1936 Chevrolet Cabriolet

[Dodge Dee 2]

I am trying to find out more inforamtion on this 1936 Chev convertable and have uploaded some photos - Can anyone identify if the body styling ,head lamps , body trim   etc is authentic .? One thing I have noticed is that the windscreen  is straight and not V shape as seen in some google photos of the same model  . Is it possible that it started as hard top and has been cut down ?

This car has spent its life in South Africa ,hence the right hand side steering wheel .

 

Thanks for your help

Farrol

 

(you will see I am a Dodge man about to become a Chev one as well )

 

[CarlLaFong]

That car is not a cabriolet or a convertible. It is a roadster. A quick search shows that Chevy didn't build a roadster in 1936, so it must be a non GM or non Fisher variant. It looks authentic and I doubt it is a cut down coupe or convertible. Probably a local coachmaker. Could it be Australian?

Edited June 23, 2017 by CarlLaFong (see edit history)

[Curti]

That is a cool Chevy I have never seen one like it.  I believe it is a roadster (no roll up windows) . Might be a Holden body.  I think it is the real deal.  

[capngrog]

I'm no expert, but that does not appear to be a stock 1936 Chevrolet of any type that I've been able to find in a Google search.  The thing that initially bothered me about the car is the doors.  They are very narrow, or, if you will, very short lengthwise.  The two door Chevys that I've seen had much wider (longer) doors, as do most two door cars even to this day.  The wheel base of the car shown in the photos submitted by the Original Poster appears to be much shorter than the wheel bases of the 1936 Chevrolets.  The crease in the after part of the rear fender also doesn't look quite right.  Could the subject car be a European/British model of a Chevrolet?  Regardless, the car that's the subject of this thread is a good looking vehicle.

 

As I've said, I'm no expert, but the subject car is certainly interesting.  I wonder if the South Africans did a little custom work on the Chevys that they produced.

 

Cheers,

Grog

[mercer09]

99% bet it is a Holden

 

the right hand drive gives it away. nice looking car.

 

if buying, understand that the Holden bodied cars DO NOT bring the same money here in the US as the Fisher or GM bodied cars.

[BRB62]

Holden bodied Chevrolet roadsters and tourers in 1936 had solid windshield posts, not separate ones as per this car. Crestline's "75 years of Chevrolet" has a photograph of a South American built 1936 roadster that is the same as this car with the separate posts. Apparently they were built in Brazil. Not sure how it came to be in South Africa?

 

Rick

[1939_Buick]

20 hours ago, mercer09 said:

99% bet it is a Holden

The right hand drive gives it away. nice looking car.

If buying, understand that the Holden bodied cars DO NOT bring the same money here in the US as the Fisher or GM bodied cars.

Looking at Norm Darwin books on early GM-Holden, 1936 roadsters do not have separate bolt on windscreen posts. But part of the body.

And 1 photo 1936 Chev roadster pictured has long doors hinged at the rear.

 

The 1934 & 1935 GMH Chevs have bolt on windscreen posts and "short" doors on roadsters hinged at the front (like the car in post 1)

 

(will post images later)

 

It may be coachbuilt in South Africa or even UK (then to South Africa)

 

 

++++

Holden is GM.     GM bought the Holden business in 1931.  GMH from then on.

But not for much longer.  GM Holden will cease production in Oct 2017.

Toyota Aust will cease production in Oct 2017.

Ford Australia stopped production last year.

Over a century of car production gone

Complete cars, engines, transmissions, etc were once all made in Au

Edited June 24, 2017 by 1939_Buick
added Toyota Au (see edit history)

[1939_Buick]

12 minutes ago, BRB62 said:

Holden bodied Chevrolet roadsters and tourers in 1936 had solid windshield posts, not separate ones as per this car. Crestline's "75 years of Chevrolet" has a photograph of a South American built 1936 roadster that is the same as this car with the separate posts. Apparently they were built in Brazil. Not sure how it came to be in South Africa?

From the steps at back to the (trunk) dicky seat it was built as RHD

Argentina (near Brazil) was RHD until about WW2,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-hand_traffic

 

But in the last 80 years anything could have been done to do it.

[DavidAU]

My father owned a 1936 Chevrolet roadster that was purchased in bits here in Australia back in the 70's.  

 

The car was a standard version but came with a lot of Master model parts also so the Master wire wheels and 6 wheel fenders were fitted to it during the restoration.

The car has a Holden body and as you can see, has the solid windscreen posts.  It also has a different rear bumper as well.    The car is now in New Zealand. 

