AntiqueCarNut.com

This baby will give it to you!! Put that top down and go down the highway in the summer time!! It just has that zippy look doesn’t it? All us Chevy people know it was very difficult to distinguish a ’49 from a ’50 model. The only way I can tell is the hood ornament!! 1950 hailed the introduction of the 2 door hardtop for Chevy and one would think it would have hurt convertible sales as opposed to 1949, but surprisingly 418 more were sold in 1950 than 1949 in spite of the 2 door hardtop intro!! Must have been a warmer summer!!

This 1950 Chevy was restored and donated to the City of Helena in 1996 by Steve Wong, a local used car dealer. It was used in a raffle to help offset costs of routing participants in the Great American Race to come through Helena, Montana in June of 1996. The writer, Jim O’Connor, was Committee Chairman in making arrangements for the tour. One wouldn’t think this would be a big deal to have such a number of cars and people hit town all within 2 hours, but believe me it took a lot of doing on the part of a lot of people including the Governor of Montana and the the Mayor of Helena. 115 antique cars participated in the tour and all were parked diagonally on our main street, Last Chance Gulch, for the citizenry to view. We had over 14,000 people checking out the cars which was the largest crowd ever behind the parade immediately after World War Two. It took a lot of work, but it was sure worth it!!

This 1950 model convertible is the only one I’ve seen in Montana after living in the state 20 years and I only had the opportunity to see it once as the owner took it to Arizona and sold it at auction for an astronomical amount. It was a car of perfection! Montana is real convertible country after one survives the winters as there are so many beautiful places to see and a convertible makes it so much nicer for viewing. Put that top down and enjoy the scenery!! I lived in Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico most of my life and I can tell you I have seen many more convertibles in the Northwest than I ever saw in the southland. The source I am using shows that 32,810 convertibles were produced by Chevy in 1950. This compares to 2787 produced in 1938. Some increase!! I would guess that happened because all us guys that had been envious of the people that were lucky enough to have them in the 1930’s when we were growing up were now older and prosperous enough to own one for ourselves.