Hey friends Whats the rear seat situation like on the 1940 Chevy coupe? Is it crazy alarmingly tight and only fit for midgets and medium sized monkeys? Would it ever be appropriate as a family car? Or only a family car for ants? I'm tossing up yoloing into a build of a 1940 Chevy Coupe or a 1946 Ford Coupe. I like both plenty. I like the longer trunk proportions of the Chevy, but maybe the Ford has the edge regarding size and practicality. Boot space, are they similar? If all drive line and steering components were more or less the same, which would you favor and why? All opinions and experiences welcome! Cheers fiends
Had a 40 coupe over 50 years, always thought it was ugly. Be warned parts are scare for it, seems like sheet metal is one year only. Used early Pontiac compact rear seat, perfect fit. Easy for V8 and drivetrain swap however.
If the “Fuel” fill-is real on the passenger side, I’m not sure you can add a seat. The 40’s photos are 2 different models.
Yes. Both coupes came as a business coupe and human carrying variant. I'd be going the non business coupe route.
Had this '40 Chevy in my teens, it did have a back seat, but never let more one than one person ride with me, so never used it. Too small for "anything else", haha...Bob
"Anything else" eh? This is why it is important to date very short women I think. I get the impression even conventional use such as sitting was a hard task in such a location?
How about a two door sedan for more room? My dad has a 38 Chevy two door sedan and I’ve never noticed the back seat to be particularly small, but I’ve also never sat back there. I’d assume it’s a two person deal based on the width of the front. I’d just get what you can find and afford and make it work
I can dig that. As far as aesthetics I really like coupes. So if one is feasible I'd go with that. The 39/40 Fords look so beautiful, but no back seat, or much room for one. Plus they are pretty gourmet price wise.
I've got a 41 Chevy coupe, but was looking for a 46/48 Ford at the time. I'm 6'3" and could fit 3 more of me in there with some spare room for some skinnies. Wouldn't want to sit in the rear for huge trips, but it's fine for a good while. Chris
Yep, you can. Mine was the stock tank that filled from the passenger side, side fill, not fender. These came stock as a "business coupe" and had wood for the back and bottom. The Pontiac seat I used fit exactly on both, the bottom and back. No modifications. Looked for a pix but had none.
I can tell you my 46 ford can hold three big car seats with arm rests or 4 thin adults comfortably. It’s a Tudor but the back seat is pretty much the same as a long door coupe, probably less leg room but the Tudor has an abundance of it
'40 Chev passenger coupe or Sport coupe didn't use the same fuel tank or filler location as a business coupe does. As for sheet metal being one year only, that applies to the front clip, not the whole car. A '39 is very similar except for front clip, and taillights. I had a '40 for years, but a business coupe. Back in the 60's my buddies rode in the back with just pillows under their rears to pad them. My '39 is a Sport coupe which have the bonus of sliding rear 1/4 windows to give back seat passengers more air. But Sport coupes didn't have full back seats, they had a pair of fold up "jump seats" that folded into the trunk divider and faced each other when seated. Best for smaller people as the seats didn't leave much leg room. I didn't have those rare seats, and they're made of unobtanium, so I eliminated the back seat and made mine a business coupe with package shelf instead.
Maybe far afield; but a '40 Ford 4DR would be a really good looking family car and probably in not much different price range than the coupes you mention.
I have a 47 Chevy coupe, similar size to the Ford you are looking at. They are very much bigger inside than they look. a true 5 passenger (three wide in the rear is a stretch with the arm rests being quite full sized but three fit in front no issue with column shift) car that you can almost stand up in the back seat area. Lots of rear leg room. Been a good family cruiser. Kids started off in car seats in the rear and now one is old enough to drive (though neither seem to want to get a license, computer kids). Huge trunk good for grocery getting and soft sided luggage but with the sloping lid and spare tire tray you cannot put anything really large in there like a full size cooler will not fit. I'd totally go 46/48 ford over the 40 Chevy simply as you can get so much more for your money initially. That period fords are really cheap right now.
