Way back when 1928 Coupe

BobbyG

BobbyG

Senior Member
Been spending a lot of time crawling about under and around my newly acquired PIA - 28 coupe, Recently imported from NH.

I know nothing of it's history so I got to wondering about back in the day

1928 - who was buying 2 seater coupes without rumble seats ? and what would they have paid in $ - and how would that sum equate to a wage at the time.

Thanks all.

Bob
 
Business owners, business men, salesmen, come to mind as not really needing a rumble seat and a trunk would come in handy to keep supplies and such.
 
BobbyG said:
Been spending a lot of time crawling about under and around my newly acquired PIA - 28 coupe, Recently imported from NH.

I know nothing of it's history so I got to wondering about back in the day

1928 - who was buying 2 seater coupes without rumble seats ? and what would they have paid in $ - and how would that sum equate to a wage at the time.

Thanks all.

Bob
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So what kind of a "coupe" is it? Standard Coupe, Special Coupe, Business Coupe or Sport Coupe?

And you say it has "two" Seats????

Pluck
 
In the early 60's I lived in upstate NY and there was an elderly lady that drove her Model A coupe to church every Sunday. She bought it new.
 
BobbyG, good questions. My thought is not why people would want trunks but rather why people would want rumble seats.

I guess rumble seats lessened the load you could carry but folks could climb in back. Yes, I do realize that several of you will chime in with reports of riding with your main squeeze in the rumble seat, under starry skies, etc.

The '29 Coupe driver that I am working on will have a trunk. Perhaps I am more practical than romantic these days. Now that I am in my 60's I have more time and less testosterone. Dang!
 
Here in NZ, these coupes were commonly called 'Doctors Coupe'. Presumibly he would carry his medical bag & other instruements in the boot/trunk.
 
If your coupe is a real driver, once you have one with a trunk, you'll never want to go back to a rumble. I'm "stuck" with my '29 rumble, as it's so perfect I would NEVER change it. I can't even climb into the danged thing!
Bill W.
 
single men and women
and married couples
in the day you could actually fit three people in the seat
ive done it with three adults and a child would be no problem
remember young kids rode on moms lap ,or stood looking out the windshield
look at the ads
women shopping,taking their child to school,couples
if it had a rumble seat the kids would ride in the back
i had a neighbor who during the depression had a Maxwell phaeton with no top
to keep semi dry she held an umbrella over him
so i imagine they used an umbrella to keep dry in the rumble seat
they made due
 
I have had coupes with rumble seats and with trunks. The rumble seat may be romantic or cute, but rather impractical. My current coupe has a truck, and I find it useful. I am not a doctor, or a salesman. My kids are grown and gone, so seating for two is fine. The carrying capacity of the trunk is great, whether one is on a trip or shopping, or yard saleing.
 
No place to put your stuff if you have a rumble seat. in order to take a trip with a rumble seat coupe you have to remove the cushions or leave the lid open. I'm glad my coupe has a trunk.
 
Folks probably bought what ever car was available and what they could afford at the time. Even now, whether a car has a rumble or a trunk probably has little to do with the purchase decision.
 
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BILL WILLIAMSON said:
If your coupe is a real driver, once you have one with a trunk, you'll never want to go back to a rumble. I'm "stuck" with my '29 rumble, as it's so perfect I would NEVER change it. I can't even climb into the danged thing!
Bill W.
Click to expand...

I'm with you on this one. My Sports coupe came with a Rumble seat. So I left it when I redid the car. But ended up taking the seat out for driving it.
 
Yes, the coupe trunk area is cavernous, but remember that much of the area is inaccessable because of the interference of the spare tire. I have had both rumbles and trunks and much prefer trunks. Another downside to rumble seats is they attract grandkids and they scuff up bodywork, climbing in and out. Or it may be that I am just old and grumpy as my wife is fond of pointing out.
 
Richard Wilson said:
mtnmice, Just wait until the grandkids find out what a good slide those front fenders are.
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Saw that at a show in the Summer - young family with a couple of toddlers sliding up and down some poor guys front wings( fenders) shocking behaviour.

I told the parents and you'd have thought it was me who was doing wrong.

Bob
 
Come on guys! Ask anyone who looks at our cars and gets excited about them. The rumble seats are so much "cooler" than a trunk. I agree that tooling along at 45 in my Roadster (top up or down) is pretty tough on the ones in the rumble. Hair whipping around and can't hear a darn thing. But the wow factor of the car with the rumble seat, and all the years of my young kids loving it, make it a no brainer for me. If you are driving on long trips for days and need to carry luggage, no question, but other than that, give me the rumble any day.
 
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