VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 1933--1935 chevrolet open cars

we know that chevrolet used an " outside supplier " to make the roadster and touring car bodies for 1933 master , 1934 master 1934-1935 standard series I believe that supplier was Hercules - Campbell.

The cabriolet body style was produced by Fisher Body .

I wonder if this same system was used on Pontiacs , oldsmobile, Buick open cars roadsters and tourings, of the 1932--1935 era.

Anybody have any insight >>>>>>>>>> ?

mike lynch

I was under the impression that Chevrolet (not Fisher Body) produced the open bodies (other than those by Fisher)

chevy nut, according to my 1934 and 1935 Canadian production figures for Oshawa plant from " Production Control Division " Mr. V R Caverly. Vintage Vehicle services Canada owner frank Agueci supplied me with these copies of the originals for 1933, 1934 standard and master , 1935 standard and master


It has 2 codes letters A & B .

A code letters are for fisher built models.........5 pass reg coach, 5 pass reg sedan , 2 pass reg coupe
" A- milled, built, painted and trimmed locally "

B code letters are for 4 pass roadster with rumble seat and also 5 passenger phaeton
" B- Woodstock purchased, body built, painted and trimmed locally. NOTE : Cowl and dash assembly, side quarters, back and roof covers purchased "

I was watching an original sales book on ebay with pictures and dimensions , a few weeks ago showing all the various bodies that were produced by Hercules-Campbell for Chevrolet. Suburbans, woody wagon, ambulance , many types of truck bodies. If the book wasn't $450 I would have bought it .

Chev nut, I own a 1935 Chevrolet standard 3 window coupe fisher body and I own a 1935 Chevrolet standard series roadster. Those bodies are different : the swage line...body lines down the side are different. The angle over the tops of the quarter panels is different. Roadster is slightly flatter. Trunk lid rumble seat is 2" narrower than a coupe and slightly shorter than a coupe lid.
The car at the front door posts on the roadster is wider than the coupe by 2". The shape of the cowl panel on the sides is different. Cowl lights used on 33--35 Chevrolet open cars require a different cowl light mounting base so the light faces outward , rather than inward.

The door operating hardware : hinges, strikers, latches , locks is common to the open cars only, with hinges being hidden between the door post and door. Fisher bodies have exposed hinges and differing latching system.

Altho there is nothing that specifically states "who the outside supplier " of the bodies is, we have to assume it was Hercules-Campbell because of all the other bodies they produced.

mike lynch

The 1929 thru 1932 Chevrolet open car bodies were supposedly built by Chevrolet and the closed car bodies (including the cabriolet) were built by Fisher Body. However, it sounds more logical that the open car bodies were built for Chevrolet under contract by outside body builders.

The common misconception is Chevrolet produced those bodies. It is far more likely that the "open" car bodies (Roadster, Phaeton) were produced under contract from one of the passenger car body companies than the commercial body companies (such as Hercules, Campbell, Mifflinburg, etc.). Hayes, Ionia, and several others made bodies for various manufacturers. Chevrolet did not, as far as I have been able to determine, own its own passenger body panel stamping plant nor body assembly plant. Fisher (owned by GM) had those plants but they were set up to produce the higher volume closed bodies. The body plants had transitioned from a majority of open cars in the mid-20s to closed cars by the early 30s. Therefore the lower volume open cars would have been much more likely farmed out to other producers with the machinery and capacity.

[quote=Junkyard Dog]The 1929 thru 1932 Chevrolet open car bodies were supposedly built by Chevrolet and the closed car bodies (including the cabriolet) were built by Fisher Body. However, it sounds more logical that the open car bodies were built for Chevrolet under contract by outside body builders.
jyd

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Yes, that's the info I have quoted directly from the original letter, but what we really need to know is exactly WHO the outside supplier is or in this case was ??????

For as long as the VCCA has been around , I am surprised that nobody has been able to ferret out this valuable information.

mike lynch

1935 pontiac were fisher bodys
some chevys were HOLDEN, south africa with fixed w/s right hand drive (this is the only pic i had of this car)

Absolutely! I have read articles in the past that stated Chevrolet made the open car bodies....but so far there hasn't been any actual documented information showing that Chevrolet actually made the open car bodies. It would be great to have a detailed list of the outside sources that possibly made the open car bodies for Chevrolet.

Seems to me that if another body company or companies made open car bodies for Chevrolet that they would put a tag somewhere on the car with the name of the company that manufactured the body.

Perry what we are talking about here is the open cars roadsters and phaetons. Who is the outside supplier of these body styles.

Yes the Cabriolets were built by Fisher Body , a division of GM.

Holden bodys in Australia are made by them and they are different in body lines than north American built cars.

mike lynch

Perry, what I am looking for is WHO made the roadsters and phaetons bodies in 32--35 Pontiacs & oldsmobiles.

Were they produced in house or an outside supplier like Chevrolet did ????

mike

From the Pontiac parts book from 1931 and up the only open car they had was a cabrolet.

Gene, thank you for that info, fisher body cabriolets only no roadsters.

mike lynch

And, technically, the cabriolet is not an open car because it had roll up windows.

Correct. They used the same body as a Chevrolet cabriolet.

I have never read of anybody ever mentioning a BUILDERS BODY TAG on their roadster or touring/phaeton . As I mentioned before the only reference is on the GM Chevrolet sheets saying the bodys were "supplied by an outside supplier".

Roadsters and phaetons are supposed to have a plate attached to the floor ahead of the front seat or on the wooden seat riser plate. I obtained a reproduction from Glen Rarick in watertown NY about 2 years ago.
mike lynch

Right...that is the Chevrolet car serial number plate. But you would think that if an aftermarket body company made the open bodies for Chevrolet they would have a plate somewhere on the body with their name like Dietrich, LeBaron and Brewester (all custom body builders) did on their bodies.

Fisher has their body plate on the Chevrolet closed cars so why wasn't the same done on the open cars by whatever company made the bodies?

To my knowledge all the Aus BUILT bodies had a tag "Holden Body" some also had a lion profile on the lower left of the cowl just forward of the door. The plate on the firewall (on my 38 at least) also states "Holden Body ###" As chevs apparently arrived in 3 forms I would guess that this tag was only fitted to those cars pressed here not the ones in a box or part assembled. I have seen a pic of a factory building with a lot of late 20's to early 30's open top bodies all standing on the engine face of the cowl, I dont remember which car they were for.
Tony

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Well, I cannot answer why the custom body maker of 33---35 roadsters and tourings did not apply his makers plate to the body like the Fisher cowl lower tag or the Holden Lion for the Australian built bodies.

To throw a curveball out there, I was trying to buy a 1935 Chevrolet standard series roadster in the province of Saskatchewan and low and behold the owner sends me a picture of a GM Oshawa built firewall tag just like a Fisher body.

The tag says model 12-46 which is the Chevrolet factory model number. Its not a Fisher Job number, body designation , because its not a Fisher and does not show up on my factory production totals sheets with a fisher job number.

In 1935 Chevrolet built and sold approximately 50 roadsters for **domestic sales**. Guess what , the picture of the chevrolet firewall plate I have is number 50 , the last roadster built in Canada, currently residing in a barn in the province of SASK. Person ( widow ) who owns it is reluctant to sell it.

mike lynch

Canadian serial and body plates during that period are different than USA cars. Don't know if it is due to different governmental regulations or just factory practice.

just stumbled upon this old thread about Chevrolet open cars 1933---1935 Interesting reading because I mention Woodstock Ontario Canada as the possible source of the roadster phaeton bodies being built there. They would be shipped to Oshawa the main facility and painted upholstered.

mike lynch