Cars With Rumble Seats: Which Models Had Them and Why They Ended

A rumble seat is a folding seat in the back of an automobile, such as a coupe or roadster, that is not covered by the top, according to Merriam-Webster. Ford, for one, offered the feature until the 1939 model year, and a British maker kept a version of it until 1949. This guide explains how the seat worked, which cars the museum and press sources name, how Ford’s Model A fits in with year-by-year numbers, and why the seat disappeared from new cars.

What Is a Rumble Seat in a Car?

Merriam-Webster defines a rumble seat as a folding seat in the back of an automobile, such as a coupe or roadster, that is not covered by the top. The same dictionary describes a roadster as an open-bodied automobile that seats two, has a folding, retractable or removable top, and often has a luggage compartment or rumble seat in the rear. Put together, that is the basic idea: a two-seat car with extra open-air seating behind the cabin.

Jalopnik (Chloe Clougher, February 15, 2026) describes the seat as a small bench that folds out of the rear deck of a classic car. According to that article, the back of the seat folds up and the passenger’s legs fold into the space the seat back would otherwise occupy. Rumble seats are typically quite small and ideal for younger children, Jalopnik says, and some had a small fold-out front screen to keep bugs out of passengers’ eyes and teeth. Seatbelts and airbags did not feature on them.

Rumble Seat vs. Dickey Seat: Same Feature, Different Name

Jalopnik treats the two names as the same thing: it calls the seat a rumble seat and notes that it is known over there, meaning Britain, as a “dickey” seat. Its example is Triumph, which the article says continued to produce sports and touring cars with the seat right up until the postwar era. In the article’s account, Triumph offered both its 1800 and 2000 Roadster models with the unusual seat design until 1949.

By the time the Triumph 1800 and 2000 Roadsters were due to end, Jalopnik says, the rumble seat experience had at least peaked in terms of comfort. Rear passengers had individual seats, plush carpeting under their feet and a pop-up, wood-framed windshield, and a spare wheel sat just behind the rumble seats. The article describes that as basically everything apart from a seatbelt, and says safety was still overlooked.

Where the Rumble Seat Idea Came From

The term is older than the automobile era that made it famous. Merriam-Webster gives 1897 as the first known use of rumble seat in the meaning of a folding rear seat. The Henry Ford, a museum in Dearborn, Michigan, holds a wood engraving by Philadelphia artist Alexander Robb that it dates to about 1827. The museum titles it as showing a four-horse coach with a rumble seat and roof seats, and Robb’s own description beneath the print calls it an unusual type of four-horse coach with rumble seat and roof seats, dated about 1825 to 1830.

Jalopnik gives a related account of the car-era seat. It says rumble seats took inspiration from the jump seats fitted to the very first automobiles, which were mainly there for butlers and similar staff who could not travel in the same space as the owners. As cars became more affordable, the article says, that extra seat stayed useful in coupes and roadsters, because buying a sedan was a viable option but meant losing the sleek lines of a sporting tourer.

Iconic Models Featuring Rumble Seats

This page lists only the cars its sources name. The table below groups them with the wording each source supports.

• Definition: a folding seat in the back of an automobile, such as a coupe or roadster, not covered by the top (Merriam-Webster).
• British name: dickey seat (Jalopnik).
• Earliest recorded use of the term: 1897 (Merriam-Webster).
• Ford’s last rumble seat year: 1939 (The Henry Ford).
• Triumph 1800 and 2000 Roadster: offered with the seat until 1949 (Jalopnik).

Car	What the source says about the rumble seat	Source
Ford Model A roadster	A 1928 Ford Motor Company photograph is titled as showing a Model A roadster with passengers in the rumble seat	The Henry Ford
1930 Ford Model A DeLuxe roadster	One example offered at auction was equipped with a rumble seat among its factory accessories, including dual side-mount spares and a rear luggage rack	RM Sotheby’s lot description
1939 Ford DeLuxe convertible coupe	The museum says 1939 was the last year Ford equipped its vehicles with a rumble seat	The Henry Ford
Triumph 1800 and 2000 Roadster	Offered with the seat, which the British call a dickey seat, until 1949	Jalopnik
AMC Vignale AMX (concept)	A concept with a “Rambleseat” and pop-up windscreen; it did not reach production	Jalopnik

The 1939 Ford DeLuxe convertible coupe is on display at Henry Ford Museum in the Driving America exhibit, per The Henry Ford’s object record. The same record lists a V-8 engine of 221 cubic inches with L-head valves and a three-speed manual transmission, and the museum notes the car brought hydraulic brakes, which were new for a Ford.

The Ford Model A Year by Year

Ford’s Model A is the car behind the 1928 rumble seat photograph and the 1930 DeLuxe roadster in the table above. The figures below come from The Henry Ford’s object records for each model year, and the prices are the ones those records quote. Ford retired the Model T in 1927, the museum says, and workers and factories sat idle for six months while Ford retooled for the replacement.

