Hot Rods 1940s Chevys as Daily Driver. Whats Your Pick?

Unless you like driving a concrete truck with flat tyres, keep away from the 41-48 stock Chev front end. They have an integral top A arm and shock absorber set up. They are usually leaky and worn out by now. Unless you find one which has been rebuilt! ($$$$$$$!).

 

What about the 40? That less problematic?

 

Beam axle or standard independent king pin front end is OK. Not sure what the 40 had.

 

There is one more thing to note about 48 Chevys, the doors are very heavy or they seem that way to an 80 year old guy.

 

Goodness! The above mentioned "integral" set up is similar to most, if not all, GM cars of that era. The shock works as the top "A Frame" . Coil springs. One just has the things rebuilt.

Ben

 

What do you prefer about your 39 over the 40? Looks? I really like the beak on the 39. Very deco and nice. Whats the back seat situation on the 40?

 

No back seat….

 

Having owned both a 1940, and now a 1939 and both being coupes; I much prefer the 1939 over the 1940. No difference inside, or drivetrain, but the grilles on a 1939 are just much nicer looking to me than my 1940 grille was. And I like the little pod style taillights better too.
I've never been a sedan fan, so only a coupe appeals to my tastes. Sedans are the same wheelbase on these old cars, but they look huge next to a coupe to me.

 

What I'm still not fully sure of is the room in these things. I know a lot came with back seats, and I know they are a little tight, but are they okay? Will a regular adult human fit in the back seat okay? And trunk space, wossit like?

 

Back in about 1972 I was going to college and at times I hitched a ride from a fellow student in his '39 Chev coupe. Not a lot of room back there. You could probably adapt side facing opera seats like the ones in my Ranger pickup but that' about all.

 

I've got a '47 Fleetline Aero. Family heirloom & NFS. Hoping to build it someday. But, if you wanna import one, I got a friend who's selling his '42 coupe driver. It's on marketplace. <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/po...l&id=100004634717452&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="703" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe>

 

Back seats are large enough for adults unless the driver is extremely tall and keeps the front seat all the way back. Then it cuts down on foot space.
Trunks are huge! I've taken my '39 on long road trips with lots of coolers and baggage and no problems fitting it all in my trunk. Actually lots more trunk space in a coupe than a sedan's small trunk.

 

Just for reference, in a 46-48 Plymouth, your options were a Business Coupe (without a back seat at all), a Club Coupe (a 2 door 5 passenger car, has a back seat and a different raised roof line above the rear seat), or a 2 door or 4 door sedan (both 6 passenger, both the same size, only the 4 door was easier to get in or out of the back seat). All of these cars had the same wheel base. The shape of the body and the position of the back seat determined how much trunk space was available, how much rear seating area was available, or how much head rood the back seat passengers had. The business coupe was the most sporty version with the longest trunk. If you wanted a rear seat, you bought the Club Coupe or a (2 or 4 door) sedan. You could probably add a back seat to a business coupe, but you would have to modify the package tray (under the rear window), it would be crowded, and the head space would be pretty limited for anyone much over 5' tall.

In a Chrysler version you could also get a limo edition 8 passenger sedan that had a pair of jump seats between the front seat and the rear seat, but those were longer wheel base.