I'm turning 80 this August. Four years after my dad returned from the war in the Pacific, he was assigned back to Tokyo and we followed soon after. Our new 1949 car went too. What a picture we must have made when our family, which include my blond mother & sis, traveled around Japan in a yellow Chevy convertible. We returned to the states in 1953. But, my father sold the convertible to a Japanese businessman for $7000, a small fortune back then. My dad talked about buying a new Cadillac, but he got a new 1953 baby blue and Chevy Bel-Air 4 dr sedan with Power Glide automatic tranny, radio, white wall tires and a heater.
We came home from Trinidad in February 1949 and drove a new 1949 Chevrolet out of the dealership in New York all the way to Oregon. Somehow, it was NOT equipped with a heater!
In the Nam you could order a car that would be waiting for you when you arrived home. There was a list of what you wanted on the auto and a heater was at extra cost! Man you drive had to be brutal.
I recall my dad's uncle had a 1953 Chevy sedan without a heater, as they guy was notoriously frugal. But then, living in California, the winters were not that severe. There was a time when 'car coats' and driving gloves were nearly standard wardrobe items in the 1920s through the '40s in America for driving in cold weather. My dad loved the fashion statement car coats made when he was younger.
@@donaldkgarman296 for the base model yes I can believe it. Even to this day whether you use the heater or not depends on where you live. In places like Arizona or new Mexico it's really not needed so it would have been optional depending on the market. My dad said at one time they were dealer installed
(in a tone of astonishment) Say! The word "Volkswagen" being used in 1949 was remarkable to hear, as the VW 'Beetle' was just arriving in America's shores that year; with its future popularity still an unknown aspect at that time.
That car driving out of the dealership was cool, A balloon tire behemoth iron car that would crush a plastic Toyota 'Prius' those cars were built like tanks.
The first car I remember is a '49 Chevy coupe like @7:32. My Dad took out the back seat and lined it with plaid blankets as my area on long trips. Slightly related and referred to in the film, his Mom still had her '39 Plymouth then as a hold over.
Oh, you scared me there for a minute. I thought this was going to turn into one of those "waa, we have competition from imports" videos. I'm glad to see it was just "waa, we have too much business" instead.
Wow. How timely. We've come full circle. I wonder how the current post-COVID industrial shortages compare with the same type of shortages back in the late 1940s.
"...but that good, dependable 2018 isn't there, because its' original lessor took the option to buy at the end of the lease, at a price calculated before the pandemic and chip shortage..."
I do believe Americans would've responded much better to the pandemic back then....everybody would've gotten vaccinated AND used masks, etc. There wouldn't have been any truck convoys blocking traffic on briges - it simply wouldn't have been tolerated. 🇺🇸
GM was alone in making annual styling changes to their prewar holdover models between their relaunch as '46s and the all-new '49s. For Chevy that was relocated side moldings and a new grille for '47, and the vertical grille piece that splits it on the '48s featured here. Those were minor, pro forma changes but still only GM had the extra engineering and tooling resources to do them (Ford relocated their parking lights early in the '47 run but that seems to be replacing a more-complex diecast bezel with a generic round "beehive" light).
Those cars were under $2000 and made of steel, not cheap plastic like today. All production cars are slapped together. Worked in several auto factories in the 60s. Mahwah Ford assembly plant went 54 cars per hour. Pontiac went 85 cars per hour.
@@georgestreicher252 I can remember when plastic started to replace some steel parts. When I pointed this out the salesman told me that this was done to lighten the car and save gas. Well probably so. Remember when cars had gauges rather then "idiot" lights and wing windows! Not every change is for the better.
@@georgestreicher252 Allowing for inflation, they were about $25,000 MSRP, plus those dealer-added options to pad the bill, and maybe a bribe to the sales manager to bump you up on the waiting list.
@@kc4cvh And it's surprising how little car prices inflated if you compare like with like through the end of the '60s, a base 2-door '69 Nova MSRP wasn't much more than two grand. Of course, someone in 1969 would've thought an Impala was the line successor to that '48 Chevy and that cost about $4000 typically equipped but that included a lot of size and feature creep.
