1947  Chevrolet Fleetmaster։ Post-war handsome

The Chevrolet Fleetmaster was introduced in 1946 and was considered the company’s top model, replacing the Special Deluxe series. This vehicle was one of the first post-war American cars, which stood out for its reliability and durability.

Source: GR Auto Gallery

The first post-war cars were reliable and durable, however, devoid of comfort and elegance: their creators simply did not care about it. Still, many fans of high-speed automobiles liked and adored these puffy, flat-sided bodies and unpretentious, if not primitive, mechanics. The first post-war Chevrolet vehicles, massive, with voluminous forms, attracted not only buyers, but everyone’s attention, both in stores and on the roads. A reasonable interior made the Flimaster an ideal vehicle for summer trips. The smooth-running engine kept the automobile running great, even though the performance was almost unchanged for several years. It was introduced in 1946 and was the same old Special Deluxe, which by the way, is well-known from the famous “Back to the Future” movie: Biff Tannen drove the Special Deluxe in 1955.

The origins

Source: The Daily Drive

After four years of war, when not a single civilian automobile was produced, the Americans were ready to buy anything, as long as it went on four wheels. Realizing this, Detroit companies didn’t want to introduce new models or upgrade old ones. They simply produced cars presented at the end of 1941, just before the start of the war. Fleetmaster was no exception, but compared to other brands, it looked very stylish, which made it extremely popular. And so, on October 3, 1945, with the end of World War II, Chevrolet resumed production of its civilian vehicles. The company assembled two passenger models that did not change after the restyling of 1942: Fleetmaster (DK) and Stylemaster (DJ). The first replaced the prestigious pre-war Special Deluxe series, and the second – the budgetary Master Deluxe. The Fleetmaster lineup included five body styles: 4-door Sport Sedan (with six side windows), 2-door Town Sedan, 5-seat Sport Coupe, Convertible, and Station Wagon. The station wagon body was all wood except for the hood, fenders, windshield frame, and leather roof. The Country Club package with wooden doors and trunk for coupes and convertibles was also available for an additional $150. Engineered Enterprises of Detroit supplied all wood panels. The model’s series also included the Fleetline sub-series. Still, it was an independent, more expensive model with bodies Aero Sedan (2-door fastback) and Sportmaster Sedan (4-door sedan with four side windows).

The 1947 model year

Source: Wallpaper Flare

For three years (1946-1948), the Chevrolet post-war automobile was produced unchanged, if you do not take into account the different number of horizontal lines on the grille. In 1947, the grille and waistline molding were improved. All this time, the vehicle was built on a chassis with a wheelbase of 116 “(2946 mm) and was equipped with an inline 6-cylinder engine with a volume of 3547 cm3 and a power of 90 hp, complete with a fully synchronized 3-speed manual transmission. Chevrolet’s most popular body was the Aero Sedan, but in general, sales of the expensive Fleetline series exceeded the corresponding figure for the Fleetmaster only in 1948. In 1946, 162632 automobiles were produced, in 1947 – 264584 units, and 1948 – 248778 units.

Did you know?

Source: Peakpx

The 1947 Fleetmaster convertible set the annual record for convertible production. The company produced 28,443 cars in a year! Remarkably, mechanically, the 1947 release was almost indistinguishable from the previous year’s release, when other manufacturers were retooling after World War II. Despite being unchanged, this model was super popular in the US.

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