 

edit.  I have also just noticed that this car has longer suicide doors whereas the OP's car does not.

Edited June 23, 2017 by DavidAU (see edit history)

[mercer09]

Toyota will cease production in Oct 2017.

 

 

toyota is going out of business? REALLY??????????????

[Guest]

mercer09  More information and facts here,  http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/toyota-to-shut-down-altona-plant-with-thousands-of-job-losses/news-story/763b7e389d8977e7caa804e773726b6e

[auburnseeker]

34 minutes ago, mercer09 said:

Toyota will cease production in Oct 2017.

 

 

toyota is going out of business? REALLY??????????????

From the looks of it,  maybe just production in Australia?

[mercer09]

OK, you had me going................................

 

shutting down a plant or building a new one understandable.

 

closing down.........no way Jose!

[Spinneyhill]

9 hours ago, 1939_Buick said:

The 1934 & 1935 GMH Chevs have bolt on windscreen posts and "short" doors on roadsters hinged at the front (like the car in post 1)

 

I wonder if it was a '35 and had a prang, after which a '36 front end was grafted on?

[Curti]

Well, there are numbers and dataplates somewhere on the car. That would sure help.  

Dodge Dee 2 if you are a prospective buyer, get underneath it.  I can tell more about a car and condition from the bottom than from the top side. 

 From the pix, it looks like a legit car to me.  If it has been modified, don't walk away, RUN !

[Dodge Dee 2]

Guys 

Your response  is  been truly appreciated and very informative . Now that you have described the differences between a Cabriolet and Roadster I can understand the differences  externally . Would there be difference in the engine and mechanical parts ?. 

I understand GM had car plant in Port Elizabeth, South Africa in the 1930's assembling  rolling chassis . I have been told this is one of two 36 Roadsters in SA and the 2nd one seems to have gone off the radar .This means it could have come from Australia or Brazil  ( As  BRB 62 mentioned ) In the 30 s both SA and Australia where part of the British colonies so lots of trade between the two so my bet its Holden version , however further research needed 

 

Anyone know why these Roadsters weren't built in US  and are Roadsters generally regarded  lower spec across the different brands ?

Can anyone tell me if the engine in the photo looks like the original 36 Chev ?

 

Thanks for all of your wealth of knowledge 

Farrol

[Guest]

17 hours ago, capngrog said:

The two door Chevys that I've seen had much wider (longer) doors, as do most two door cars even to this day.  

The first thing I noticed was the unusually narrow doors as well.  Compared to the red car a few posts down.

Agreed though, very cool old Chev. 

[Dodge Dee 2]

Curti

II am based in UK and I have friend in South Africa who is checking the car over so I will get him to look for plates in the engine bay and take some photos underneath 

Thanks 

Farrol

[Guest]

Many cars were exported to the "Colonies" from Canada because we were a "Colony" and there was a great difference in import tariffs if the vehicle came from outside.  Many cars were shipped "knocked down' or "completely knocked down" to lower these tariffs.  The more local labour that could be used more welcome the product and the lower the tariff.  A completely assembled car from the USA would have had the highest tariff.

[viv w]

Hi All,

 GM has an assembly plant in South Africa.They recently announced that they are pulling out of South Africa in the next few months and the assembly line will be taken over by Isuzu. I forget what they said about the plant, but I think they started assembling vehicles about 100 years ago in SA.

 The roadster in question may well have been assembled in South Africa from kits from USA, but more likely from Canada. It was common practice for the US factories to send old model left overs to Canada and elsewhere for assembly when they changed to a newer design. The older stuff would be used up and sold on to get rid of excess stock.

 It's my guess this vehicle was assembled in SA with late 35 and early 36 parts.

 We have in Harare a 1934 Chev roadster utility, it was a factory car assembled in SA, and the rumble area had been cut out to fit a wooden loadtray, these cars were mainly bought by local farmers and used as a car with truck carrying capacity. They were popular in the colonies and were known as utes in Australia. I have pictures of another one lying in SA.

 Another interesting fact about the SA plant, when they built the 57 chev's in SA, I was told by an ex factory employee that they built both right hand and left hand drives in South Africa and the majority of the LHD cars went up to the Belgian Congo.

I had a LHD car built in Port Elizabeth SA, it was original when I got it, the VIN indicated the kit came from Jamestown USA. The car was Canyon Coral with an Ivory roof and interestingly the door panels had the American 57 pattern, but the seats were pleated in the same design as the American 55's. Canyon Coral paint and upholstery i understand was a color in USA for the 1955 but not the 57. I assumed at the time that there were left over 1955 upholstery kits in USA and these were supplied to SA to use them and the bodies were painted to match.

regards

Viv.

