Squirreled away between a mountain of detritus, tools and some other cars is this 1949 Chevrolet Styleline four-door sedan. Ford’s complete remake for 1949 stole the automotive show and placed them front and center, but their crosstown rival, Chevrolet didn’t just sit back and let Ford run off with the market. Chevrolet added some post-war currency to their designs by, among other things, ditching the pre-war pontoon fenders. This Styline (it’s incorrectly listed as a Fleetline but correctly identified by the VIN tag) is referenced as being part of a collection being sold from an estate but it looks more like a driver that’s just been parked for a while. It is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and is available, here on eBay for $1,725, with six bids tendered so far. Thanks to Larry D for this tip!
Chevrolet offered two different models in 1949, the Fleetline, which has a sloped, or fastback design, and the Styline, such as this example, which features a more rounded rear roofline. Two different trim levels were available for either model, the standard “Special” or the notch above “DeLuxe” trim. Ford won the sales contest for 1949 by about 108K units over Chevrolet’s, still substantial, 1M total.
Our subject car is capable of performing, “lot drives off of a gas can under the hood” thanks to its 90 HP, 216 CI, in-line six-cylinder engine, and three-speed manual transmission. And in the never-ending Chevrolet/Ford competition, this is one place where Ford continued with its upper hand thanks to its well-known, 100 HP, flathead V8 engine. Chevrolet only offered this six-cylinder engine in ’49 whereas Ford offered a six as well as its V8. The mileage of this Styleline is recorded as 86K miles, so the engine, assuming that there are no major issues, should still have a bit of life to it. It is certainly intact looking and someone has fought the temptation to replace the original oil bath air cleaner with a cheesy looking, undersized, open-element piece.
The body of this Chevy still looks pretty good absent all of the surface rust, though the seller states that the rocker panels will need some attention. Actually, the problem goes beyond rockers and extends into the front fender wheel openings. While the front bumper and grille are fair, it is interesting to see how a sizeable amount of chrome plating has peeled away from the rear bumper. The seller notes that he has the standard fender skirts, they currently reside in the trunk. The wheels are an unusual choice as they appear to be early ’70s Chevelle/Nova/Camaro rally wheels. Finally observed is the sun visor, it is certainly a fitting addition to a car of this era!
The interior has a typical old car vibe going on with stained door panels, upholstery, and headliner. It’s all cosmetic, however, as it shows to be basically a sound setting. While the rubber floor mat is missing, at least you can get a good look at the integrity of the floors – nothing problematic spotted. The instrument panel, restrained for this era car, shows well, the gauge pod is clear and the stainless trim is still bright. I am debating that turn signal lever and box, it looks like an afterthought.
Other than the wheels, this ’49 Styleline exudes originality though, observing its condition, it seems like an odd member of a collection – it just looks like an old car that has been garaged away. And it is its age and condition that is this car’s strong suit as it is not a particularly sought-after or valuable model. But, with a bit of sprucing up, it would be a nice addition to a formal or informal auto collection, wouldn’t you agree?
Had one back in the late ’70s. Mine was
a 2300 GK Super DeLuxe 4-door sedan
like this one only minus the sun visor.
Mine also ran and drove on its own and
was in rougher shape than this one as
the driver’s side rear door and quarter
panel were in bad shape due to a botched repair on that side. My interior
was in the same shape or slightly better
shape than this one and the radio was also MIA. The turn signals were an option on all models that year and mine
had them too. The 216 in my car was long gone when I got it and was running
a ’53 235 straight 6 and a 3 on the tree.
Sorry folks, but I can’t resist putting a
Powerglide tranny in this one if I owned
it so that my niece and my SIL could drive it more easily. Overall, it won’t
take long to get the old gal running again. Just add some new tune up parts, change the oil, fresh gas, and
hand choke it and she’ll start right up.
BTW, change the fuel pump and clean
out the sediment bowl on the carb and
she’ll run forever. She’ll make a great
car for someone, just wish it was me!
Yep, she’s a cool ‘ol beast for sure. I’ve never been a fan of four door cars. But, they did come in handy on certain occasions. Back in the day, automotive improvements were sometimes hard fought. Compare mechanical brakes to hydraulic and drum to disc just to name a couple. My vision of the future is cars will someday have no wheels. Imagine that.
