Is this a real option offered?

[Xander Wildeisen]

I know Hudson/Terraplane offered a utility coupe. And I have heard that Sears had a bed you could order for Chevrolets. Is this a aftermarket bed, factory option, or something someone made?   https://sacramento.craigslist.org/pts/d/foresthill-1937-thru-42-gm-chevy/7495389855.html

[8E45E]

Studebaker offered such a conversion, called the 'Coupe Delivery'.

 

1941 Studebaker Champion Coupe Delivery - $33 converted a car into a pickup! - Studebaker Drivers Club Forum

 

Craig

[rocketraider]

I've only seen pictures of these things so I can't offer a definitive answer, but in that time a lot of farm families could afford only one vehicle. I can see where an astute marketing department would offer a factory optional and correctly engineered and fitted slide-in pickup bed for those folks. I'll say it's a factory authorized piece.

[Bryan G]

Considering old Henry insisted all his cars had trunks high enough to fit an upright milk can inside (or so I read), and then knowing that the old shoebox Ford I owned had a trailer hitch...because the farmer who bought it new needed to pull farm wagons...I see it as good marketing, even if they didn't sell like hotcakes.

[John348]

3 hours ago, Xander Wildeisen said:

I know Hudson/Terraplane offered a utility coupe. And I have heard that Sears had a bed you could order for Chevrolets. Is this a aftermarket bed, factory option, or something someone made?   https://sacramento.craigslist.org/pts/d/foresthill-1937-thru-42-gm-chevy/7495389855.html

Yes Chevrolet offered it. I know I have documentation somewhere on it I will try to find it tomorrow. I believe it was 1937-38 and 39 

[Digger914]

WWII gas rationing wasn't to ration gas because we were short on gas, it was because rubber was in short supply and limiting gas meant limiting driving. That and the 35mph victory speed limit helped to keep tires from wearing out and tires for trucks were allocated at twice the rate as tires for cars. 

 

If your car was a truck you had a better chance of getting tires. If you needed a truck it was easier to make your own than get one new. Any time you could make one trip and not two these things were the cats you know what. I don't know how many of these things were factory made, but great uncle Art made his out of wood.

[John348]

8 hours ago, Digger914 said:

WWII gas rationing wasn't to ration gas because we were short on gas, it was because rubber was in short supply and limiting gas meant limiting driving. That and the 35mph victory speed limit helped to keep tires from wearing out and tires for trucks were allocated at twice the rate as tires for cars. 

 

If your car was a truck you had a better chance of getting tires. If you needed a truck it was easier to make your own than get one new. Any time you could make one trip and not two these things were the cats you know what. I don't know how many of these things were factory made, but great uncle Art made his out of wood.

This was done before WWII, it began in 1937, and I do stand corrected it was offered as an accessory through 1941. These were sold when the cars were new and it was a Chevrolet approved accessory. It might have later on helped with rationing but that was not the original intent of the option   

Edited July 8, 2022 by John348 (see edit history)

[Jim Skelly]

Chevrolet offered the coupe utility model from the 1936 through 1942 model years.  I don't know if it was also available as a dealer accessory, but it's quite possible.

[John348]

I have some Chevrolet Brochures downstairs, I have to go digging for it, I came across these photos from the George Dammann Book 75 years of Chevrolet. I remember seeing one at VCCA meet several years back, I believe it was a 39 and the owner even had the aged wooden storage crate for the rear deck lid with the Chevrolet part numbers painted on it. It was real cool.

I did see another one in a private collection about 20 years out in California, that one was a 38.

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2022 by John348 (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

Ford offered something similar in 37 or 38.  I just sold the paperwork sent to the dealers from Ford for it.  It wasn't offered in a sales brochure just a merchandising bulletin. 

[60FlatTop]

A friend around me had an aftermarket pickup box in the trunk of a '36 or '37 Olds.