For Chevrolet, the 1938 Master Deluxe was something of a sales success, with nearly 303,000 cars sold in that year alone. This particular car is a one-family-owned vehicle and has been barn kept for its entire life. It is being sold to settle an estate, with bidding sitting at $7,100 in a No Reserve auction. The Chevrolet is located in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is listed for sale here on eBay.
The Chevrolet looks really straight and clean. The owner describes the paint as being very old, so I’m unsure whether this means that it’s original, or that it has had a repaint at some point in the past. There doesn’t appear to be any visible rust present in the car, and for older paint, it really looks quite good. Some of the external chrome is looking a bit tired, but I think that it would restore quite well. Yes, the new owner could choose to undertake at least a partial restoration of the car, but it could quite easily be driven exactly as it currently stands.
For a car of this age, the interior condition is impressively good. The owner says that the mohair covers on the seats are original, and while the front seat is showing a little bit of wear, the rear seat looks quite remarkable. Once again, some of the trim is looking a bit care-worn, but it is certainly serviceable as it is. There is staining and wear on the door trims, and I have my doubts as to whether these could be cleaned, but it might be worth investigating if the new owner wishes to maintain the vehicle’s originality. The front carpet isn’t original, but the rest of the interior is once again in quite nice condition.
Under the hood are the 216ci flat-head six and 3-speed manual transmission. The owner believes that the car stopped being used regularly in around 1952, but that isn’t necessarily bad news for the next owner. The tires are said to be pretty old and will need to be replaced. However, the car starts, runs, and drives. The owner says that the engine seems strong, the transmission shifts smoothly and that the brakes work well. He also says that the car is a lot of fun to drive. It seems to me that a thorough mechanical check and service is all that stands between this Chevrolet and a permanent return to the road, which is really good news.
It appears that I’m not the only person who sees plenty of potential in this old Chevy because bidding on the car has been really strong. I really love the look of this car, and I really like the overall originality as well. With a No Reserve auction, this car is now destined to head to a new home, and I would love to know what its ultimate fate will be. If you bought this Chevrolet Master Deluxe, would you undertake a restoration, or would you leave it as it is and just enjoy it?
Clean it up make it safe and drive it. Its to nice to restore.
for one thing if this is a flat head six I’ll eat a pound of yellow snow! chev never had a flat head engine pontiac and oldsmobile did and if this has that knee action front end under it wish you luck with that !
Everyone should be so lucky to have such a spot as where this one was stored.
Nearly 70 years, and it cleaned up to this appearance? Impressive.
No flat heads in these cars…. just overhead valve.
Knee action or straight axle front suspension ? Big difference. An informed buyer would want to know.
Mastrr deluxe had knee action standard had straight axle very clean nice car i would just drive it
This one has had a respray at some point as evidenced by the identification tags under the hood. Dad’s 38 needed paint so it got driven under the shade tree a 4 inch brush and a can of oil based house paint lol That is the first memory I have of any car. I was 6, so that would have been about 1952 when this one was taken out of regular service. Dad wouldn’t have anything but a 6 cyl Chevy and he had a fit when I bought my first car, a 46 Ford flathead V8 I guess that’s why I love Barn Finds so much, not only my lust for half the cars I see here, but the memories come flooding back.
@Howard A. I think that’s why most of us enjoy Barn Finds. We are either too old or too broke to be in the market for most of the offerings.
As a Master Deluxe, this has knee-action independent front suspension which some people say has problems and is difficult to maintain. I have a 37 and a 38 Chevy Master with the I-beam front axles and no problems with them.
These cars are easy to own/maintain already having hydraulic brakes, simple electrics, and excellent parts support from Chevs of the Forties in Vancouver, Washington.
The first flathead I’ve seen with a valve cover.
I get it. Just one quick look makes one wonder who wrote up this article. I really like this car and I sure wish I had the place to keep it…indoors, of course. IF…(that’s “IF” I had the place), I would restore to as much to original as possible. Upgrade to make it safe and drive it…date night, cruise-ins,etc. But, certainly not in today’s traffic. This would certainly be a head-turner and a conversation starter. Wow!
If it were not so cold in Ohio, I would fly up and buy this car today and have it shipped to Southern Florida where it would never have to suffer from the cold again. My garage has AC, so she would be comfortable year round. I would keep her exactly as she is and enjoy driving her for many years.
Cold ?!? It’s 43 degrees with clear skies in Ohio right now and that’s near Lake Erie ! And…..it’s warmer inland. Buy a plane ticket and pick her up…..today !
Other than doing any necessary maintenance and, adding a couple of outside rear view mirrors, I’d keep it just as it is. Just make it safe for the road and drive it.
Learned to drive in this car. I was 5 and my brother was 6. It had a throttle control on the dash. My dad would get it going in 1st gear. He would then jump on the running board and hop off. my brother and I would take turns driving it around in circles on the Baseball diamond behind the schoo while dad sat in an old canvas and wood lawn chair reading his newspaper. When we wanted to stop we yelled at Dad and he would hop on the running board push the throttle in and hop in. This happened at Mossbank High School in Mossbank Saskatchewan Canada. 1957. Mother did not like it.
Got a laugh from the mental video of how that would look to an observer, Dave!
Thanks for sharing that bit of family history.
you realize since you own 2 of them knee action was junk when new! thats why your cars have straight front axles my father changed lots of 36 and up chevs to straight axles to get rid of that knee action junk, ever wonder why so many of these master cars are turning up for sale as opposed to standard chevs? simple the people who bought masters got fed up with them and either sold them or shoved them in a barn and bought something else!