Thread: Business? Opera? Coupe

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Thought crossed my mind--
What are the differences between
Business Coupe
&
Opera Coupe??

Thanks for your patience, just curious....

Are you talking about the models around '40? From what I've read different grilles on standard, business and opera with opera being the flashiest. Business had front seat and a massive trunk with storage behind the seat for sample cases, catalogs, etc while the opera model had little jump seats facing each other, and rear quarter windows that were hinged on the front to tilt out. More chrome and trim work on the opera coupe. Maybe someone like Uncle Bob can chime in here - I think he may have been an original owner of an opera coupe?

Sorry about that!!
Yes, the 40s Ford.
I remember seeing an Opera Coupe back in the late 80s. I thought it was neat that there was " no back seat " but the folding bun pad thing & the windows that functioned!
Then @ CHR I see the " Business Coupe " model mentioned, so I was thinking...
" Different model, or just depend on who has it? "
Thanks rspears
This is " An Education In Automotive History " for me!!
I love the Early Iron!!

Rogers description pretty much summed it up, though the hinged window thing wasn't necessary. Though the term "opera coupe" has been applied liberally to say a '40 Ford, that was never a term applied in official Ford descriptions.

My 38 Chevy was a business coupe as there was no back seat the sales man could carry all his goods in the rear and the trunk...An Opera coupe had a small seat on the sides in the rear. Thats what I read and was told back when I built the car. The exterior was the same

I always heard that the "jump seats" were the primary difference.

A business couple is the same as what people call the opera coupe and it has the jump seats. You could get the business coupe in either the standard or DeLuxe trim. There was also a 5 window coupe that had a package tray behind the seal and it also was available in either Standard or DeLuxe. There are difference in the floor pan between the business coupe and the regular coupe. The remake of the 40 Ford that Bob Drake started is only available with one of the floor pan styles....I forgot which. There were never opera seats in a 39 Ford

I think Robot has it nailed. Supposedly this is came from Bob Drake some time back:

There is virtually no difference between the business coupe and the Opera coupe. Ford made two different styles of its Standard and Deluxe coupe versions in 1940. They were both 5 window coupes the difference was on the inside in the middle and trunk floor areas. What Ford called the 5-Window Coupe (Models 77A & 77b) came with a package tray just below the rear window, suspended over an open luggage area behind the seat. Over the years, this model gained the nickname "Business Coupe".
Ford called the second style of coupe its Business Coupe (Models 67A & 67B). This is the model that had fold-down opera seats and was eventually referred to as the "Opera Coupe." This has been a point of confusion for years because technically an Opera Coupe is a Business Coupe.

Thanks Roger, I was thinking of that Bob Drake explanation but I forgot where I saw it.......Drake published it when he was introducing his new 40 repro body.

If you look at '37 Ford Coupes, there are two different roof lines. The standard 2-3 passenger, bench seat version and then the one with an extended roof. This model was either a club coupe or opera coupe, depending on what seat it had. I called mine an opera coupe, but it was in fact a club coupe with a bench rear seat - and wish I still had it(one of my shoulda, woulda, coulda cars). I believe Ford made a '38 version, but CRS took that fact away from my brain cells