Before and after is how I’d describe this 1928 Chevrolet National as it is pictorially presented in two different forms – more on that to follow. As the seller states, “Not your average Ford model A which are all over the place still“. So with that thought in mind, let’s see what, if anything, is special about this old bowtie. It is located in Littleton, Colorado and is available, here on craigslist for $17,000. Thanks to MattR for this tip!

To my surprise, I discovered that the 1928 Chevrolet National, known as a Series AB, was a one-year-only offering. It followed the AA Capitol of 1927 and was succeeded by the AC International of 1929. Production was brisk with almost 1.2 MM copies being assembled that year and surprisingly topped Ford’s uber-successful Model A’s output of just over 700K units. The National’s body styles included two-door coupes and roadsters and four-door sedans and tourers.

So, what happened here? The seller states, “Planned to make it into a dry lake racer style hotrod and drive it in this year’s hotrod hill climb in Central City but the event was canceled“. So that explains what happened to the missing body parts. And the parts aren’t actually missing as they’ll go with the sale. In stripped-down form, this Chevy presents well, the seller adds, “The back quarters are a custom handmade fiberglass that are perfect. All new oak framing throughout the entire car“.  All of that said, I would have been hard-pressed to convert this formerly beautiful Chevy into some kind of hot rod – personal preference of course, but I would have left it as is. I’m not sure I understand the motivation to sell due to a canceled event. There’s always next year, right?

Under the hood resides the original, rebuilt 171 CI in-line four-cylinder engine. We are advised that a 40 MPH top speed is about all she wrote; so much for dry lake racing. But wait, there’s more! An 80 HP, 216 CI “Stovebolt” in-line six-cylinder motor will get thrown in with the deal too. I’m assuming that it will fit, but that’s just an assumption. The typical three-speed manual transmission drives this National’s rear wheels.

I always like to provide the low down on the interior of every car that I review but I can’t in this case because there is no image or description. Safe to say, it’s a small, spartan environment. I can show you the interior of the trunk, which I know is a poor substitute for one of the interior, but it does detail the fine oak framework. The curvature of the trunk lid frame is especially impressive!

It’s what to do with it time! I’d put it back together as it was before the seller messed with it. If I were going to go hot-rod racing, I’d emulate Ford and go with a small V8 and forget about the Stovebolt. In original form, however, it was a fine-looking car and a great alternative to the ubiquitous Ford Model A. Methinks this one should be preserved as originally intended. But that’s just my ranting for today, what would you do with this 1928 Chevrolet National?