 

[Curti]

It looks like a 36 engine to me, but many years have gone by since I had 36 Chevys.  

I will say the air cleaner looks strange to me, but they did different things over seas.  

[Curti]

Hey Viv, I thought you would chime in on this one.  

[BRB62]

This car is definitely NOT a Holden body from Australia. Besides the windscreen posts, the biggest difference is that ALL Holden bodies in 1936 had from doors hinged at the rear (suicide doors), regardless of body type. This car is hinged at the front.

 

Roadsters and tourers lost favour due to the lack of side windows. Having driven cars with side curtains I know how much of an inconvenience it can be, especially when the weather changes! By the mid 1930's, except for very upscale cars, roadsters and tourers were aimed at the budget motorist as they were cheaper to build so easier to afford. As cars with roll-up windows became cheaper the fully open styles faded away. Countries like Australia held on till 1938 for tourers and 1939 for roadsters (Chevrolet) before even we gave up. Holden, as a fairly small body builder, could accommodate very small production runs of vehicles as long as they could be sold. Many body styles here had production runs of less than 20 vehicles for the year.

 

I guess the modern comparison would be manual transmissions. Once the only choice, as automatics became cheaper and more reliable, more and more cars were sold as automatics, until manual spec cars became almost rare. Now many cars do not even have a manual option.

 

Chevrolet in the USA stopped these open bodies in 1935 after very small production runs, comparatively speaking. The 1934/35 cowls used the separate windscreen posts and front hinged doors but I do not believe the cowl can be used on a 1936. This car probably uses a unique cowl section with 1935 windscreen attached. From 1936, most GM open cars had wind-up windows so are called cabriolets or convertible sedans etc.

 

My thoughts are that this body is either from Brazil or more likely a South African factory body from the same dies. The roadster and tourer are seen using the same front doors as per the photos in "75 years of Chevrolet". This sharing of parts is very common for small manufacturers. Holden for 1936 used a different (longer) door for it's roadster body but they made about 560 roadsters and likely used the same dies for the unique "sloper" coupe doors, production about 2000. For Holden, this was high output production and would justify a fresh die stamping. Holden did also share a lot of panels between various makes in order to cut costs. For example Holden body doors were shared between Chevrolet and Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick at various times. They even used these panels for other brands like Reo, Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth before these brands found their own body suppliers!

 

Hope this helps,

Rick

[1939_Buick]

17 hours ago, mercer09 said:

Toyota will cease production in Oct 2017.

 

Toyota is going out of business? REALLY??????????????

Have edited my post

Toyota  Aust is stopping production (as others correctly corrected assumed)

They currently make Camry's

[1939_Buick]

11 hours ago, Spinneyhill said:

I wonder if it was a '35 and had a prang, after which a '36 front end was grafted on?

It does look a bit like that. 1934 - 1935 GM Holden with later front end. It may be a GM bitsa .  A Vauxhall?

Measuring the wheel base & track front & rear would help identify it.

Engine sereail number and an other numbers

.  

[50jetback]

11 hours ago, Dodge Dee 2 said:

 In the 30 s both SA and Australia where part of the British colonies

 

Wow, that's upsetting to think a pommie would believe Australia was still a British Colony in the 1930's!!!

 

As several forum members knowledgeable about Australian bodies have stated this body does nor appear to be Australian built. The body tags should tell the story, if you can find them on the vehicle they would be helpful.

 

22 hours ago, mercer09 said:

if buying, understand that the Holden bodied cars DO NOT bring the same money here in the US as the Fisher or GM bodied cars.

 

But the prospective purchaser lives in the UK where RHD is used and this generally makes them worth more and is the reason many older cars are being sourced from South Africa for import to both the UK and Australia, probably New Zealand as well.  

[Dodge Dee 2]

I am now convinced by all your theorising and deductions  that this Chev is NOT  an Australian but more likely to be  a South African / Brazilian  hybrid . When I get to SA later in the year I will get to the bottom of this as there are still some old timer  (guys ) who remember   GM s  production plant  

 

Thank you all for your contributions 

Farrol

[Guest Kobus]

   Kobus south africa your  36 chev is original  they came in to south africa from south amerca

 

 I got my car for the past 50 years and  have a 2nd roadster witch must stil be restored