After World War II. most of the cars sold were warmed-over pre-war editions. It wasn’t until 1949 that the floodgates opened with all-new products, including those from Chevrolet. Due to pent-up demand, Detroit was still keeping up with production and Chevrolet sold 1.25 million units in 1951 (with models little-changed from 1949-50). This Styleline Deluxe 4-door sedan was a big seller, accounting for 30% of sales that year. The seller’s car is said to be all original except for the seat covers – and it may run with new gasoline added.
The Styleline Deluxe was the mid-range Chevy sold in ’51. It came with a 216 cubic inch “Stovebolt” inline-6 which was good for 90 hp (these were functional automobiles, not speed demons). As was typical of the day, most were paired with a 3-speed manual transmission, often called “3-on-the-tree” because it was column-shifted. This pairing applies to the seller’s can which was likely a barn find. He/she has too many projects in progress, so the Chevy needs to move on.
As was common in the era, this Chevy was finished in black paint and there’s no reason not to think this isn’t the original paint. The same can be said for the interior at 58,000 except for the material on the seats. We assume this Styleline was inactive for a good time when the seller found it and half of the photos are of it on a trailer, likely as it was moving to its next home.
We’re told the six-banger will turn over, but there’s no gas in the tank to help it fire. If it were emptied before the car went into storage, that would be a great stroke of luck. No indication is made as to what it will take to get the Chevy going, but it might not require much more than new fuel, a battery, and probably new tires. From Las Vegas, Nevada, this 73-year-old sedan is available here on craigslist for $6,300 OBO.
Nice car! Looking real good for the ripe age of 73. My 75 year-old Styleline is holding up quite well too. Get it running and tuned up but make sure that you do a complete valve adjustment. Overlooking that on mine burned and exhaust valve.
Asking price is most reasonable. I’m seeing good prices on these cars, especially original. I’ve gotten some generous offers for my ’49.
Take it, drive it and enjoy it. You’ll be glad you did…
Hi Geomechs! Had a ’52 Style line I
bought for $10 back in ’71. I was 16
then and I thought I’d found the greatest barnfind in the whole wide
world. The guy I bought it from didn’t
wanna mess with putting a new master cylinder in it. Like your 49, it
was mounted under the driver’s side
floorboard which made it a real pain
in the ass to get to when you need to
change it. I lucked out as my car had
a 235/Powerglide in instead of a 216.
And by 1971, both the babbit and the
bearing inserts were getting hard to
find so I was glad to know that I could
still get parts for that engine. A 235
was a 235 no matter the year and that
suited me just fine. And being a young Motorhead that I was, I wanted
to get it running and drive it home that day so Dad, his friends and I went to accomplish that. We aired up
the tires, tuned it up, added fresh gas,
and off we went using the E brake to
stop as we drove the 20 miles back to
our house. Upon seeing the car, my
Mom blew a gasket when we pulled it into the driveway as she was having a
yard sale. That car was covered in a
combination of dust and chicken poop that was over 2 1/2 inches thick! And yes, Mom made it clear that we had to park it ’round back where none of her friends and customers could see it. And man, did
it stink! I got it cleaned up and running before I went to play music
that summer. We even drove it to
church a few Sundays before I left to
go on the road. Wound up calling it
Lazarus because we brought it back
from the dead. 3 years and an engine
swap later, I sold it to a guy I knew for
$750 as he needed a car to get him
to and from work. I got to see Lazarus again in 1986 when I looked
over and saw the buyers son filling up
the tank at a local gas station. He and his Dad restored the car and might still be driving it today. Sure
A would like to see it one last time.
Gosh! Too bad the seller can’t get ahold of a gallon or two of gasoline, out there in Vegas. Then, he could try and start this car that he bought because he had too many projects going on at the time. I’m amazed he didn’t mention that the car was owned by a little old lady, who only drove it to church on Sunday.
I was hoping Geo would chime in, I only hope he saw the twin engine truck. I knew he had a car like this and is very dear to him. If I remember, more so than wifey’s ’57 Poncho(?). My grandfather, not the Packard one, bought a car like this in the early 50s. It’s the 1st car I remember him having, but not much else. I read, this car cost $1621 new. While I don’t think my grandfather bought it new, it wasn’t very old. I was told, like many families, it was their 1st new car after the war. Hourly wages were about $1.00/hr. then, some factory jobs paid a whopping $1.75( women less), still, a new car was not on everyone’s list.
