Since I began writing for Barn Finds, I have discovered that the classics we feature can be quite eclectic. While Kei Cars sit at one end of the spectrum, this 1936 Chevrolet/FitzJohn Airport Limo sits at the other. It spent a few years in a museum, but is destined for a new home. It requires restoration, but you can be fairly sure that you wouldn’t park this vehicle beside an identical example at your local Cars & Coffee. The seller has listed the Limo here on eBay in Hershey, Pennsylvania. They have received no bids on an auction that opened at $8,000. However, it appears there’s no reserve, so you could potentially become this classic’s new owner with a single click.
Formed in 1919, the FitzJohn-Erwin Manufacturing Company became the FitzJohn Body Company in 1935. Based in Muskegon, Michigan, it specialized in building buses, branching out into producing twelve to fifteen-seat “Autocoaches” in 1931. Chevrolet sedans proved popular as a starting point, with this 1936 example based on a stretched Master Deluxe. The company cut the frame and body, lengthened them, and added an integrated roof-mounted luggage rack. These vehicles proved popular for transporting airport passengers, although many saw military service during World War II. The seller indicates that a previous owner donated this FitzJohn to the Museum of Bus Transportation in Hershey, Pennsylvania, a few years ago. However, it recently suffered flood damage and now has a Salvage Title. The seller indicates that the water didn’t rise higher than the wheels and had no mechanical impact. They admit it requires a total restoration, including a spare parts chassis in the deal. The panels look remarkably good, and there are no significant paint or trim issues. The close-up shots reveal rocker rust behind the enormous running boards, but there is no information surrounding the state of the floors or the frame. This is a case where the buyer could hope for the best, but brace for the worst.
If you ignore the view to the rear, it would be easy to consider this a pretty ordinary 1936 Chevrolet Master Deluxe. It features a cloth-covered bench seat, matching door trims, and a painted dash with standard gauges and switches. There is evidence of moisture damage on the lower door trims and seat, but these may respond positively to careful deep cleaning. The worst-case scenario is a retrim, which would increase the restoration cost. Otherwise, the dash and wheel look excellent, and the plated components appear free from major problems.
Okay, this is where this old Chevy becomes genuinely interesting. The 1936 Master Deluxe could seat up to six people if one were comfortable with straddling the shifter. This FitzJohn pushes out the boat, providing room for at least fourteen occupants. That makes it ideal for enthusiasts with large families. FitzJohn focused on quality with its civilian models, utilizing mohair on the upholstered surfaces. Sadly, this classic’s back seats aren’t as nice as the front, and the door trims look pretty sad. However, the headliner is excellent, representing one less thing requiring attention during this restoration.
It is unclear how much weight FitzJohn added during the stretching process, but it is guaranteed that this Limo is a heavy beast. The upgrade didn’t include mechanical enhancements, meaning this car’s 206ci six-cylinder engine will deliver approximately 79hp to the rear wheels via a three-speed manual transmission. Acceleration off the line would be modest, to say the least. However, once moving, the vehicle should roll along the road quite comfortably. The seller confirms that despite the flooding, this classic runs and drives. It is unclear whether it requires work to be considered genuinely roadworthy, but it appears to be a sound foundation for achieving that goal.
Variety is the spice of life, as demonstrated by this 1936 Chevrolet/FitzJohn Airport Limo. It needs work, but it would undoubtedly turn heads once returned to its former glory. I made an interesting discovery when researching this story. It appears that this Limo may have enjoyed a brief stint on the Silver Screen. An identical example appeared in the 1984 movie, Maria’s Lovers. Admittedly, the film wasn’t a blockbuster, and the vehicle only appeared for a few moments. However, the movie car featured the same paint shade and signage, and I question whether two identical examples of such a rare classic exist. Therefore, if a unique vehicle with potential Hollywood heritage is on your Wish List, this Chevrolet/FitzJohn could be an affordable contender.
This is a really neat piece of history right here. I can only imagine that poor 6 cylinder trying to get this up and moving with a full load of people and luggage on board. But look at those beautiful body lines, when Fitz John stretched it, they did a great job keeping all the beautiful flowing lines. Until I read this, I never heard of this company before, and learned something new this morning watching the snow drinking a cup of coffee. Thank you for all your research Adam and the great history lesson. Hopefully someone will save it.
IIRC, Chevies still had wooden door frames in 1936
Just another consideration to make
Really interesting vehicle and hard to see anyone other than another museum ponying up for it. If someone wanted to invest some money into refitting it with a modern engine and transmission, redoing the interior to be a modern limo….but it would be serious investment. BTW, there are 4 seats and no jump seats, so this one handles 11-12 people (11 assuming 2 in front) and if you hope to get 14 in, they better be kids or skinny. Still impressive for 1936 and not a bus. Notice the chock by the right rear wheel. Some mechanical work required in addition to the body and interior. Shows 1 bid so far, but that could be the lister themselves.
There are no skinny people anymore
If it were on my side of the country I would do it. The extra chassis and the length and weight here would probably set me back 5Gs just to get it to me :(
What an unique vehicle. Adam, thank you for the research. I am sorry to see it parked in the snow. By your pictures a restoration would not be too hard as the majority of it is already done. The main thing would be suspension, brakes, and checking out the power train for water damage. Not a concourse vehicle, but one you could enjoy at shows, Cruise In’s, and Cars and Coffee as long as you had a BIG enough garage to house it.
Learn something new every day. I’ve never heard of this company before. Poor little six cylinder powering this beast when loaded with passengers. Wouldn’t a straight eight have been a better choice?
