Is this normal or damaged?

[Sarikatime]

I have a Johnny Cash special 1915 touring with a 1921 body, as I was told when I bought the body. The back rest of the front seat has a bow towards the back, giving me a real nice extra legroom since I am sitting further back. All other touring models I have seen have a straight back from side to side. Mine is more difficult access for passengers in or out the back and less legroom. The entire back sheetmetal of the front seat is perfect, simmetrical, no dents or damage, the wood frame, before new seat upholstery, was not twisted which gave me the impression that it was like that from the factory. Do I have a custom body, Canadian, or a real fat person, or couple bought and drove this car for many years causing the perfect out of shape that is today. It does not bother me but several people noticed the oddity. Frank

[Norman Kling]

It would go more straight across. It might give you a bit more leg room, however could cause a backache from sitting with one side of your back supported and the other unsupported. The upholstery looks good, so give it a try and if you are comfortable, leave it alone.
Norm

[John kuehn]

The bodies for the Model T Touring cars from 15-21 which are the low cowl bodies are pretty much alike aside from a few details. If there is any thing that’s different on your low cowl Touring it’s the front seat back that was installed with a more curved front back to allow more leg or body room. Your information you were told about a so called Johnny cash car may not be quite right since the bodies them selves are close to being identical from 15-21. Have fun with your T. The average person wouldn’t see any difference.
From the pics that you posted whoever built your T did a decent job other than a slightly curved front seat back.
Most T’s that have been rebuilt or restored have a few replacement or good used T parts.
So I guess you could say restored T was a Johnny Cash car or one that was cobbled together.

[kmatt2]

It is going to take more pictures showing the complete body with the top up. Is there a drivers side front door, is the cowl section Ford low type or is it just a 15-16 firewall and hood former and a custom cowl ? There were many custom non - Ford bodies sold to fit the Ford chassis. Then over the years many stock Ford bodies got changed to fit the owner’s needs using non- Ford car parts from Overland’s, Dodge’s, Chevrolet’s, etc. I don’t know if the early 1920’s Canadian made bodies used a curved front seat back or not.
I am sure with some more pictures someone here will be able to answer your question.

[Mark Gregush]

Sometime back I took apart a 1917-1919 front half of a touring. The approx. 1 inch square tack rail had a piece of angle iron that ran across the back, mounted to the tack rail to help keep the back straight. Could be that piece is missing and over time has allowed the seat to bow.