Prewar Survivor: 1940 Chevrolet Special Deluxe Coupe
Do you ever just look at a car and wonder how it made its way thought time? I think this 1940 Chevrolet Special Deluxe is one of those cars where you just stare in amazement of its condition. This Prewar beauty is nearly 100% original, minus the interior carpeting and headliner. Beyond those two items, there are a few period correct accessories, otherwise this Chevy is original and very well maintained. All of this illustrious beauty and originality can be yours for $17,000. Check it out here on craigslist out of Danville, Virginia.
Powered by a stone reliable 216 inline 6 and a 3 on the tree, this Chevy can get you where you want to go, and in style. Clean and original, the view under the hood is a good one. The paint is in fair shape and there is no evidence of paint chips, surface rust, or rot. Unfortunately we do not know the mileage or any other key details, but we do know it’s a good runner and that it is ready to be driven.
Taking a look inside of this Deco era machine reveals a beautiful and luxurious interior that only seems fitting to sit in if you are wearing a suit and tie. The interior upholstery is in very nice condition with only minor discoloration on the door panels. The seat is clean and blemish free as if it were new. A faux wood painted finish graces the door frames and dash, and the faux finish is in lovely condition. Wearing a wrap, the steering wheel may have some minor condition concerns, or perhaps someone had some forethought to protect the steering wheel. As far as condition, the interior is excellent, with a new carpet and headliner. Unfortunately at some point the Bakelite knob on the driver side window crank was broken off. Also the gauge cluster looks nice but appears to be slightly warped, otherwise the dash is in great condition.
The paint is extremely shiny and smooth like a modern paint job, so I am not exactly sure if the paint is highly polished original paint, or if this Chevrolet has been repainted at some point in its life. Despite the mystery paint, the body is phenomenal on this 77 years old automobile. All of the trim is accounted for, and the body work is solid and straight. There is no visible rust anywhere on this Chevrolet, and the glass is all intact. There have been some period accessories added to this car such as fog lights, a trunk step, an interior dome light, and few other neat accessories. A very nice and clean example of an early Special Deluxe Coupe, this prewar machine is a real beauty. Are you a fan of these Chevrolet Deluxes?
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Comments
Sweet!
Nice car. Looks to be an older cosmetic restoration but nice. I don’t think it’s original paint, nor is it claimed to be.
Same exterior and interior colors of a ’46 Style Master 4dr in similar condition I stupidly passed on in 1975. One of the many vehicles that I have been kicking myself over the years that I passed on over the years.They were a nice riding car and sharp looking in their day(still are IMO). I will agree it looks to be an older cosmetic restoration.
Happened to be watching a Nissan Rogue commercial as I looked at this posting. What is it that today’s designers don’t get about fluidity of line and overall coherence? Don’t get me wrong, today’s cars are so much better from an engineering standpoint, but they are so spiritually bankrupt it gives one pause.
Not every new car is a disaster, just most of them. I am really beginning to appreciate my new (to me) C6 from a style standpoint. I like the new Chrysler 200, too, but this car from 77 years ago just says things that newer cars don’t.
( cars are )…..” are so spiritually bankrupt it gives one pause.” Amen brother. The best summation of modern auto design I’ve read. For that matter, so much about our technologically advanced society is,
Yes, very few (if any) new cars have what ALL the cars back then had an abundance of……..personality!!!😉
I like it lot…..
Agree…pre-war cool in spades! I can see this ending in LA with a SoCal car club with all the period accessories.
I only hope it remains like this. So many of these were turned into hot-rods. This car has many “doo-dads” that you probably wouldn’t have seen in 1940. Maybe a compass or fog lights, but this would have been one fancy Chevaleigh in 1940. Hate to be a bummer, but we can’t forget, probably the last car some GI’s ever saw. This was somebody’s baby, for sure. Wonderful find.
I wonder if you ’40s-’50s fans out there share with me a love for the one item not mentioned in the description: FENDER SKIRTS! I’ve had ’em on my cars whenever possible–even cars which didn’t put ’em on to begin with! (Yes, they’re a pain in the ass if you get a rear-end flat; but like white-walls, they really can give some cars that final salute….
How the heck do I come up with 17K to buy this? Beautiful from any angle. Love the interior.
I was just wondering the same thing, not to terribly far either.
Fender skirts were period, the ’34 Chrysler and Desoto Airflows had them as standard equipment, for example. One place they look funny is on the tri-5 Chevy’s where the read fender has a protruding lip. So aftermarket, or not, they are period, as are aftermarket fog lights. But keep in mind that engine had splash lubrication, and although you could go 55 mph all day, for years, you can not drive it on the interstates at 65 let alone 75. The “fast” roads in the east in 1940, like the Merit Parkway in CT, and the parkways leading into New York City were designed for 55 mph – with modern suspensions you can drive them at 65 safely (if you are not worried about a ticket) but this Chevy could take you most places you would want to go back then.
This car brings back memories! The attached photo shows my dad Chet (second from left) a year or so before he opened his own shop in 1948. Rocky, in the only clean uniform, was the shop owner at the time of the picture. All four remained great friends for many decades until they each passed away. The Chevy was dad’s. One day a guy came by with a Chevy truck with a bad engine and was in such a hurry, he talked my dad into taking the engine out of that Chev and putting it in the truck. My dad then rebuilt the truck engine and put it in his Chevy. Chrome rings had just come out and dad put them in the rebuilt truck engine. He told me that it took thousands of miles before the rings finally seated and the engine quit using oil. In the 50s my dad did a lot of warranty work on Pontiacs and I remember him telling me that when some of the new V8s continued to use oil after break in, a shop bulletin said to put a little Boraxo into each cylinder to help seat the rings.
OOPS! While reminescing about my dad after my post above, I remembered that my dad said the manual said to put some Boraxo through the carburetor while the engine was running to help seat the rings. For some reason I was thinking that it required removing the spark plugs…