Asking $47,500.00
Reasonable Offers Encouraged
hevrolet was co-founded by Lousi Chevrolet and William C Durant. Louis Chevrolet was a race-car driver, born in 1878 in Switzerland. William Durant, founder of General Motors, had been forced out of GM in 1910 and wanted to use Louis Chevrolet's designs to rebuild his own reputation as a force in the industry. As head of Buick, prior to founding GM, Durant had hired Chevrolet to drive Buicks in promotional races. In 1911, Chevrolet entered the automobile market to compete with the Ford Model T. A year later, the "Classic Six" was introduced. The Classic Six was a five-passenger touring sedan equipped with a 299 in, six-cylinder engine capable of taking the car to a top speed of 65 miles per hour.Chevrolet first used its "bowtie"logo in 1913. This logo is said to have been designed from wallpaper Durant once saw in a French hotel. Another theory of the design of the mark is from the Swiss cross, because Louis Chevrolet was from Switzerland.
By 1916 Chevrolet was profitable enough to allow Durant to buy a majority of shares in GM. After the deal was completed in 1917, Durant was President of GM, and Chevrolet was merged into GM, becoming a separate division. In the 1918 model year Chevrolet introduced the Model D V-8 series 4-passenger roadster and 5 passenger touring. These cars had 288ci, 35 hp engines with Zenith carburetors and 3 speed transmissions. In the 1955model year Chevrolet introduced the most famous and versatile V8 Engine ever produced. It came out with 265 cubic inches and was offered in three versions. The basic 265 had a two-barrel Carburetor and was rated at 165 HP. Horsepower was increased to 185 with the addition of a four-barrel carburetor, and an underrated 195 HP version, called the "power pack" had a high lift solid lifter cam, high compression heads, and dual exhaust. This engine became a hit with hot rodders and almost overnight became the engine of choice replacing the flathead Ford engine as the hot rodders preferred motor. In 1955 the 265 cubic inch engine was one of the smallest V8 engines offered by the big three U.S. automakers; however, it gave similar-sized cars with far more powerful engines--like the 88-series Oldsmobile with its 324 cubic-inch "Rocket" engine--a run for their money. For example, a Chevy equipped with the power pack engine and a three-speed manual shift transmission can achieve 60 miles per hour from a standstill in 8.4 seconds, an astonishing feat for the time. Because his engine was placed in production only 15 weeks after authorization was given by management, the engineers did not have the necessary time to do the proper dynamometer testing and rate its horsepower prior to release. The untested engine rated at 185 H.P. when released in 1955 but was rated at 205 H.P. in 1956 after dynamometer testing. Because of its exceptional breathing ability a 225 H.P. option was available by adding two four-barrel carbs. The power pack engine for 1956 also had two four-barrel carburetors and was rated at 245 H.P. In 1957 the engine was increased to 283 cubic inches. This engine also had heads with larger valves and ports and the four-barrel carburetor engine was rated at 220 H.P. Two four-barrel's gave 245 H.P. A high performance version, with a high lift solid cam and fitted with heads that had even larger intake valves, called fuel injection heads by enthusiasts, was rated at 270 H.P. Fuel injection was also offered that year. Rated at 283 H.P., this was the first engine offered by U.S. auto manufactures to produce 1 H.P. per cubic inch. This rating, however, was again incorrect due to delayed production schedules for the Rochester fuel injection unit. After proper dynamometer testing, it was rated at 290 H.P. in 1958. Enthusiasts affectionately called this engine the "fuelie."
Famous Chevy models include the large and luxurious Impala (1958) and the innovative air-cooled rear-engined Corvair(1960 - 1969.) Chevrolet had a great influence on the American automobile market during the 50's and 60's. In 1963, one out of every ten cars sold in the United States was a Chevrolet.
Early examples of Chevrolets are far more rare then their contemporary Fords. This makes finding a nice example a daunting task to the Chevy collector. Here we have a very nice Phaeton in excellent running and driving condition. The car is very nicely restored having been completely cosmeticly redone about 5 years ago. The current owner has had the car for nearly 40 years! Only 219 of these were built, and a mere handful remain at best. The paint, brightwork, interior, and upholstery all are in excellent condition. The car features rear mounted spare, wire wheels, deluxe mascot, windwings, and more. This is a very very nice car
If you have been looking for a good classic era Chevrolet, I thing you will be hard pressed to find a better more drivable example.