Interesting limo! The little six cylinder would grunt to move this beast. Stuffing a V8 into the engine bay would help. Wonder also about heat for the passengers in the winter, don’t think the heater would warm the passengers any further than the first two rows of seating.
Would certainly be an attraction at any car show!
Little sixes like this one powered many a farm truck back in the day, and they hauled 4500 lbs of grain. No fast takeoff, and a top speed of about 35 MPH but lots of grunt for short haul airport use.
That is a very good point Dean. Its probably geared quite low, and the straight six has good torque.
Exactly. It’s all about the gearing. You won’t go fast but it’ll move. I have a 13 hp micro car. It can hit 45mph but for hills, you have to go to first gear but it does the job.
This engine doesn’t have the typical “2 bolt valve cover ” that the old rabbit pounder 216s had. Is it the original,? Or has it been replaced with a later issue 235?
Still a cool car! You would need a barn to park it in out of the sun. It would fit in my garage. But no work would happen after that. I would hope that this has a truck 4speed with a granny first gear!
Very cool automobile. Aside from needing a total restoration, it received the death blow of having a salvaged title… someone has to really love this to take it on, thanks for posting this.
Salvage title usually means insurance already paid for it.
Get a rebuilt vehicle title and get on with life.
Not hard at all depending upon your state of residence.
No Carfax so no foul.
Title status on a car of this age is not that big a deal.
I know in my state of residence I could easily get a clear title for this vehicle.
Didn’t GM use a whole lot of wood in the bodies of their cars until 1937? If needed, that would be ALOT of work. Go look at it in person if you are interested
Cool car but a very sad story. I’ll bet it stinks inside!
Perhaps no stink. Report states SALVAGE TITLE, due to parking lot flood water up on wheels. Somewhat of a sad and unfortunate story. This is the 3rd Donated Free, Museum Donation I have seen in just the last few months, being sold at Auction. All somewhat unique and rare cars. All suffering some sort of unfortunate, yet preventable damage. Years ago I made a significant Museum library after meeting with the Curator. My original documents were needed to complete the Museum library. However, after Cherry Picking my sizeable, and perhaps irreplaceable donation, the remaining materials were sold. We had a Permanent Library Collection Agreement. It was violated. I could have sold the entire collection myself, and retained the money. Trying to do the right thing and support the Museums. I worry that others like me will be disgusted with this casual Museum management philosophy and stop further donations. For me, the sale of my donation ended my future donation consideration for that Museum. Perhaps Curators will more carefully evaluate free donations before the Museums begin to struggle for material.
“The seller confirms that despite the flooding, this classic runs and drives.”
Correction: The seller states just the opposite.
“The car does run and drive but needs a total restoration” is what ads states.
Interesting vehicle. Totally impractical now, even when restored; but anyone who takes THIS on is not looking for practicality. And considering the size of Pottsvile, there probable was never more than one of these there. It had to be the movie car. Hemming’s in Bennington likes oddballs like this in their collection…
Our small group, the local Ford V-8 Club, had a very interesting tour of the Yuengling Brewery last fall in Pottsville Pa, the oldest continuously operating brewery. Pottsville is at the edge of coal country. The tour included the oldest part where the beer was kept cool in caves. Well, they made near beer and ice cream during prohibition but remained in business. Our young lady tour guide became bar tender for samples at end.
Nice unit! Lots of doors. It even has fold-down steps on the C and D pillars to access the roof rack. The roof-mounted tail lights and fender-mounted turn signals look like late 40s additions.
As comments note, the standard Chevy six would need a low rear ratio to get the heavy unit moving. A bigger concern would be slowing or stopping this heavy unit in normal traffic. I have a standard 37 Chevy sedan and its brakes are adequate on an open road with no other traffic. But I’d be uncomfortable in city traffic at 40 mph.
I bought a 90 grand wagoneer from country classics in stauton ill. After investing a lot of time and money put it in Hemmings Auction where we found out at some point the vehicle was whitewashed from having a salvage title. Hemmings removed it and I sold the vehicle at Mecum… lost my shirt. You cannot clear a salvage vehicle once insurance has paid the loss.
What is the issue with a salvage title? Does that mean we can transfer title to another state once purchased, and if so, would that state issue another salvage title? Can it be insured if repaired?
Mormon Family Truckster.
One of these Fitzjohns was on Barnfinds last year. I went to look at it but the seller was a dreamer as bad off as it was.
I was trying to attach image but not able to
the previous for sale was a 1942 war worker coach
I’ve always loved the International-Stageway 10 dr Airport Limousines, but I may love this one more…
What a cool old car, totally unrealistic, but way cool nonetheless. I’ll tell you what, if I was about 30 years younger, still lived in Vegas, and was feeling a bit frisky, I would snag this thing, do some restoration, put a mild 350 with a 700r4 in it and have a ball. Visitors to the strip would fall all over themselves to book a ride in something like this.
To me, the most amazing thing about this vehicle is its survival! It’s 90 years old, in relatively very good condition and it is quite large! It needed a large building to be stored in and kept in good condition. That was a true labor of ‘some kind of love’ ! Very cool vehicle !!
After looking at the engine pictures carefully. I see no draft tube. And the valve cover is a more modern one than would have come on this car. I believe that this isn’t the original engine. I believe that it has been replaced back in the ’50s with a 235 6 cylinder. engine.
That’s why I love this site – everyone is an expert in a set of vehicles with the details that everyone else needs for accurate evaluations, and provides food for thought for our next purchases/endeavors. Can always count on someone who specializes…or just has voluminous knowledge.
I think that has some low differential gears lots of power and torque but lacking high speed
Id like to see what the RING Bros. Could do with this
Now THAT could get interesting!