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The seller of this 1920 Chevrolet claims that it is unrestored, is 98% original, and has covered only covered 21k miles. Pretty big claims there for a 95 year old car! I’m not so sure about all that, but if you are in the market for a Model T fighter, this may be the one to get. The engine is said to run and the brakes stop. It may not be as rugged as a T, but it’s also a lot less common sight today. It’s located in Eaton Rapids, Michigan and is listed here on eBay with a BIN price of $9,500 or the option to place a bid. I’d want to inspect anything this old in person before throwing any numbers out there. So, is there anyone here who would take this pre-war Bowtie over a Blue Oval?
I knew an old timer who told me 490’s were known as 4 days on the road 90 days in the shop.
What a great looking car! Nice to get a close up of the engine, its a lot different than Ford’s flathead. Fun car to putter around town in!
Design life for cars in 1920 was something like 8-10 thousand miles. 21k miles is like a modern day car going a quarter million miles! I would be VERY surprised if the engine in this car was not overhauled at least once…
Oh and as an associated fact, Chevrolet was the first consumer priced car to offer other colors besides black. My father used to reminisce that a high school teacher had a yellow Chevrolet and how that was the talk of the school.
The first Model T’s (1909-1913) could not be had in black at all. Ford switched to black in 1914 when fast drying lacquer was developed. The time savings was substantial and so contributed to the ever lower price of Model T’s.
All Model T’s were black from 1914 til 1926.
That open valve train must have been fun on the old dirt roads of the 1920’s.
I bought one of these by accident. Yes, you read that right. The family was vacationing and staying in a motel, I used my daughter’s laptop to monitor the Hershy auction online. Registered to bid just in case I liked something. Had my pointer poised over the bid button when a 1919 Chevy 490 came up. At $8500 it suddenly said “You are the winning bidder”. I hadn’t clicked on anything. My daughter said, “Daddy, sometimes if you hover that mouse over something it clicks on it”. That’s how I became the proud owner of a Chevy 490. Had it shipped in and it was a pretty nice older restoration. Not practical to drive anywhere though, so I later sold it for a slight loss.