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Instruction Manual Included: 1927 Chevrolet

With the fall in the value of 1920s and ’30s autos there are some very nice cars to be had for very reasonable money. The old Chevy listed here on eBay was first used for parades after it was revived in 1975. Then, 16 or 17 years ago it was restored. The sale price of $9,500 or offer is far less than the cost of a restoration. It runs well but there’s no word on how it drives. This is not a show quality car, of course, but it will be a nice driver. It appears original and is said to have no rust or bondo. These are easy to drive cars and can be driven in most situations except for the freeway. 

The interior is not much like the original but it does look comfortable and nice.

This little 171 CID engine is only 25 horsepower but they do get these old Chevys around well. This one is said to run well.

This Chevy looks pretty good from this end as well. There’s nothing obvious that needs to be done for this to be a nice driver but there’s no word on the state of any mechanical systems.  The sale price of this car is much less than restoration costs and could be an inexpensive way to have a fun to drive old classic. I hope this car is kept original.

Comments

  1. Avatar Howard A Member

    What a great find. I can only think of the kids sitting around the kitchen table, “What do we do with dad’s old Chevy( that was his pride and joy) now that he’s gone”? All other children unanimously, “GET RID OF IT”! Sorry, I just don’t see a younger person “putt-putting” down the back roads at 39 mph in this. Quite frankly, I don’t think I’d want to do that either. I do think there are enough old-timers left that will snatch this up, but when THEY (we) die, guess what? I’d think just driving this to a show would be a harrowing experience. I hope someone gets to enjoy it.
    Question(s) Does anybody know what that “tin can” thing coming out of the exhaust is, and on the other side, what is that big black thing bolted to the firewall?

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    • Avatar Dean

      The thing bolted to the firewall on the driver’s side is a vacuum actuated fuel pump. Not sure which time can thing on the exhaust you’re referring to, but the horizontal thing over the exhaust is the horn…
      I would love to have this car, as it is exactly the same as the first new car my grandfather ever bought.

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      • Avatar Howard A Member

        Thanks, Dean. I figured that had something to do with fuel. The other thing, behind the horn, looks like a coffee can grafted into the headpipe.

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    • Avatar Dean

      The “coffee can” thing that looks like it is grafted on to the exhaust side is actually part of the carb air intake. From the right side of the engine, you can just glimpse a flex pipe running behind the engine, and on the picture of the left side of the engine you can see that flex pipe terminating at the carb. I think (but I’m not sure) that the vertical “coffee can” was open on the bottom and allowed fresh air to mix with the exhaust before being drawn into the carb. Weird set-up for sure…

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      • Avatar Mike

        The other tank sitting on the firewall is the vacuum fuel pump. It has a vacuum line going from the intake to the top of the tank. It uses suction to draws gasoline to the tank then uses gravity to feed gasoline to the carburetor

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  2. Avatar Jay E.

    Howard, Gave you a thumbs up, not for the sentiment, but for the reality. That is exactly what happened with my Dads perfect 1912 Model T. 100 years old and it sold for a song as no one wanted to use up space in their garage.
    These old cars are a great value, but not very practical in today’s hurry up world and even as much as I like them, I only drove his T 50 or so miles a year. And for that time behind the wheel there was a Saturday or two gone to devote to tinkering to make it function again. I was surprised the grand kids showed zero interest in a car that was part of grandpas life and their childhood. But that is just the way it is. I saw what will happen to my cars and will sell them myself in a few more years.

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  3. Avatar Fred W.

    A few years back I bought a 1919 Chevrolet, already restored, from Hershey. I found it to be very impractical even for a trip up to the convenience store, and my wife wouldn’t ride in it. These old cars, as wonderful as they were for their time, may be relegated to parades and car shows now. Here’s the link to a test drive video I shot, after getting the clutch unstuck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWKtF2-37YM

    I eventually sold the car and got a ’51 Kaiser, which drove great on the backroads but was not up to the interstate. Currently have a ’66 TBird that definitely is.

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    • Avatar Howard A Member

      Hi Fred, was that the wife chasing after you with a rolling pin? Thanks for the ride along. I doubt many would even know how to shift a “crash-box”. ( non-synchro) Had a howl, like most crash-boxes. I see the clutch had a nasty chatter too. They really were for a simpler time.

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    • Avatar Brad C

      Boy are you confident, Fred! “Fiddled with the brakes” and headed straight down the first big hill you could find!! : )~

      I’ll bet you’re not the first person to progress from a ’19 Chevy, to a ’51 Kaiser, to a ’66 T-bird. You just did it in a much more compressed timeframe.