Additionally, when cars sit for long periods of time, the front tires usually go phlat before the rear ones, but not always.
The front tires have more weight bearing down on them due to the motor, so they usually suffer first. You know, Post Traumatic Tire Syndrome?
Best is to store your beast on approved jack stands at the front.
That way when you come back from an interstellar tour of duty, she’ll be ready to roll. 🛸🚀
This is a neat car that might end up being a real bargain. I would do the minimum to make it a safe driver and enjoy the heck out of it.
BTW, is it just me, or does it drive anyone else crazy when some owners swap out the original rims and wheels to make a car look “cool”? It doesn’t add much to the car, IMHO, and destroys the appeal of the designers’ vision.
EXACTLY!!! The two front wheels appear to be from a Chevy truck of some kind – and they cheapen the looks of the car – while two rear wheels appear original to the car and have “correct” hubcaps.
That turn indicator deffinitely IS an after-market addition to the car. All cars of that perior, except maybe VW, used the standard left-arm-out-the-window turn indicator. REMEMBER???
Left arm straight out indicates a left turn. Left arm bent at elbow with hand beside car indicates stopping. Left arm bent at elbow with hand straight up indicates a turn to the right. Left arm at any angle with fingers twitching indicates flicking ashes off cigarette.
Front wheels are off a Camero. They are passenger wheels not from a truck. Probably loaners due to the phact the front originals whent phlat sometime back. Raw Yankee logic sez; use what ya got.
You can’t beat the original wheels and hubcaps. I find a lot of resto-mods still retain the stock-looking wheels…
Any concerns over the brake jury rigged brake pedal? Might be easily repaired, but this would be an important repair indeed.
I was wondering about that. First thought was that the brake light switch is out of adjustment and the bungee cord pulls the pedal up to keep the lights off. Then after looking at the under hood pics, I see the battery is not installed.
The lack of surface rust is more than made up for in the under the surface rust. The bottom edges of the fenders are gone, as well as the rust holes in the top of the rf fender. (Look at the eBay pics).
The turn signals switch box is aftermarket. Turn signals weren’t standard until a little later, 1953 if my failing memory is correct.
Your memory is OK, Fred. We had a 49 that Dad installed a T/S switch on. Seems every 30,000 miles it needed a valve job.
My dad had a couple of these back in the day!
Basically a great car. Bidding up to $2,050.00. Someone is going to get a nice project car. Yet, there is a lot of work needed on this baby…a lot of TLC. GLWTSAP.
I always pay attention when one of these comes out to play. My own ‘49 Styline came from a shed after a lengthy slumber. Fortunately mine wasn’t nearly the worst for wear like this one is. However this one is worth fixing providing you take those wheels “To The Train.” I find it interesting that my car, while nearly identical to this one, has the air cleaner on the RH side of the engine bay while this car, like the majority of other Chevys of this vintage, has it on top of the carb like it should be…
IRT Dave Taylors note, yep, that’s the way we were. My dad had an add-on electric turn signal kit installed on the ’49 Plymouth we had, likely exactly same as this car. That ’49 Plymouth station wagon was the ugliest maroon color; we were glad when he traded in in for a very attractive ’55 Plymouth station wagon with all that as standard equipment. Yes, he was a Plymouth guy, but never fell in love with a car.
It has a Texas license plate, but looking at the rust it spent a lot of time on the Texas coast or way up north.
My first car was a 49 Chev convertible. It was 10 years old and a complete rust bucket but to a 15 yr old it looked mighty good. Nosed and decked it and brush painted it red. The top barely kept out the snow. And yes, I did a valve job. Sold it to a buddy and he ran the rods out of it. Splash oiling.
in the late50’s a friend of mine had a 49(?) 2 door fastback 6. he paid $50 for it burned oil badly. when the car behind him ticked him off, he would shift to shift to second, wind it up and push the clutch in. a huge cloud of smoke would come out the exhaust. good laugh. carried a gallon can of recycled oil in the trunk, passenger seat was broke (held it up with a 2×4, great for drive in).
he painted with a brush in flat white and put gold flames on it. looked like crap, but it was the late 50’s.
had a lot of good memories. cant tell all the good stories here.