The post war sellers market was ending soon after this film was made, but the Korean War put another squeeze on production. Hence the Korean War Chrome... no nickle plating on 1952 brightwork. The armed forces needed the nickle. By 1953, it was a buyers market. Chevrolet and Ford had a production “war” to outdo each other in sales. The biggest sufferers were the independents- Studebaker, Kaiser, Nash, Hudson, Packard.
I think a modern dealership just messed his trousers. Or starting weeping softly. Maybe both. I guess there is one group of people who can tell old-timers to piss off if the old-timers try to give them a line about how hard it was back in the day, and how easy today's salesmen have it.
3:08- COLLIER'S, June 28, 1947 issue {"The Strange Embarrassment of Madame Aumont", by Jim Marshall [about Maria Montez and her husband, Jean-Pierre Aumont], page 12- followed by "Dreams Unlimited", by Bernard M. Crandell [about new car styles projected for the next 50 years], page 14}
I believe it was announced roughly the same time this film came out in '48. Ford was the first to offer a truly new car amongst the big 3. Some independents like Studebaker and Kaiser offered new cars in '47 but the independents didn't have the manpower to compete with the giants
There were still WPA price controls on new cars. So, you paid an inflated price on whatever accessories the dealer threw on the car before calling you to pick it up.
3 model years of lockdowns/this/ that and what else. Not just EVs have waiting lists. I know people who are on a 2 year waiting list for Toyota's. What a time to be alive
As the saying goes - and went - "...be careful what you wish for...." Getting your own Chevy was no gift .... they were and are garbage..... the Googles of cars.
@@fromthesidelines The virus is as deadly as the common flu and yes people who have comorbidity do die. The death toll is wildly inflated for political and economic purposes. Always be warry when consuming propaganda from the corporate mainstream media.
@@georgestreicher252 Oh, so all the numbers are inflated from all the sources all around the world in a tightly controlled conspiracy like flat earth and moon landing deniers...riiiiiight.
@@postal_the_clown Not all sources around the world. Alternative media is getting the truth out as apposed to the corporate controlled media. Follow the money. Figures lie and liars figure. I know its hard to admit the powers that be would lie to us but we must face that reality. To them we are no more than a disposable resource or in their new found save the planet philosophy, carbon pollution. Remember, only six corporation control the legacy media.
I'm turning 80 this August. Four years after my dad returned from the war in the Pacific, he was assigned back to Tokyo and we followed soon after. Our new 1949 car went too. What a picture we must have made when our family, which include my blond mother & sis, traveled around Japan in a yellow Chevy convertible. We returned to the states in 1953. But, my father sold the convertible to a Japanese businessman for $7000, a small fortune back then. My dad talked about buying a new Cadillac, but he got a new 1953 baby blue and Chevy Bel-Air 4 dr sedan with Power Glide automatic tranny, radio, white wall tires and a heater.
We came home from Trinidad in February 1949 and drove a new 1949 Chevrolet out of the dealership in New York all the way to Oregon. Somehow, it was NOT equipped with a heater!
In the Nam you could order a car that would be waiting for you when you arrived home. There was a list of what you wanted on the auto and a heater was at extra cost! Man you drive had to be brutal.
I recall my dad's uncle had a 1953 Chevy sedan without a heater, as they guy was notoriously frugal. But then, living in California, the winters were not that severe.
There was a time when 'car coats' and driving gloves were nearly standard wardrobe items in the 1920s through the '40s in America for driving in cold weather. My dad loved the fashion statement car coats made when he was younger.
@@bloqk16did it have a radio lol
HEATERS WERE AN OPTION
@@donaldkgarman296 for the base model yes I can believe it. Even to this day whether you use the heater or not depends on where you live. In places like Arizona or new Mexico it's really not needed so it would have been optional depending on the market. My dad said at one time they were dealer installed
I’m glad that Phil Hartman’s dad finally got his Chevy
(in a tone of astonishment) Say! The word "Volkswagen" being used in 1949 was remarkable to hear, as the VW 'Beetle' was just arriving in America's shores that year; with its future popularity still an unknown aspect at that time.