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  4. Avatar Rando

    I would only want to see one ofthese as someone else’s car. Neat to see them putting along, but wouldn’t want the hassle myself. And would hate to hot rod something like this. I wouldn’t have the heart to do it. I know some folks would though.

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  5. Avatar nessy

    I don’t know guys, I’ll say it again, at only 40ish, I am a true fan of Pre War 2 cars and have several Pre War 1 cars in my collection with a 1905 Cadillac being my oldest. I find it to be a thrill that is almost impossible to describe driving around in a 100 year old car. My family and I dress up in old time clothing and I put on my top hat for a Sunday ride to the park or for ice cream. I bring along a stereo to play my CD recordings of early music. A number of my friends in their 30’s and 40’s also love the old stuff and I don’t mean street rods. I know a local guy who just turned 30 and bought himself a stock Model T Ford for his birthday. New blood will always come along ready to buy. It’s a cycle that will always continue. Look how many younger guys that are now into the early brass cars? Watch the auctions close and see who is buying up all the brass cars now, guys in their 40’s and 50’s who are just starting to come into some spending money for investments.

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    • Avatar Brad C

      I hope you’re right, Nessy! I’m 43 and am cut from that cloth as well — just because these cars weren’t part of MY generation doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them. I’m afraid the group you’re describing may not be large enough to provide a home for all these cars, but I hope I’m wrong. I’d like to see all those Brooklyn hipsters with their handlebar mustaches — and tattooed Portland chicks with their letterpress machinery… scoop up these oldies and care for them as much as our grandparents did.

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      • Avatar grant

        I’m with Nessy and Brad. I’m 41, I’ve said it before but these cars are living history and I love them. Just look at that. It’s gorgeous. Interior needs to be restored to stock but otherwise perfect. I love seeing hundred year old (ish) cars running, driving and making noise. Maybe not practical as drivers but who’s buying this as a driver? It’s a toy. A really cool old toy. It’s fine if no one else likes them. I’m watching the falling values with a smile cause it means that when I have the space (soon…) there will be a “T”, an “A” and maybe one or two more prewar sculptures in my garage. So ya, nothing to see here, move along…

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      • Avatar geomechs Member

        Hi guys. I think the hobby has cycles and each generation has its own attractions. For example I don’t think there’s as much interest in muscle cars today as there was even 10 years ago. At a couple of show-n-shines last summer I noticed far more youngsters eyeballing the old stuff than there used to be. There was an old Binder dealer brought his pristine 1913 Auto Wagon to one show in the mountains each year (unfortunately he passed on this last September so last August was his last) and the last show he was bombarded with kids in their teens crawling around that relic, looking at that massive boxer 2-cyl. motor and couldn’t wait to hear that thing run. One kid said that he’s sick of seeing Cudas, Challengers and Camaros, and really enjoys the older, more unique stuff.

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    • Avatar Howard A Member

      Hi nessy, that’s really cool. To be clear, I don’t think we are implying interest is completely dead. However, and perhaps because of your age, you may not notice it, but as old-timers, we see a slow decline in interest in these over the years. As I’ve said, at shows I’ve been to in the last year out east, which I would think is a pretty good indicator of the hobby interests, maybe 10 to 1, resto-mods to originals, and of the originals, all old folks. I hope there is a turn around in interest. These are so opposite of our hurry up world today, not sure it fits peoples lifestyles.( say like a 396 Chevelle) Have fun.

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  6. Avatar z1rider

    I had a friend who was an avid hunter and outdoorsman. He announced one day that he had purchased a scope for his pistol and I took the bait and asked why? He told me that hunting deer was just too easy with a rifle. He wanted more of a challenge.

    I think that is part of the appeal of the cars from this era. They challenge your ability to keep them running and they require some mechanical aptitude just to drive them properly. There’s nothing quite like pulling off a perfectly crunch-less downshift when you learn to double clutch a crashbox properly. You even have to allow for the temperature of the transmission lube when starting off cold as it will affect the interval for the input shaft speed to fall when upshifting.

    Not for everyone for sure.

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  7. Avatar z1rider

    Oh and about this car. Last year for 2 wheel brakes. The 28’s got them for the front wheels. This car has a single exhaust port/exit from the head. For 1928, the last year for the 4 cylinder, there were two. A lot of these are coming out of the woodwork.

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  8. Avatar speedo

    Several of you are a little hard on cars of the ’20s. I have a 1927 Hudson which cruises easily at 50-55 mph and it has four wheel brakes. A stock ’27 Hudson did 1000 miles and 24 hours at an average speed of around 75 mph, and sprinted to over 100 mph, (I’m too lazy to look it up). :) It has a 288 ci F head overhead valve motor with lots of aluminum castings. Drive what the moonshiners drove and you will be comfortable in most driving around town.