Women weren’t all considered “less”, as Dinah Shores “See the USA in your Chevrolet” campaign, which started in 1953, I think, had a profound effect on sales. So much so, I believe GM gave her a new Chevy every year the campaign aired. It ended in 1963 replaced by another Chevy sponsored show, “Bonanza”. Grandpa left the Chevy camp in ’58, with a ’57 Rambler, and had Ramblers until he died.
To show the popularity, and hunger for post war traveling, Chevy sold an unbelievable 1,250, 803 Chevys, the 4 door sedan was the most popular, selling over 380,270 cars, the deluxe, shown here, at 262,933. That, my friends, speaks volumes, and can still be used today, in a limited setting, that is. Again, it needs an automatic, however, I hope there’s enough us, like Geomechs, that want a car like this. Sadly, at 73, however, tells me interest is waning.
Sad to say Howard that there are less and less of these beauties left..the youngsters have no desire for this “old ” car…all we have left are the memories..
You’d be surprised at how many Edsels are being put in demo derbies these days out in the mid west , actually any 57 up Ford product is fair game for those guys..very sad
I’m not impressed with demo derbies of any kind. It’s just a waste, a mocking of something that was good, destroying a former pride and joy…
Being 73 myself is probably why these post war cars interest me so much. My mother claimed I was a car crazy kid. And I still am. My current hobby car is my 1952 Plymouth Cambridge club coupe. I get a lot of compliments and interest from people but they are usually boomers like me. Once in a while the car gets attention from younger folks. I really believe that after we old guys are finished with our time as caretakers of these most of them will sit quietly in dusty corners of our garages forgotten by our kids and grandkids. I’d be interested in resurrecting this old Chevy but my car wrenching days are dwindling. GLWTS.
Unfortunately, I think that just like the cars. Our kids and grandkids don’t have the interest that we boomers do. After all they like their own things in their own generation. I believe saving things for them will, for the most part, be a waste of time. Who really knows? I suppose it doesn’t really matter. We won’t be around to see it but I will still try to do so.
Ok its a 4 door but I still like it I would get it back on the road and just cruise it
Interesting way to tie a car down on a trailer.
Not sure that’s a good idea.
pretty heavy car for what look like Harbor Freight rachet straps.
I am so familiar to these cars. Growing up in NJ in the 50s and 60s, my father being a mechanic and machinist there was a different one of these in the driveway every month. He’d buy them for $25 $50 and fix them and then sell them for a couple hundred. I saw lots of these in two door and four door. Never a convertible or stationwagon. But I saw dozens come and go.
AHA!! There’s the connection, I knew the father had something to do with this. My son had no interest in my mechanical shenanigans, and I tried, Lord knows, but guess who was peering over my shoulder all along. My daughter! She loved riding in the semi, while my son was asleep in the back. She has acquired quite a tool arsenal, even my old man would be proud of. So many women didn’t have that and are in the dark as to how a car works. Thank God, Subaru took care of that. My daughter can’t pull a motor, but at least she knows when she may be taken advantage of, car wise, anyways.
Hi ACD! Haven’t seen you on BF since
the ’60 Lincoln ragtop post nearly 2
weeks ago. Hope all is going well now and you found a solution to your
troubles you wrote about then. Like
you and Howard, I too recall when these cars were everywhere. In fact,
I cut my mechanic’s teeth by fixing
cars like this at the church my family
and I went to in the mid to late ’60s.
