Buick Business Coupes

[packick]

I have owned our 1936 Special Business Coupe (Model 46) for almost 50 years now.  I have wondered and tried to research what the behind-the-seat area looked like from the factory.  Was there a package shelf?  Was it just an open space so the salesman could store his wares behind the seat?  If there was a package shelf, where did its brackets attach to hold it in place?  What did those brackets look like?  

 

Does anyone have a photo of an original Business Coupe behind-the-seat area?  Thanks.

 

 

[Krugie36]

I don't have a picture to show, but I also have had  a '36 model 46 for over 50 years.  I'm the third owner.  the behind the seat area was just open space when I purchased it, with no sign of a shelf of any kind ever installed.

 

Les

[g-g-g0]

 

I once had a 39 Business Coupe and as previously stated I do ot recall a shelf. Just open space. I recall that it was adequate to hold my bass violin or up to seven young ladies! 

[Car Geek]

Joe, see the attached pictures.  The black & white image comes from the 1937 & 1938 Fisher Body Manual of Construction and Service.  The other photos are of the actual package shelf.  This shelf was given to me by a man who purchased it for his 1936 Buick -- it didn't fit.  For '37 and '38 applications I believe the entire shelf replaces the existing flat plywood between the cabin and trunk.  I haven't looked to closely yet how it attaches. The gray wood attached on the back of the shelf was just used when the shelf was shipped to me.    

 

I haven't seen any Buick literature from 1936-1938 that shows the shelf as an option in business coupes.  I think I've seen a picture in '37 Pontiac literature but I can't track it down at the moment.  

 

-Chris  

[packick]

52 minutes ago, Car Geek said:

1937 & 1938 Fisher Body Manual of Construction and Service

 

Chris, I didn't even know a manual like this existed.  Thanks for the pictures.  To me it looks like they were trying to make a poor man's opera seat like in the '39 Buicks.

 

I guess where my confusion started was reading the 1936 Showroom Catalog.  It said the Business Coupe came with a "rear deck."  At first I thought "rear deck" meant a rear package shelf.  I finally figured out, I think, that the "deck" term was in opposition to having a "rumble seat."  So I think the "deck" reference was actually what I call a trunk vs. a rumble seat like the Sport Coupe has, and definitely not a package shelf.

 

Thanks to everyone who replied.