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    • Avatar Howard A Member

      Hi speedo, very nice car, however, this Chevy ain’t no Hudson.

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  9. Avatar Mark S

    I have to agree with Howard the interest has drop but not disappeared. It’s good to here that a younger guy like Nessy is into them, but I’d go as far as to say that the waining interest is all the way up to early 50’s cars. I’m 56 years old and I can count on one hand the number of guys even my age that want anything to do with a vintage car. And I’ve been to the local Mopar club meets and I’m the youngest guy there. So what does that tell you about the current trend. I’m sorry but if you want to get younger guys interested in these old auto’s restomods NOT HOTRODS are the way to go. People today can love the old car look but the want there conveniences so if you were to transform a car like the one posted here they would be more inclined to take notice. Think of this what if you were to take this car and install a fuel injected 4 cylinder Toyota engine in it with an SR 5 transmission and the rear axle out of a Tacoma pickup and maybe it’s front suspension too. All this while leaving the body alone. Then on the inside Put in better front seats while also adding a GPS and wireless phone system and top things off with an a/c system out of the same donor car that gave you the engine. The younger guy might not want it to drive every day but when he did want to bring it out he would enjoy the experience so much more. Now some of you will think this idea less than ideal, but if it will keep this car from rotting away in a Copart salvage yard than I’m all in.

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    • Avatar Howard A Member

      Hi Mark, maybe a few “power-ports”, wait, I think this still 6 volts. I too am for resto-mods for the reasons you said. It keeps it out there and usable. I guess my point, is it’s already usable, as is. It would be a shame to undo what this person did to it, kept it original. Like I say, I think there’s enough interest to keep this car as is, but there may not be enough interest ( or knowledge) to restore one that needs rebuilding.

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  10. Avatar Mark S

    A crazy notion came to me about keeping interest up on these cars. I think it would be a blast to take these old cars to the track and have vintage drag racing. Cars would have to be stock with only period enhancements allowed. Racing would be done by categories based on year and engine size. There could be a country fair set up on site and a good time could be had by all. Call me crazy but at least these cars would no longer just be a static display in a parking lot somewhere.

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    • Avatar Brad C

      Heck, you could make it a demolition derby; by the end of the evening you’ll have increased the resale value of all the cars that *didn’t* participate! : )~

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    • Avatar Mike

      great thought….. they have two events, one in New Jersey and the other in California. Called Race of Gentlemen

      All orders cars drag racing at the beach in the sand…. one heck of a turn out for a recent event at Pismos Beach California

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  11. Avatar Graywolf

    I had a 1930 Model A coupe in high school-1963. Most of the kids had 55-57 Chevys, woodies and newer cars. Mine was different from the rest and a bunch of fun. Never had an empty seat in front or in the rumble seat, the girls loved the car! The surfboards hanging over the back worked as shade! Not stock, reworked 4-cylinder, bright yellow paint, Astro wheels and Casler cheater slicks! Great fun, didn’t need a newer car!

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  12. Avatar Jake S.

    In the vain of what Howard A. and others have said about the younger generation, I thought I’d add a little note of encouragement for the commentators here. I’m 21, and have had an insatiable interest in the cars of the ’40’s and ’50’s since I was a wee lad. Packards, Hudsons, Nashes (which i have a personal connection with), Kaisers, even Chevys and Fords from that era have been on my radar since day one. When I was 16, I was a hair away from making a ’50 Studebaker my first car. All this to say we’re still out there. Just don’t give up on us. And, if a kid shows interest in your car, show him interest back. You never know what kind of impression that could leave on him.
    Thanks,
    Jake

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    • Avatar Howard A Member

      Hi Jake, that’s really cool. Us old farts are so easy to give up on the younger generation ( like my father did before me). It’s really up to the younger generations themselves to promote the hobby, and perhaps, if other young people see other young people doing this (as opposed to a bunch of complaining old fogeys pissin’ and moanin’) there could indeed be a turnaround. The bad part of all this, is it takes even more determination today, because they are expensive, not like when we were younger ( when I restored my 1950 Packard,( in the early ’80’s) I had 5 cars, the good one, and 4 parts cars. I bought 2 ’49 parts cars, just to get a visor, for $300) That’s why it’s so different today. Thanks for keeping the hobby alive, and show your friends.

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  13. Avatar Tara

    Love it, Want it.

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    • Avatar Howard A Member

      Hi Tara, I can teach you how to drive a crash-box ( I know, that was a cheap shot) :)

      Like 0

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