1947 Chevrolet Fleetmaster

1947 Chevrolet Fleetline Aero Sedan

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For consignment, a 2-door aero sedan from the bowtie company in 1947 Fleetline street rodded form. This car is in nice condition, has a big 8 cylinder engine under the hood, an original style interior and bleeds 40's style. Showing as an older build, it runs well, and is a nice drivable car for someone who likes the look of the late 40's motoring mixed with street rod looks and that sexy sexy aero back styling.

Exterior
Bathed in a 4-tone paint job of pale yellow, copper, beige and brown, the finish remains shiny and fairly rust free but we do note areas of blistering, bubbling and evidence of bodywork cracking out with the majority of the issues reserved for the lower sections of the body. Chrome trimmings remain bright and shiny, with some early signs of fading on the chrome grille bars. Moving down the sides reveals an almost "Fairlane" swoop sweep to the paint hues and the original charm of the rounded bulbous looking hood and hanging side fenders with some chrome trimmings have been retained. The running board is about to go away with the turn of the decade it totally will, but this car still has small running boards connecting the fenders which are highlighted by stainless trimmings. This moves us to the ever sloping roofline that simply melts down into the heavily tapered trunk lid after passing the near horizontal rear glass. Bright and shiny chrome Cragar wheels are on all 4 corners and are wrapped in staggered width raised white letter BF Goodrich tires.

Interior
A swing of the doors and we see the metal painted pale yellow and woodgrain door sills which border embossed tan broadcloth covered panels. These are dressed to the nines with chrome cranks and actuators as well as tan vinyl armrests. The seats tubs are the original and have the original style tan striped broadcloth covering them in a clean coloring, and appear as nearly new with only minor staining. The front bench sits in a tub of smooth vinyl surround and a rear bench sports the same pattern and appears with similar staining as the front. bench and does offer plenty of legroom. Low pile yellow carpet floods the floors, and it appears as new thanks to the deep pile brown carpeted mats and a tight tan headliner has been installed. Upfront, a yellow and brown metal dash is appearing original and looking nice and aged with no real damage. Original gauges and horizontal ribbed trimmings have some smaller knobs peppering the front panel. A Grant GT wood rimmed 3 spoke steering wheel in front of the dash with a tachometer strapped to the column. A modern AM/FM/CD stereo is occupying the lower dash central and a trio of white face AutoGage gauges hangs below.

Drivetrain
Shoehorned into the patina riddled engine bay is a 350ci V8 topped with an aluminum intake manifold and Holley 4-barrel carburetor. Some chrome is on for the valve covers, air cleaner lid, and alternator giving some nice contrasting bling to the patina. Bolted to the back is a Saginaw 4-speed manual transmission with a hydraulic clutch that sends power rearward to a Ford 9" rear axle. Aside from the obvious powerplant change, the wiring appears to be updated as well.

Undercarriage
Patina and surface rust cover nearly every inch of the undercarriage with the flooring and frame remaining solid. Invasive rust has taken a hold on the inner rockers and a few of the body hangers, but all else remains solid. Independent coil springs in front and leaf springs in the rear provide the ride and power disc brakes on the front work with power drums on the rear to bring this sleek rod to a halt. Headers snake their way down from the mill and connect to dual exhaust with Flowmaster mufflers for the big exhale.

Drive-Ability
She started right up and ran smoothly. For a large car, it accelerated nicely, handled well for its size and thanks to the updated brakes stopped very well. We noted that the speedometer and odometer did not click off the miles and there were an abundance of squeaks and rattles coming from the car during our drive.

Despite some exterior faults, this car presents nicely as an older build using a very popular and hardly seen these days aero sedan. TLC will bring that exterior right back up to snuff, and you will be able to pile your family in and go for a Sunday drive. Remember those??