What didn't you enjoy about it aesthetically? I find the grill a bit lackluster, but I love the proportions of the body. The slanted b pillar makes it seem so fast. Like the way I slanted my 53. I wouldn't chop one of these though. Just V8, bucket seats and upgrade the IFS as I intend on throwing down lots of miles and want to be safe.
I had a '40 Chevy Coupe in pieces that I had bought for $15 in 1967 that I sold to a guy in Des Moines. He restored it and did a very good job of it. He said he used a 3rd row seat from a Buick Rendezvous (2002-2007 model years) and that it fits well.
1939 started the more slanted B pillars post, and the '39 and '40 share a similar main body. The '39 just has a much nicer grille in my opinion having owned both. Prices seem to be very similar also on the used market.
@Jasper6120 Hello, When we were teenagers, there were several hot rods that got tuck and roll upholstery south of the border. The 46 Ford coupe was one of them. But, as I had been stuck in the back seat a couple of times, it was not for me. I was 5’11”, growing, lanky athlete and did not like being “couped” up (pun intended) I loved riding in the front passenger seat as it was roomy and nice. But, that rear seat was a doomsday position and not for me. Despite the windows to see out, it was cramped for me. In a station wagon, if the same seat area was the back seat, at least there was some head room behind and that would have given me some open space, not feeling like a sardine in a can. When my friend asked me to ride down South of the Border to get some white tuck and roll, he knew I had been down there in the first 53 Chevy Bel Air Hardtop for some white tuck and roll. So, he wanted me to tag along. Since there were a couple of other guys, too, I told him front seat or the road trip was not for me. I liked road trips, but there had to be some rules and comfort involved. HAMB photos Jnaki The photos are not of the old 46 coupe incident. That hot rod is long gone. These are taken from the HAMB and look like good examples of white upholstery in a 46 Ford coupe. But, look at how tight the back seat area is in the photos. Luckily, the owner of the 46 coupe as teenagers was not very tall and moved the front seat forward, but even that was a larger space, but still too enclosing for me. The difference between the stock seats going South and the comfortable puffy tuck and roll seats coming back to So Cal was night and day. The Baja, Mexico shop that did the 53 Chevy bel air did the same style of thick pleated tuck and roll. The job was so much less expensive than in Bixby Knolls, yet it looked and felt the same. (comparing it to a 1940 Ford two door sedan that got the local Bixby Knolls upholstery installation) YRMV Note: The 40 Chevy sedan is not much larger and it, too is cramped for our tastes. When our granddaughter was a toddler, we were the primary provider for her growing up daily needs. Her parents were young, a little off kilter from new jobs, new condo, and a new kid requiring tons of hours of close knit care. My wife and I were experienced, laid back and loved that little girl from the first time we saw her. So, she lived with us 5-6 days a week until junior high school. During that time, we took her all over So Cal to experience things we liked to do, beach days, walks along the long piers of So Cal, local parks and hiking trails as well as daily walks in our neighborhood and even her area. It was a fun time for a couple of retired older adults living a new lifestyle. Since we had a couple of daily drivers for her safety as required by her parents, we knew we could use an older hot rod to make things a little different for our total experiences. We looked at two 1940 Ford sedans with roomy back seats. One was a two door with an SBC motor. It was local, just a few minutes away in location. But, just when we were heading to the place to buy the sedan, it was sold and we were now stuck for an alternate choice. We wanted a two door sedan. So, the next choice was this one: Finally, we realized that for all of the stuff a toddler requires, the trunk would hold most of it. But, access to the rear seat needed to be addressed with the constant leaning in to buckle up for safety each time we were all in the car. So, we were now looking at a 4 door sedan with all of the features required, SBC, A/C, and access to the two more doors. At least the front opening rear doors were going to save my back from the daily lean in 5-6 times a day… For us, a 4 door 40 Ford sedan would be the one, not a two door coupe/sedan of any kind for active kids… YRMV No, we stayed with my wife’s station wagon at the request of our son and his wife.
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