Hot-Rod, or Stay Stock? 1946 Chevrolet Fleetmaster Coupe
In the race back to civilian production after WWII, carmakers leaned heavily on pre-war designs. Buyers were demanding new vehicles as fast as manufacturers could push them out the factory doors, leaving no time for innovation. Aside from grilles, badging, and side moldings, the ’46 product looked very similar to the ’41s. But Chevrolet could differentiate its trim level, and it did: the Stylemaster was the base offering, the Fleetmaster was a step above, and the Fleetline was swankier still. Here on craigslist is a 1946 Chevrolet Fleetmaster coupe project, with an asking price of $4600 or best offer (cash only!). Haul it home from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, along with a clear title and a few parts. Thanks to Mitchell G for finding this Fleetmaster for us!
For three years after WWII ended, Chevrolet cars were mechanically identical to their pre-war brethren. That meant a 216 cu. in. in-line six-cylinder paired with a three-speed manual. This car was last on the road eleven years ago, but it’s been neglected since. The odometer reads 95,000 miles, and the seller has not tried to start the car. That endeavor will mean replacing the corroded six-volt battery at the very least. The air cleaner is not present. The underside is scaly with rust – not beyond repair but needing an owner willing to devote a few weekends to the effort.
The interior is a notch above some we’ve seen – this car must have been kept inside for at least part of its life. The canda cloth upholstery needs to be replaced; the door panels are shabby; stray wiring is dangling by the driver’s door; the knob is missing from the column shifter. But the glass looks good and all the gauges and trim are present. In 1946, coupe buyers enjoyed two armrests, two ashtrays, and an adjustable front seat.
The body panels should be coaxed into better alignment – that side trim looks drunk. I’ll hazard a guess that the exterior was black, which would look great with those wide white walls bias plys. Speaking of the tires, better find replacements. The tread is deep but they’re probably dangerously aged. While the asking price won’t break the bank, plenty of work awaits the new owner. So the question of the day is: keep this old Fleetmaster as stock as possible or submit to the hot-rod urge. Which route would you take?
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Comments
I’d do the hot rod thing. It’ll be worth more than a restoration would be, and the effort won’t be much more than just restoring it..plus, you’d be able to travel more with it.
Coyote swap with a 5 speed. Impress your friends at the cars and coffee.
I’d just slide in a later Chevy straight 6
and powerglide tranny so my SIL could drive it around town. Think I’d
wanna convert it to 12 volts so that I could add electric power steering and
air too. Add a nice original looking
interior, and finish the rest as time warrants. I can see it now, dark blue
or black with the speed line trim on the fenders just like my Mom’s ’46
Pontiac fast back. The price is right
and it looks to be all there. Too bad
we live in an apartment!
A very fair price for this 46 Chevy Fleetmaster. I would say custom build on this one, not really hot rod. Id convert to a 12V electrical and replace the 6cyl with a SBC and update to disc’s in front and rebuild rear drums. Leave the body alone and do a decent paint job. And of course, new interior.
This is an interesting colliding of parallel worlds. As a high school student in the late Sixties/early Seventies, near Lawrenceville, I kept a four door 1946 Chevrolet Fleetmaster hidden in the woods . Back then the area was a little more rural and there were actually woods. It was hidden because I wasn’t supposed to have it at school. At night my buddies and I would take it out for a cruise. I actually remember that I paid fifty bucks for it and drove it on the rural route to get to the woods.
The coupe would make a sharp looking resto for sure. Funny coincidence!
I totaled my Mother’s 47 coupe by going too fast around curve on country road in Ohio. Was a pretty car in dark green with white walls. Keep it original.
Wow! Reasonably priced! Probably a good thing it’s all the way across the country.
I would modernize the car; 12 volt conversion, a small block V8, disk brake conversion front and rear with radial tires, a new interior, and a paint job. I like the looks of this car. I have a 41 Cadillac with similar lines and the two would look good together.
100% agree.
These old cars are like poems or song lyrics to me. Some sing full restoration, some sing hot rod, or resto-mod/resto-rod. The one thing most sing to me is; please give me a shiny new paint job. This particular car is singing to me, “Give me a big V8 with automatic transmission, power steering and brakes, new custom interior in white leather, air conditioning and wheels & tires, Naturally I’ll need to be upgraded to 12 volt charging and electrical system. I think I’d like pearlized white paint for my exterior. And please drive me daily, I love the open road”.
God Bless Americ
I’m not sure that anyone would restore this to stock nowadays because essentially it needs everything redone. The reality of today’s prices for skilled trades to compete prep and paint, re-chrome, etc has become prohibitively expensive. Unless you have some special affection for a car like this or are able to do most of the work yourself; a stock restoration doesn’t make financial sense. Back in the days of the late twentieth century; I could and did take on projects like this and complete a lot of the work myself and farm out specialties like chrome (which was reasonably priced back then) and still come out more or less even money wise. It was a hobby and the copious amount of hours of my own labor was basically free. You were having fun (most of the time anyway until a bolt snapped off) You did all the trim removal and stainless polishing, bodywork and paint prep and had a pro lay on the paint as a side job. You took the seats to an upholstery shop and/or had them do the headliner. But you installed the windlace, door cards and carpet. You did the mechanical repairs and what you couldn’t fix you could find a real mechanic who would actually work on old stuff to help you out. You helped folks work on their stuff and they helped you.Those days are long gone. As to this old relic (not me the ‘46 Chevy);my guess is that someone who may already have an engine, transmission, etc could rat rod it. If that’s not your cup of tea and you want stock you can buy a nice one for less than what you will end up dumping into this. GLWTS but I am not sure if the seller will end up getting much more than half of the asking price. Like every other old goober; I miss the days when our hobby was truly just a hobby. Once the investment mentality invaded, projects like this old Chevy were doomed. Need more guys like Derek Bieri IMO. Happy Memorial Day to everyone.
Agree … back in the 60s-early 70s all we needed was a JC Whitney catalog and a space in the barn – I used the old hay area because it had doors … I bought a ’55 Chevy hardtop with straight axle, glass bubble hood, a cracked 409 block with Edelbrock 4-bbl intake for $15, a tray of eggs (my folks had an egg farm) and a half-used container of Turtle Wax (this was deep rural Louisiana)… I’m glad to have those experiences because today – as shown on here – people are asking stacks of money for rusted or burnt-out relics and younger up-and-coming classic hopefuls will never experience the enjoyment the “good ol’ days” of cheap cars and shade tree wrenching …
If you update and do a 12 Volt conversion on this 1946 6V Chevy, you could run an AC system as well as a modern stereo. With a 350 Small block and automatic trans you could drive anywhere in hwy traffic if needed. Price is very reasonable on this gal, she’s probably already sold.
Too big and heavy for a hot rod. It’s a prime candidate for a update to a modern motor, brakes and AC, a nice paint job and take it out for cruise nights and cars and coffee.. Too expensive to restore for what you’d see out of it in the end. Maybe someone who’s dad had one when they were a kid would restore it for sentimental reasons, but those of us of that age aren’t playing with cars as much nowadays.
Would make a fine sled. Give it a GMC 235 with a split manifold. Put some money into quality paint job in a dark tone of maroon, deep blue, green or black if you have to. It doesn’t look bad for a New Jersey car.
If you’re gonna do that Paolo, you might’s well drop in a 261 or a 292.
Add a Clifford dual carb manifold and
that split exhaust you mentioned. You might even pair the engine with a
4-speed tranny of.some sort. I’d use
an M-22 unit for the synchros so you
don’t have to grind ’em to find ’em.
What’s next, flame throwers?