Project Cars from the Past: 1936 Chevrolet

Multiple layers of paint, blotches of rust, spotty primer, dry-rot tires and fogged glass. Must be a “barn find.” Permanently chained down to a trailer at a swap meet, to boot.

Fall Carlisle, to be exact, back in 2007. According to the card stock on the passenger window, this is a 1936 Chevy Standard Coupe, complete with a clean Montana title and an $11,000 asking price. “Four good fenders, front and rear bumpers, four Coker tires and tubes, left and right taillamps, original 206 engine, new brake parts, NOS hood bird and many accessory parts” were also included; though clearly the front bumper was not attached (nor were the new Cokers). Nothing was said of the missing grille, or just how bad the interior might have looked.

Back in 2007, a Standard Coupe in average condition – think most cruise night cars driven as much as two or three times a week from May to October – was commanding an average asking price of $10,000. A project such as this could have conceivably been priced under $7,000, or even $5,000. Which may have explained why it turned up a week later at Hershey, less than an hour’s drive to the east.

Note that the front bumper and grille were still MIA.

Time has not been that much of a factor since these pictures were taken. Current trends indicate that this Standard in – again – average condition now commands a loftier $11,000. Production of this model was north of 59,000 – not exactly rare when new. But then there was the wartime scrap drives, circle track drivers and the hot rodders who no doubt cut surviving numbers, so it’s not unusual to find that values of more vintage metal are skewed from book versus actual. Then again, condition #1 examples today are showing to be $20,000; only $2,000 more than two years ago. Which begs the question: Was this ‘36 worth the restoration fees?