AntiqueCarNut.com

That is the pitch Chevrolet used in promoting the new Independence AE series for 1931!! The coupe came as pictured with 5 windows, but was also available with only 3 windows-priced at $545.00 and $535.00 respectively. Chevy also produced a five window that included a rumble seat and called it a Sport Coupe for $30.00 more than the regular five window unit. As you browse through the cars on this site, it won’t take you long to figure out I am very partial to ’31 and ’32 models as you will see so many of them!! I am always taken by their beauty!!

Owners-Jim and Alice O’Connor
I, Jim, have loved this car from the minute I laid eyes on it while it was displayed on the showroom floor of Northcutt Chevrolet in Enid, Oklahoma. When I saw it, I determined right then, we had to own it!! And we did the following day!! It now has 215,000 miles on it and has been enjoyed by Alice and myself as well as our four children all these years. It’s color matched Alice’s brown eyes, so I knew she would love it!! And she always has!!! Come summer time, it is a real joy to put the top down and cruise around the country and it has seen a lot of the United States of America!! We have been members of the Montana Pioneer Antique and Classic Auto Club, Capital Carriages Chapter, Helena, Montana for the past 18 years and can’t tell you how many great times we have enjoyed with our fellow members!! If you are a Montanan and wish to join a chapter[we have 10] in the state just look at the right hand column of this website and you will find a link to the Montana Pioneer Antique and Classic Auto Club-just click on it and it will show the chapter nearest where you reside. If you want to join a particular make national auto club, the major ones are also listed for your convenience. Happy motoring!!

In 1930 this beautiful auto could be purchased at a base price of $515.00. There was a more inexpensive model priced at $495.00, but it did not include a rumble seat. Not surprisingly 27,561 purchasers went for the rumble as opposed to 5,684 for the non rumble, which proves the point, if you are going to go-go first class!! From the inception of Chevy, 72% of them were still in use in 1930. Sometime in the 1930’s, Chevy produced it’s 7 millionth vehicle!! Lot’s of Chevys running around the country!!

1928 was a year of great celebration for Chevrolet Motor Division in that the 5 millionth Chevy was produced. More than ever before their advertising was targeted towards women and it paid off!! Looking at this beauty, it is no wonder their sales in ’28 were so great!! For the writer, it is very difficult to distinguish a 1927 from a 1928 model, but from research I find the wheelbase of the 1928 models was stretched 4 inches to accommodate the oncoming 1929 6 cylinder engines. This can be seen by looking at the 4 inches longer hood of the ’28’s.

Chevy made just the right exterior cosmetic changes from the 1937 models when they came out with the 1938 models, even though the number was modest. The obvious changes were the hood louvres and the horizontal grill versus the vertical in the 37’s. I personally do not like the standard hood ornament-I think it should have looked more like the 1937 optional ornament-kind of a flying lady!! Even though to some of us it was a nice facelift, it is apparent the buying public didn’t think so as sales of this model in 1937 totaled 56,166 versus 36,108 in 1938!! –

I have always wondered why anyone owning a 1931 or 1932 Chevy didn’t have this applique on the dash. As of the day I am incorporating this item on the site I find $23.50 plus shipping will buy one from The Filling Station located in Lebanon, Oregon-phone number 1-800-841-6622. If you don’t have one, this is where you can get it and add a lot to the appearance of yor dash!!

We all look back and ask ourselves why did I do this or why didn’t I do this!! In this case, my queston to me is why didn’t I buy a Chevrolet convertible in 1951 when I was a dashing Air Force Lieutenant and had the chips to do it? All my buddies were buying new cars and I always wanted a new Chevy convertible, so why didn’t I cut loose and get one? I’ll tell you why!! It would have cost me roughly 25 percent more than a Styline 2 door model!! Believe it or not, I do have a conservative side somewhere in my brain!! As proof, I opted for a Styline 2 door that was solid gray!! I look at this beautiful red convertible and ask myself, what was I thinking? I’m looking at all the chrome on this car and don’t believe the owner missed any options.

