1939 Chevrolet Standard Business Roadster

Lot details
Registration No: KFF 266
Chassis No: 426
Mot Expiry: July 2008

In 1939, the year that this example was manufactured, Chevrolet was well -established as the top-selling American make, having overtaken Ford a couple of years previously. Further, this same year saw total Chevrolet sales top the 15 million mark. Nobody could have predicted this achievement at the introduction of the marque by William C Durant late in 1912: the launch had been much delayed, and the first model, a large and archaic six-cylinder, proved to be a lemon. Chevrolet himself, a popular racing driver who had designed the first car to bear his name, shortly upped and left to build Frontenac cars, and Durant knew that he had some urgent changes to make. Refocusing on his continuing belief that a smaller car was the way ahead, Durant's new fours led the way to his the cut-price Model 490 of 1916, which matched the Model 'T' Ford in price - unaccidentally $490. Soaring sales allowed Durant to regain control of General Motors, the firm he had lost to the banks in 1910. But competition with the Model 'T' could not be sustained, and Alfred P Sloan picked up the pieces after General Motors's financial crash of 1920. Thereafter, the Chevrolet most successfully aimed at the market sector above that dominated by Ford.
From one of Chevrolet's golden ages, the Master 85 (that was the bhp developed at 3200 rpm by its excellent in-line OHV 3.6-litre 6-cylinder engine) was introduced in 1938, and this example was assembled by General Motors' Australian company, Holden, which offered bodies different from those catalogued in the US. In fact, no Master 85 convertibles or coupés were built in the US in 1939. World Champion J M Fangio began his motor racing career by winning the 5900 mile Buenos Aires - Lima - Buenos Aires road race in 1940 driving a Master 85, when he averaged 53.6mph.
This particular example is described by its vendor as good in all respects; it is taxed and tested until July 2008 and has a red interior and blue paintwork. It offers open-air motoring in a handsome and recognised classic, and is even more desirable with being right hand drive.