CLASSICS CHATTER AUCTION UPDATES: 1948 CHEVROLET FLEETMASTER 'WOODIE' STATION WAGON - BONHAMS AUCTIONS THE BEAULIEU SALE NATIONAL MOTOR MUSEUM SATURDAY 1st SEPTEMBER 2018

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COMING UNDER THE HAMMER

BONHAMS AUCTIONS

THE BEAULIEU SALE

NATIONAL MOTOR MUSEUM

SATURDAY 1st SEPTEMBER 2018

1948 CHEVROLET FLEETMASTER 'WOODIE' STATION WAGON

Registration no. not UK registered Chassis no. CL8434

£ 30,000 - 50,000

€ 33,000 - 55,000

The most expensive Chevrolet of its day

• Imported from South Africa

• Original right-hand drive model

• Partially renovated in 2013

'Harley Earl and company attended to Chevrolet's first post-war re-style after all other General Motors cars except Pontiac, so these two makes used pre-war 'shells through 1948.' - Richard M Langworth, Collectible Cars.

By the early 1920s, Chevrolet had abandoned its attempt to compete head-on with Ford, and repositioned itself as a 'middle-market' manufacturer whose products possessed a degree of refinement lacking in the Model T. The highly popular six-cylinder Chevrolets of the 1930s helped consolidate the company's position as Ford's chief rival.

Chevrolet's top model of the 1946 range, the Fleetmaster was basically a mildly revised '42 Special Deluxe, a model introduced in 1941, the last full year of automobile production before the attack on Pearl Harbour ushered the USA into WW2.

Chevrolet had been out-selling Ford for several years by this time, and the arrival of the Fleetmaster only helped to consolidate the Chevy's position as America's most popular automobile. The late 1930s and early '40s had seen an increasing interest on the part of car designers in 'streamlined' models, reflecting developments in the aircraft industry, and this trend was continued in somewhat less exaggerated form after WW2.

The Fleemaster was offered in two-door Town Sedan, four-door Sport Sedan, two-door Sports Coupe, two-door Convertible and four-door Station Wagon models, the latter being by far the most expensive in the line-up. Like the rest of the Chevrolet range, the Fleetmaster was powered by the company's famous 216.5ci (3½-litre) 'Stovebolt' overhead-valve six, an engine it would continue to use until production of the model ceased. A three-speed manual gearbox was the only transmission available. Only very minor styling changes were made to the 1947 and '48 models, pending the arrival of an all-new family of Chevrolets for 1949.

An example of a model rarely seen in Europe, this Fleetmaster 'Woodie' Station Wagon is a factory original right-hand drive model imported from South Africa. The car is said to be original apart from a repainted exterior and re-carpeted interior, both of which were renovated in 2013. There are no documents with this Lot.