1941 Chevrolet production ran it’s full model year and 1942 models were introduced, but due to World War Two, all Chevrolet production ceased in February 1942. Any kind of material went to war!! As a result of the war, it was very difficult to find a good used car, however, we had a used car dealer in my little hometown of Waynoka, Oklahoma, population 1800, that was very adept at finding nice units. His name was Red Ritter. He found a 1941 Special Deluxe two door that was absolutely flawless and he loved to show it off every evening by driving very slowly around the town square for all to see. It was a real pretty medium color green adorned with every chrome item made for a 1941. At that time as an after market item, canvas door awnings were available in dark green and his car even had them. Did I ever envy him watching him drive around! Financial times were not good for my family from 1932 until 1948 when my Dad started to hit one jackpot after another and in 1948, he traded our 1936 Chevy for a 1941 just like Red’s only black. What a jump!! The coupe pictured sure reminded me of that car and how I loved it!!

I’m sure you younger people are not aware that DeSoto was once a very fine automobile. The nameplate was discontinued in 1960 after 32 years. When first introduced, the intent was to put it in competition with the mid priced class of General Motors, Studebaker, and Willys-Knight. The name came from a spanish explorer, Hernando de soto. During it’s production era, slightly over 2,000,000 units were manufactured. The car pictured is a fine example of the first year car produced by DeSoto Motor Corporation, a division of Chrysler Motor Corporation. It featured a six cylinder engine that produced 55 horsepower. Cost of this model when new was $885.00 which was exactly $200.00 more that a top of the line 1929 Chevrolet four door sedan.

Glacier National Park!! The most enjoyable way of seeing all the sights of the park is by one of these buses. If memory serves me right 37 of them [1937 and 1938 models]total served Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks when they were new. Buses used in Glacier were painted red and yellow for Yellowstone. As recent as 6 years ago Ford Motor Company completely refurbished them for further use in the parks. Included were new motors, automatic transmissions, new interiors and new paint. I would guess they accommodate 20 passengers. The driver also serves as the park guide telling the history of the parks, describing the mountains and glaciers and with all the windows and the center of the roof folded back, all the driver talks about are easily seen. I have a convertible and have done both parks in it and I can tell you unequivacably, seeing the parks in it do not come near the joy of seeing via the bus!!

While attending an antique car show in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho several years ago, I saw this car and it dawned on me that this body style car is the logo car of the Vintage Chevrolet Club of America. I’ve always thought the club could not have picked a cuter car for the logo. When new, the base price of this car was $615.00 and it came standard with wire wheels, rumble seat and a roll down rear window so those in the front seat could communicate with the folks enjoying thre rumble. I have been noting as I go along writing the copy for my pictures how the horsepower of the Stove Bolt Six engine increased over the years due to refinements made by Chevrolet. When the engine was first introduced in 1929 the horsepower rating was 46 and the rating in 1930 had risen to 50. I personally never did like the looks of the 1929 dashboard cluster and was glad it was refined for the 1930’s. One of the best refinements shown on the new 1930 cluster was a gas guage. In order to check how much gas was in the tank in 1929, it was necessary to go to the right rear of the car body and there was the guage! Not too handy especially on a cold winter night!!

This picture was taken at a VCCA 5 year rally held in Grand Junction, Colorado in 2006. I really had some reservations about driving over 700 miles to attend this rally, But!!! I had just registered myself and my wife as attendants and was walking out of the lobby of the rally headquarters hotel when this car appeared at the hotel entrance. Seeing it really made my day and the trip well worth it right then!! Outstanding is the only way to describe the beauty of this car. I have seen many 1931 roadsters, but none ever compared to this one! Chevy added just the right touches to make the predecessor 1929 and 1930’s pale in comparison to the 1931’s! Many people must have thought the same as me in that a whopping 24,050 of these gems were produced in spite of the depression being in full swing!

Chevrolet continued it’s model streamlining for all it’s 1934 models and the Sports Roadster was no exception. Three features which stand out in all 1934’s Master Series were the beautiful dash instrument panel cluster, which had been modified from the 1933 models, introduction of Knee Action front suspension and the engine horsepower raised from 65 in the 33’s to 80 in the 34’s. This was about the midway point in horsepower revisions made by Chevy from 1929 through 1954 in that horsepower rating of the six cylinder was up to 125 in the 1954 models. Sports Roadster production had really dwindled from 1931 as a for instance. Production figure for the Sports Roadster in 1931 was 24,050 and the 1934 figure was 1,974.