1939 DeSoto "Hayes" Coupe; Welcome to the club.(Brief Article)

The rumble seat was pretty much passe by the late 1930s; rear-seat passengers wanted to ride indoors. Automobile manufacturers accommodated the changing tastes by lengthening the passenger compartments of their two- and three-passenger coupes and providing rear seats sheltered from the weather. At first, these took the form of fold-down, ``occasional'' seats, which lent their space for cargo when not in use. Sometimes called ``opera seats'' for their flip-to-sit operation, in some cars they made the passengers sit sideways and always imparted some degree of discomfort. Someone at Chrysler felt there had to be a better way.

Chrysler had redesigned all its car lines for 1939. Lower and more rounded in appearance than the '38s, the new cars featured split windshields and headlights faired into the fenders. For Chrysler, DeSoto and Dodge, two versions of coupes were offered on the same basic body: one with fold-down seats and one without. The seats were recessed into the rear bulkhead, but seatbacks were permanently installed at the side, so passengers faced uncomfortably inward. The business coupe, without rear seats, had simple storage compartments, one of which held the spare tire. At Plymouth, rumble seats still held sway.

To provide space for more comfort, Chrysler came up with an entirely new coupe body, one with a 16-inch-longer passenger compartment. Commonly called the ``Hayes'' coupe, the design actually came from Chrysler stylist Dean Clark. Bodies were manufactured by the Hayes Body Corp. of Grand Rapids, Michigan. To provide the additional room, the roof was lengthened and given an attractive bobbed ``boat-tail'' shape, with split rear window. Side windows gained more glass area and were trimmed with attractive chrome moldings that presaged the ``hardtop look'' of 10 years hence, though the frames did not retract.

Inside, a full-width seatback served double duty. In normal use it provided comfortable front-facing seating. When more cargo space was required, the cushion hinged upward and either or both of two lower cushions could be stowed behind it. Armrests at the sides concealed capacious bins useful for, according to company literature, ``spare clothing, food, thermos bottles, tennis rackets and other sports or ...