1924 1925 Coupe and Runabout Rear Fenders

[namdc3]

I came across this and found it interesting. Artist renditions are very often not accurate, but for what it's worth (which I realize isn't much) this runabout (in my eyes) has what many refer to as "coupe" fenders. It is from a 1924 brochure, linked here...http://www.cimorelli.com/mtdl/1924/1924runaboutad.pdf I would guess the brochure is from summer of CY 1924, since Page 3 mentions summer and fall, as well as the car having a late-24 and later rear license plate bracket.

This topic came up at Chickasha, and I discussed it with several folks in a good-natured way. We never reached any conclusions - or rather we all reached separate conclusions and agreed to disagree politely.

And then I came across this image (again, not meaning much since it's not a factory photo)...so I dug around a little more...I had recalled that the online version, CD, and printed book of the Encyclopedia all took slightly different stances on the subject (meaning revisions). The CD actually has a small section dedicated to this topic on Page 495 in the Fenders section. I won't plagiarize all the details here, but it mentions that there was a September 1924 change notice that removed T-8850B and T8851B ("coupe" fenders to many) for use on the roadster, indicating to me that they had been used on the roadster previous to that time (along with the earlier style T-8850 and T8850 fenders).

I looked at an Oct 1924 Wholesale Price List of Parts, and all four of these fenders were called out - T-8850 and T8851 for 17-24 and T-8850B and T8851B for 23-24 with no annotations as to fitment except sedan comments on other part numbers. I then looked at a Jan 1925 Wholesale Price List of Parts, and T-8850 and T8851 are listed for 17-25 and T-8850B and T8851B are annotated as "For Coupe" and listed for 23-25. Note that they added the "For Coupe".

Of course, I gather the catalogs don't always reflect what happened in reality either. I would also like to read the September 1924 change notice document the Encyclopedia refers to.

It's my opinion (which admittedly can be a moving target) that the "coupe" fenders were used on some (the minority of) runabouts in 1924, phasing out in late CY 1924 (early model year 1925). I'd love to find more convincing proof either way, but alas, it continues to be a mystery.

[Original Smith]

I have a friend who has a very early '25 roadster made in 1924. I has the coupe rear fenders, and has never been restored.