lamps which were removed from the above car about 50 years ago. These lamps have a lens on the bottom so light shines downward as well as a red-jewel on the back.

Found another picture but someone else needs to verify if its correct.

Here's another set I also happen to have - English & Mersick - which are probably the most common brand of tear-drop electric coach lamps.

More photos of the prototype on Royce's great website:

https://modeltfordfix.com/the-1915-model-t-ford-part-2/