When K. T. Keller took over Chrysler after the passing of the company’s founder, he made it clear that styling was to be conservative. He insisted that a man should be able to comfortably wear a hat in a Chrysler product. What resulted was a string of vehicles that were very reliable, but a bit staid in the styling department. Take for example this 1948 Chrysler Windsor coupe being sold on eBay out of Bellmore, New York. While huge in overall dimensions, the car holds only three people inside. The good thing is that they could all likely wear sombreros and never bump into each other. Is this big Chrysler the kind of car you would like to cruise around in, or does the styling leave you cold at a $4,000 starting bid?
The most notable part of this ad is that the seller has grown tired of people bidding on the car without following through on the purchase. This is the fourth time the car has been auctioned, so we can kind of understand the refusal to accept bids from bidders with little feedback in their profiles. At any rate, the car sits on new tires, and is all there. There are rust issues to deal with in many areas of the car. The good news is that the rust is in non structural areas and could likely addressed one section at a time building up to an overall respray.
From a glimpse inside, we see that the enormous bench seat is in great shape. The dash is in good shape as well. The steering wheel will need some work though. If you are a tall person, then this might be the car for you. In addition to the large distance between the seat and the roof, it looks like you can slide the seat back a long way before hitting the end of its travel.
One major problem area is that the headliner would need to be replaced. It would take some talent to replace this cloth. The good news is that you could add some heat and sound insulation before installing the new cloth.
Under the hood is the standard Chrysler inline six cylinder engine. Known for their durability, parts are plentiful for these smooth running, torquey engines. The seller tells us that the car currently does not run. However, the engine does turn. Likely a refurbishment of the fuel system and a good tune up would have this car back on the road in no time.
All and all, this big coupe is unique. The styling seems grossly nose heavy, but the roomy interior, reliable six cylinder engine, and the long wheelbase would provide the driver with an enjoyable driving car. Chryslers of this era may not have been the most exciting cars of the era, but they were a solid choice for reliable transportation. You could even wear your favorite hat!
Get the 6 cylinder squared away and you could probably drive this old guy anywhere!
Neat car.
Replace the headliner, fix any rust, paint it – enjoy.
There’s enough left of that head liner to make a pattern. And there actually not that hard to make. I made one for my 51 dodge hard top by myself. I used the old headliner as a patten I did mine in black fabric it turned out quite exceptable.
Fix it up and take it down to the ice cream shop, though you might not be able to take all the grandkids along with you.
Much bigger but it reminds me of a neighbors Plymouth of the same era. Same body style just not as long a hood.
This car has plenty of room for the grand kids, it’s got a HUGE trunk!
Gosh I like this one.
I had great fun with my 1941 Windsor 4 door. On drive-in night at least ten of us would squeeze into it (which was fun) and upon arrival some would get out and sit in the open air seats to watch the movie.
The foundation for your very own Zippo lighter car.
My dad had a 48 Dodge 4 door. Very comfortable car, but slow as a snail. The emergency brake is on the driveshaft and it caught fire a few times irritatating my Dad to no end. The gas cap was electric and refused to open at the gas station, then the flat head six began burning oil finalizing the decision to retire the car to the back of the farm as many other cars ended their lives through the years.
God bless America
The front end of this beast is amazing. Wish I had room in the shop.
As a young lad in the late ’60s I spent pretty much every summer day in a gravel pit a mile or so out of my small home town. For years that was were all the unwanted old cars were dumped until there were probably 400 cars out there. The point of this comment is that there was a 5 window Chrysler coupe of this vintage in a backyard I passed every day. It had the Highlander plaid interior and the 8 cylinder engine. A local ” bad boy” ( rumors were that he smoked “funny” cigarettes) had used it to just bomb around and eventually just parked it out back. He offered it to me for $15.00, but my dad said a 12 year old didn’t need a ’48 Chrysler, no matter how nice it was. Wonder what ever happened to it- probably got towed the last mile and ended up in the gravel pit.
Had the ’46 DeSoto version of this in the early ’70’s, a great hauler! Remember sliding a full sized clawfoot bathtub into the trunk & fully closing the trunk lid.