MTFCA Forum

Does anyone know what Ford was thinking or what market they were going after when they offered the Commercial Roadster with the mother-in-law seat? It just seems to be such a useless design (unless you have to travel with someone you really don't like.) Just curious.....

I think other car manufacturers made mother-in-law seat roadsters too.

It could carry three persons and a drummer's bindle... and do it cheaper and faster and farther than any one horse conveyance.

The fact that the aluminum decking extends under the seat and all the way to the back indicates that the builders expected that the car would often be adapted for other uses. The seat platform quickly detaches with only two bolts revealing a full deck that suggests a wide variety of uses. Ford supplied a factory built “telephone” roadster with no rear seat that was purchased in quantity by the phone company. For many years nearly perfect mother in law seats and their platforms would show up at swap meets because the buyers removed them early on. In cities a “hired man” often road in the rear seat during short outings between business locations according to ford sales literature from this period. The rear seat was about the least expensive thing they could bolt on the back to make the car appear complete and keep the cost down well below the touring car model.

They were thinking this would happen, and I suspect it did more often than not!

It was a popular model. It was offered in the Model S and Model K roadsters before Model Ts.

The top certainly takes up passenger space when folded down. This shows how easy it was to take the rear section off. I am pleased that HYMAN LTD has such nice photos on their site. They make great references for us.
Rich

My novice guess would be to eliminate the need for more tooling. Henry would have had to make more tooling to cover the hole for the seat. maybe it was more practical to just leave it like other models?

Buy a new Ford and get rid of your mother in law at almost the same time? Seems like it that subtle inuendo would have marketing appeal to some buyers.. Have you ever heard of Henry Ford's mother in law?? No? Henry had a reputation for not being a nice guy, esp. not nice to his own family members. Like Edsel. Where do you think his mother in law went? and how do you think this untethered passenger seat got its name? LOL!!

One needs to remember. At the time these cars were being built and sold, roads weren't very good. A lot of people feared fast automobiles, and many towns still had speed limits under ten miles per hour. Many people had never traveled faster than a good horse could walk. And if you think that silly little seat is uncomfortable? You need to spend a few hours on a horse!
Hundreds of makes of cars offered models with similar seating for one on the back end. It was just a normal thing. It was the cheaper end of the product line for someone that drove mostly locally, and only occasionally needed to carry a third person a short distance. The little space between the MIL seat and the back of the front seat, with a one inch high side (some cars had that?) was adequate for carrying small packages or supplies at the rip roaring local speed of fifteen miles per hour. So a full trunk really wasn't necessary.