It has been a couple of years since I last made a post here but I am still in need of answers as well as photos, charts, diagrams of the unusual and unique '40 Cabriolet chassis frame. It is a bit puzzling why Coyle (Chevy head then) would allow such a one year only, one car only with new tooling, pass by him? And was not even a design similar to any other vehicle in production then? And had plenty of lead time to come up with something that worked better since there was no '39 Convertible. Any help is greatly appreciated to help with my book research!

Eric

1940 Chevrolets have many one year only designs and parts. The frame on a 1940 is a one year only frame as some other years of Chevrolets were back in the days. 1940 did however use all of the same parts for the front knee action suspension. When Chevy tried to improve from year to year, often times the vehicles were built 2 inches longer or 2 inches wider. This affected the design of the frame. Then from 1941-48, Chevy did decide to keep a number of parts very similar or the same. 1946, 1947 and 1948 were obvious to stay the same due to the ending of WW II. After the war, new cars were so much in demand, that the manufacturers didn't worry about always coming up with a new design or a new frame. For example, all 1941-1948 passenger rear fenders are the same, except for the mud guard holes.

dtm

He is refering to the odd 1940 convertible frame.....looks like something from a tank.
The 1941 and up convertible frames were more or less a stock frame with a common X in the center.
Who ever designed the 1940 frame could not stop adding braces and members.

Eric,

The lead time was taken up on perfecting the 1941 Cabriolet.

Note: There was indeed a 1939 Chevrolet Convertible/Cabriolet. It was produced by the GM's Holden Division of Chevrolet in Australia. (Ownership of the critter is somewhat vague.) I know this because recently I made the mistake of mentioning on Chat that there was no 1939 cabriolet/convertible. Immediately thereafter I thought the wrath of God had descended on me. I was blooded by a thousand cuts, mostly from Down Under . Mates they were not. Bunch of Tasmanian Devils they were. Worse fate than if I had waded into a piranha filled river with a bucket of Colonel Sanders fried chicken tied around my loins. Was too!

Best luck on your quest,

Charlie

Yes, it looks like this:

Top view of one being modified but bracing still in place:

Yes, indeed there was and I am in correspondence now with one owner asking what its chassis looks like in case the 1940 American version was derived from it. He said the 1939 Convertible (Roadster they called it) was the only one to have X type bracing that year.

Eric

As of yet I am waiting on a photo of the 1939 Cabriolet frame but from what he is describing it looks more like a traditional X along the lines of a 1939 Pontiac but instead of C channel raild it used welded I beams and had a torque tube.

Was all of the X bracing just attached to a regular passenger car frame, or were the side rails and cross members different as well? If it was just the X bracing, It's not that much of a difference… just added parts. Those parts may share stuff with Pontiacs and export stuff from Canada as well.

Weere any convertibles produced in Canada in 1940?

Not sure… I thought all of the chassis for the Holden bodied cars assembled in Australia were from Canada. I could be wrong.

I would appear the "modified" version was built to get you where your going a bit faster...With a bit more wind in your hair...lol

Yes. Chevrolet has been made in Canada since 1915 and the model number for the Convertible: 401067

They varied little or not at all from the US counterparts.

None of the bracing used on the 1940 Cabriolet was shared by any other GM car.

Correct Brewster. Not sure if they were shipped here as chassis rails and then assembled with all cross members , or shipped as a riveted together chassis and then mechanicals added , then the bodies.

Jack, your 1939 when you get a chance would like to see its own unique X (even if just a shot looking under the car on the ground). Here in the states the "roadster" was not offered in '39 but I do wonder if the '40 in Oz also had the oddball chassis too and not a carryover of your '39?

Also to add to the earlier post, the base side rails were uses for the convertible but the front cross and reinforcement braces were changed out and the heavy cross beam and non aligned legs of the "X" which looks more like K's.

I am not sure if the Chevys in Oz were referred to as Holdens then? The brochures only show "Chevrolet".

They were Chevrolets. Holdon was the company that built the bodies. GM owns shares in them. Much the same as when they owned shares in Fisher body in the USA.

I understand but normally the Holden bodies are unique (at least in later years) and listed under that marque while these 1940s are the same American designed bodies and only listed as Chevrolets in Australia.

Holden stopped making the Chevrolets, and focused on their own entire car in '53 I believe. Up until then, they made the bodies and dropped them onto Canadian made chassis and engines, and installed Canadian made front clips. (hoods, fenders, grilles). For '49-'52 they may have used US made body dies, as I think the Bodies were pretty much the same, just right hand drive. One of the Aussies will know better then me though...