It was a small Pentecostal church with a congregation who couldn’t afford to take their old cars to a regular garage for basic maintenance
and that’s where I came in. Our pastor, Jim Cecil, inspired me to consider becoming an auto mechanic
when he told me a story about a totally blind man he knew in California that rebuilt automatic transmissions. This guy would, where possible, have the owner of the
car drive him around so that he could
feel and hear just what the tranny was
doing. Once he diagnosed the problem, he set straight to work repairing it. Once done, he’d have his
Wife drive him around to see if the
problem had been fixed and none times out of ten, it was. He was telling me that story while I replaced the thermostat in his ’64 Impala wagon along with replacing the radiator hoses and adding fresh antifreeze before winter set in. Pastor Jim’s story was a shot in the arm for me, so I let him tell the
congregation that I would fix their cars for them for a small charge. Every Saturday morning you’d find me
there at the church fixing cars while
the ladies cleaned the inside of the
building. I only did basic things like tune ups, oil changes, and other odds
and ends and if it was major, they’d
have to take the car to a real garage
for all that serious stuff. And most
all the cars I worked on were old GM
cars just like this one with a few old
Ford’s and Chrysler’s mixed in. Never
made much money at it but back then
I did it to help my friends that really needed it. I was 13 then and I still
recall the time I showed some of the
folks how to test a thermostat by dropping it into a pot of boiling water
to see if it would open up. And if it didn’t, I always carried a couple spares in my toolbox along with my
tools and the Permatex to seal it up
right. I still recall the day when the church gifted me with a brand new set of Craftsman hand tools and 2 pairs of coveralls for my efforts. I felt
ten feet tall and Mom said. I was smiling ear to ear when the pastor handed them to me. Had to use ’em
that Sunday afternoon when Joe
Heilman’s ’56 Pontiac blew an oil line
right below the sending unit. I took
a couple of Kotex maxi pads and some duct tape and bandaged the line so his wife Dottie could drive it
home. I did meatball repairs at the
church until my first road trip playing
music in 1970. And when I was home, I’d show up at church with my Bible in one hand and my toolbox in
the other. Boy r had it great back then!
@Kenneth
Amazing story, and inspirational too. My car needs to have the cooling system flushed and new antifreeze installed. Maybe I’ll try doing it myself. I can’t afford $150 diagnostic fees. The dealer charges $248 diagnostic. Plain highway robbery.
I understand mechanics are a skill but JC! They don’t need to charge so much.
You’re amazing, KC
Thanks ACD! The Good Lord has blessed me with a very full life in exchange for doin’ my bit for that church back then. Didn’t do it for the
blessings though. I did it to help my
friends in their time of need. And while doing so, I learned a lot and had a really good time doing it. Got my hands dirty in 1966 when I helped my
Dad rebuild a Lincoln V-12 for a friend
of his. Wasn’t long before the bug bit
and I was hooked. I got to hang out
with a really great bunch of older men
who taught me volumes of knowledge you can’t get anywhere else. Mom was scared because I am
legally blind I might get hurt really bad
it never happened though and for that
I’m very thankful. I have what’s called
Bilateral Atrophy with Astigmatism. In short, my optic nerves never developed right leaving me with just
25% vision in my left eye only. I’ve had it my whole life and I never let it
slow me down either. Except for driving a car, my parents told me that
I could do almost anything so I took
the ball, ran with it, and with God’s help, I made a decent life for myself
and my family. But enough about that, let’s see if we can figure out why
your car’s overheating. Hmmm. (Head scratch here) I need you to tell
me what kind of car you have and what it does before it overheats. My
best guesses are a thermostatic fan
that’s simply stopped working or a water pump needing replacement.
Do you see any leaks coming from the front of your engine or any wetness on the floorboards? The
wetness on your floorboard means you have a leaking heater core. What
kind of car is it? If I lived near you, I’d
have my SIL drive me to your house so that I can take a look and with any luck at all, fix it. But I live in Florida so
we can rule that out. But I can still use what you tell me to make a good
diagnosis and not charge you for it.
Nice ladies like you shouldn’t have to pay some pimply faced kid stiff you
$100 to tell you what’s wrong with your ride. And if I can’t fix it, I know
some damned good mechanics here
who can! Maybe we can write back and forth and I’ll tell some stories
about my 23 years in the music business. Just hang in there dear and I’ll doy best to help you out
@KC
adharris101@gmail com
Thanks for all your knowledge. It’s not overheating. But it definitely smells burnt.
I need to get off my a$$ and check all the fluid levels. Las Vegas is mucho hot in the summer. This year we broke a record at 122°.
I’d love to talk with you in email.
Angel Cadillac Diva