MTFCA Forum

Bliss Auto Sales Co. 1912 - 1919 began as a Ford dealership at the location pictured on 230 21St., Toledo, Ohio.
Bliss Auto Sales moved their operations north from 21 St. to 2101 Adams St. at 21st sometime in the 1920s where they also started selling Hudson - Essex automobiles. That second place has since been demolished.

Fabulous photo. A coupelet with the top down no less!

I could be wrong what with never having had the pleasure, but I bet taking the top up or down on a coupelet is a bit of a pain. Otherwise pretty cool pic!

Jay In Northern Ca. wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 28, 2024 10:24 am

Bliss Auto Sales Co. 1912 - 1919 began as a Ford dealership at the location pictured on 230 21St., Toledo, Ohio.
Bliss Auto Sales moved their operations north from 21 St. to 2101 Adams St. at 21st sometime in the 1920s where they also started selling Hudson - Essex automobiles. That second place has since been demolished.
bliss auto sales.jpg

Looking at Google Maps, the original location looks to be a big open parking lot now. Lots of tall buildings on both sides of the street, which btw is in quite a shambles.

An interesting picture. The pickup truck looks like a converted roadster. The box looks shorter than an original one.

Art Mirtes

"Bliss Auto Sales & Serviee Co."

One of my all-time favorite T dealership photos! (Now nicely colorized)
The folding top couplet and the pickup are both very new, which makes both of them quite rare for different reasons. The couplet was only built in the 1917 style for a couple months. Therefore, they were rare then and even more so now! The folding top couplet was replaced by the "removeable pillar" hardtop coupe early in the 1917 model year.

Other than a handful for factory use, the Ford factory did not build a pickup for regular sale until the 1925 model year. Model T roadsters and runabouts (as well as cutoff touring cars) were being converted into pickups almost from the beginning of the model T! Conversions were often crudely done, but sometimes nice.
This pickup is one of the nicest I have seen in an early era photograph, with a beautifully built after-market box! That pickup probably doesn't have more than a couple hundred miles under its fan belt when the photo was taken!
The regular runabout appears to be a last year's model, late 1915/'16 car.
Wonderful photo!

Nice picture.