Model year	Production and body styles	Prices quoted by the museum
1928	Ford introduced the all-new Model A; eight passenger bodies; Ford built nearly 633,600 cars that year	$480 basic roadster convertible up to the $585 Fordor enclosed sedan
1929	Ford built 1.5 million cars; nineteen body styles were available	$450 roadster, $525 business coupe, $695 Fordor
1930	First major styling update; six new body styles; Ford produced more than 1.1 million cars	Not quoted in the record read
1931	Last Model A year; production fell to 541,000 as the Great Depression halved output; optional laminated safety glass from mid-year	$490 standard coupe to $630 town sedan

The museum’s 1931 record says total Model A production for 1928 to 1931 approaches 5 million cars. The 1928 record adds that the Model A’s nickel radiator shell and full-crown fenders gave it a sophisticated look inspired by Lincoln. RM Sotheby’s adds a detail for the open cars: it says Ford built 124,214 roadsters for 1930, just 11,313 of them the DeLuxe model. By simple arithmetic, the DeLuxe was about 9 percent of the 1930 roadsters, and the roadsters were at most about 11 percent of the more than 1.1 million cars Ford produced that year. These percentages are our own division of the quoted counts, not figures from either source.

The RM Sotheby’s description also explains how the DeLuxe differed from the Standard roadster. It says the DeLuxe had a shorter windshield and a lower profile top, making it the sportier and jauntier of the two, and that roadsters and phaetons gained fold-down windshields for 1930. The lot, a 1930 DeLuxe roadster from the Guyton Collection, sold for $23,520 USD. The description notes an older restoration and a disassembled engine that needed mechanical attention, so that price reflects one specific car in one specific condition rather than a market value for rumble seat roadsters in general.

Why Rumble Seats Disappeared

Jalopnik’s account of the downside is about the people sitting in it. The article says those occupants effectively became a crumple zone, and that you would not want to hit a bump with friends in the back. It describes the rumble seat as always far from an ideal way to travel, adds that some versions had side curtains, roll-out cover tops and even pop-up windscreens, and says the style was largely phased out during the 1930s.

The Henry Ford’s record for the 1939 Ford puts a date on one maker’s exit: 1939 was the last year Ford equipped its vehicles with a rumble seat. Triumph was the outlier, since Jalopnik says it stayed with the seat until 1949 while most other automakers had left it in the past. Jalopnik also tells the story of the comeback that did not happen. It says American Motors showed a concept called the Vignale AMX with a “Rambleseat” and pop-up windscreen almost 20 years after Triumph stopped, and that the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act went through shortly after, which ended any hope of reviving the idea.

Safety changes on the cars themselves also arrived in this period. The museum notes that laminated safety glass became an option on the Model A starting mid-1931, its last year, and that hydraulic brakes were new for a Ford on the 1939 model. Neither change concerned the rear seat, so the sources do not tie them to its disappearance.

Learn More About Vintage Cars

For related history and ownership topics on this site, see our photo guide to oldtimer rumble seat cars with spoke wheels, when the first Ford car was made, how Henry Ford made cars affordable and whether you can drive an antique car every day.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Cars Had A Rumble Seat?

The museum and press sources cited on this page document these: the Ford Model A roadster (a 1928 Ford photograph shows passengers in the rumble seat, and a 1930 DeLuxe roadster was equipped with one), the 1939 Ford DeLuxe convertible coupe, which The Henry Ford says was the last year Ford equipped its vehicles with a rumble seat, and the Triumph 1800 and 2000 Roadster, which Jalopnik says kept the seat until 1949. This list is limited to the models those sources name.

Do Cars Still Have Rumble Seats?

Not in production cars. The sources cited here describe the last Ford with one as the 1939 model and the last Triumph roadsters with one as built until 1949. An AMC concept called the Vignale AMX had a ‘Rambleseat’, but Jalopnik says the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act went through shortly after that concept and ended hopes of a comeback.

What Is A Rumble Seat In A Car?

Merriam-Webster defines it as a folding seat in the back of an automobile, such as a coupe or roadster, that is not covered by the top. Jalopnik describes a small bench seat that folds out of the rear deck, where the seat back folds up and the passenger’s legs fold into the space it leaves.

Why Did They Call It A Rumble Seat?

The museum and dictionary records cited on this page do not explain where the name came from. They do show the term is old: Merriam-Webster dates the first known use of rumble seat to 1897, and The Henry Ford holds a coach engraving from about 1825 to 1830 that describes a four-horse coach with a rumble seat and roof seats.

Is a Dickey Seat the Same as a Rumble Seat?

Jalopnik uses the two names for the same fold-out rear seat, calling it a dickey seat in Britain. Triumph, a British maker, offered one on its 1800 and 2000 Roadster models until 1949.

What This Guide Does Not Cover

• A complete list of every make and model that offered a rumble seat; the models above are the ones named in the sources cited on this page.
• Restoration steps, parts sources or collector values; ask a marque club or a restoration shop.

Conclusion

A rumble seat was an open, folding rear seat on coupes and roadsters. Ford offered it through the 1939 model year, Triumph kept its dickey seat until 1949, and an American Motors concept that revived the idea never reached production. The 1928 Model A photograph and the 1939 Ford convertible coupe are both in The Henry Ford’s collections.