Karl Nelson's 1941 Chevrolet Special Deluxe 4-door Sedan

03 August 2007

From Karl :

         Hi again. It is time for the next, or is it the first, chapter in my interest for Chevys. This is a 1941 Chevrolet Special Deluxe, 4 door sedan. It was purchased new by my great-Grandfather, inherited later by his daughter, my great-Aunt who drove it until she passed away in 1974.

         My great-Aunt was a spinster and my family would visit her about twice a year in Decorah, Iowa. There wasn't a whole lot to do on these visits, so I took to day-dreaming in the garage, sitting in the old Chevy. But in 1974, I wasn't quite of driving age yet. Instead my Uncle took over the car. Although, like me, he had a sentimental attachment to the car, he was not one to tinker with it. So it was driven very little over the next 15 years.

         Finally in the late 1980's, my Uncle decided to sell the car to my Dad and me. It has been sitting in my Dad's garage since then. We've been driving it sparingly over the years.

         It has about 78,000 miles on it and is in basically original condition, with original two-tone paint (well-worn), original interior, 216 six-banger with the vacuum shift. It is equipped with radio and wind-up clock and pretty nice chrome on the front bumper. My great-Aunt had to disconnect the radio in the 50's, since the neighbor boys would sneak into her garage at night to listen to it and wear down the battery.

         The Atlas tires were old in 1974 and have not been changed since. While every system in the car could use attention, we have been slow to make improvements. We think it is unique to have a car in such good unrestored condition. But we are beginning to understand that we'll have to do some work to maintain driveability. It has always been a smooth-running, comfortable car with lots of room inside. I hope to keep it for a long time!

         By the way, we found a lot of fine old stuff when we cleaned out my great-Aunt's house, check out the historic oil!

Karl Nelson
"Organbuilder"
Bolter # 11172
1953 Chevrolet 3100 1/2-Ton
Lidköping, Sweden

         If you wonder about Karl's screen name, check out his web site! ~~ Editor