1950 Chevrolet Deluxe

         I have a friend that has one of the 'cleanest' 1950 Chevrolets I have seen in a long time. He enters it in local car shows and it never fails to attract a crowd of car lovers,... and all this despite the car being absolutely stock. It is just like the day it rolled off the assembly line...

     This is the way it looked in 2010 in the Octoberfest parade of older cars. In 1950 probably over 90% of the entire line of Chevrolets were available in black, but for a little extra you could order one in a different color. This is a nice shade of green and the only thing I see that did not come from the factory is the chrome extension on the exhaust pipe and the license plate bracket.

       Under the hood we find 216 cubic inches of Chevy Blue Flame power.... An inline 6-cylinder engine. As you can see, the owner has replaced the original carburetor and installed an oil filter. In 1950 this choice Chevy did not come with an oil filter. I find that totally unbelievable in this day and age.

       I too had a '50 Chevrolet back in my high school days, but where this one is a 2-door sedan, my old Chevy was a business coupe.

      The business coupe was also called 'a salesmans car' because it came from the factory without a back seat. This allowed the salesman to carry his sample cases and display items in the car's interior. I found a back seat in a wrecking yard and installed it just before having the entire interior redone in black Naugahyde. 

    

 
        My brother helped me install a 283 cubic inch Chevy V8 engine in my '50 and I used the 3-speed transmission from the donor car in my coupe. The steering wheel came from a 1958 Chevy.

          My friends interior shows how this car came from the factory. I thought he had the horsehair seats and door panels replaced, but he maintains this is the original interior. Needless to say, the car has never spent a night outside of his garage. Looking at the above photo, I am reminded of a 1947 Chevy that I owned, and it had the foot starter on the floor. It was located just to the right of the accelerator pedal. Many a time on date nights my girlfriend would accidentally step on that starter pedal and sparks would fly under the car.

      The 1949 and 1950 Chevys shared a similar look and both have always been favorites of mine. They presented a very clean and distinct look.. and maybe that is why they have been so popular with car enthusiasts.