Holden cars went in to production in 1948 and Chevrolet then
used Fisher bodies, the only exeption being the coupe utility which continued until 1952. The chassis x member on the 1937 to 1939 toures and roadsters I believe was made by Holdens as they found out early in production that the open cars had too much scuttle shake. Some early 1937s dont have the x member. It is quite different to what the American 1940 cabriolet used. No open Chevrolets were made in Australia after 1939.

Do you have a picture or diagram of the 1937-1939 open models? Or another car that had a similar design?

In the states the 1937-1938 open models did not have any kind of X but simply had reinforcements along the side rails. There was no '39 model then the oddball 1940. In 1941 it went to a standard design X.

I remembered that I had some pictures of just the center section of a junk 1940 that gives some better idea of how it was laid out. Let me know if these links don't work.

[img]https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd....7042924_a1203cfd9db805793b10dee69cee3232[/img]

[img]https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd....8086107_f20c3726e4d472b0e937a37cee940a46[/img]

On page 57 in this section a small part of the x member can be seen in a post by 1937 roadster.

Here is the link to the post mentioned above

https://vccachat.org/ubbthreads.php/topics/249382/under_body_pic_of_my_37_roadst#Post249382

Jack, does your '39 look like this? It is an X in the more traditional sense but doesn't look like any of the GM cars of those years and of course, was not on the American Chevy convertibles. Yet another puzzle. Why was it on the Oz cars - wonder if they were on Canadian ones too or like one person said, was a Holden addition?

What stands out immediately to me on this '37 example is that the X looks like uses the Oldsmobile beams but the X is upside down. The recess cutouts that run around the floorboard contours are on the bottom while the flat side is on top.

Yes my 1939 roadster has an identical X added to the chassis. As stated above.It was introduced part way through 1937 , so some 1937 tourers and roadsters do not have the X . GM-H dealers did issue a recall to fit them to those cars that missed out, but does not mean that they all went back for the fitting.

1937 roadsters and tourer, 1938 roadsters and tourers, and 1939 roadsters have the same X member.

The 1939 standard chassis was used for the 1939 roadsters, which is similar to the 1939 US master 85 model, but there is differences , the Australian standard chassis has different front spring length and configuration which is shown in the 1939 Canadian workshop manual, plus a kick shackle to absorb road shock on the steering side front spring rear, plus lever action front shock absorbers , and different configuration of the front anti sway bar (stabiliser bar)

My earlier statement that no open Chevrolets were produced in Australia after 1939 is not quite true. Holdens made roadster utilities for the army in 1941 and I remember someone telling me that they were fitted with an X member but I cant confirm that.

The 1939 roadster utilty shown in the NLA archives may also have had the X member but we don't know for sure without a surviving example we are only guessing.

Are you referring to the 15 cars from 1939 converted to 4-door convertibles in Switzerland for the Swiss Army?

They would be Australian built bodies. The Swiss 4 door convertibles where US base bodies and converted.

You would call the Australian utes in question Roadster pickups.
Here they are called Coupe utilities or roadster utilities.

Referring to these? I had thought I read they were built in Switzerland?

[img]https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd....7350745_f3975f4c7a5bde7cb59ee3f7cde0f096[/img]

Built in Switzerland , but I believe that they used fisher body sedan parts and other available body parts to build the 4 door convertible.

On a side note , with the 1940 Chevrolet built in Canada and exported to Australia - did the Cabriolet (cabriolet/roadster) have the same oddball chassis with the weird X-like brace as the American counterpart or was it swapped out with the Holden type X used in '37-'39?

Australia did not have any open Chevrolets in 1940. Only body styles were Sedan, Sloper coupe, Coupe utility and Panel Van. At least one convertible was imported and still exists. Australia entered the war in 1939 and by 1940 the Holden body works were gearing up for the war effort.

Thanks.

My next question will be, does the Shop Manuals show the chassis in part, on an dimensions chart, lube chart, shim chart, or anything else for the '37-'39 roadster? If so can you please scan the page and post here? Thanks again!

Eric

What state is this 1940 convertible in? Do you have any pictures?

The car is in NSW. Ilast saw it in the 1970s. I was told it has been in storage on a property outside Sydney. Some of the members of the Vintage Chev club know its whereabouts. There were pictures of it in some 1970s hot rod mags.

Oh nice, i'll reach out, see if i can locate it.

Thats makes 2 then, I know of another 1940 Convertible. It was imported in 2007.

What can you tell us about the one imported in 2007? Any photos of it and of the chassis?

Its Ruby maroon metallic and it came from the east coast somewhere. I'll try and find some pictures of it. I definitely won't have any chassis pictures. The car is loaded with factory accessories.