Was thinking exactly the same thing!
VOLSWAGEN WAS BUILDING TANKS AND DKW DUCK HALF TRACKS DURING THE WAR
These are 1948s ("T" bar on front grille. Good explanation of what happened with Covid as well except no one can afford a car at all, new or old.
That car driving out of the dealership was cool, A balloon tire behemoth iron car that would crush a plastic Toyota 'Prius' those cars were built like tanks.
love these old vids. They are keen
Yeah! I was born in 1950 so this is current history for me.
The first car I remember is a '49 Chevy coupe like @7:32. My Dad took out the back seat and lined it with plaid blankets as my area on long trips. Slightly related and referred to in the film, his Mom still had her '39 Plymouth then as a hold over.
That is not a '49 Chev. The '49's were entirely new. Google it.
Not to say when this film was made or shown, but the new Chevrolets it contains appear to be 1948 models.
This is how the post war auto manufacturing boom in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio started and lasted about 30 years.
Great Yankee hustle and know how.
Oh, you scared me there for a minute. I thought this was going to turn into one of those "waa, we have competition from imports" videos. I'm glad to see it was just "waa, we have too much business" instead.
Wow. How timely. We've come full circle. I wonder how the current post-COVID industrial shortages compare with the same type of shortages back in the late 1940s.
"...but that good, dependable 2018 isn't there, because its' original lessor took the option to buy at the end of the lease, at a price calculated before the pandemic and chip shortage..."
I do believe Americans would've responded much better to the pandemic back then....everybody would've gotten vaccinated AND used masks, etc.
There wouldn't have been any truck convoys blocking traffic on briges - it simply wouldn't have been tolerated.
🇺🇸
THERE IS NO COMPARISON ....DURING WW2 EVERYTHING WAS IN SHORT SUPPLY
@@raybin6873hahahahaha, that's hilarious that you think that.
GM was alone in making annual styling changes to their prewar holdover models between their relaunch as '46s and the all-new '49s. For Chevy that was relocated side moldings and a new grille for '47, and the vertical grille piece that splits it on the '48s featured here. Those were minor, pro forma changes but still only GM had the extra engineering and tooling resources to do them (Ford relocated their parking lights early in the '47 run but that seems to be replacing a more-complex diecast bezel with a generic round "beehive" light).
Who will pay an inflated price for a car hastily slapped together from whatever could be scraped up? It could be you!
Evidently a lot of folks did!
Those cars were under $2000 and made of steel, not cheap plastic like today. All production cars are slapped together. Worked in several auto factories in the 60s. Mahwah Ford assembly plant went 54 cars per hour. Pontiac went 85 cars per hour.
@@georgestreicher252 I can remember when plastic started to replace some steel parts. When I pointed this out the salesman told me that this was done to lighten the car and save gas. Well probably so. Remember when cars had gauges rather then "idiot" lights and wing windows! Not every change is for the better.
@@georgestreicher252 Allowing for inflation, they were about $25,000 MSRP, plus those dealer-added options to pad the bill, and maybe a bribe to the sales manager to bump you up on the waiting list.
@@kc4cvh And it's surprising how little car prices inflated if you compare like with like through the end of the '60s, a base 2-door '69 Nova MSRP wasn't much more than two grand. Of course, someone in 1969 would've thought an Impala was the line successor to that '48 Chevy and that cost about $4000 typically equipped but that included a lot of size and feature creep.
The post war sellers market was ending soon after this film was made, but the Korean War put another squeeze on production. Hence the Korean War Chrome... no nickle plating on 1952 brightwork. The armed forces needed the nickle.
By 1953, it was a buyers market. Chevrolet and Ford had a production “war” to outdo each other in sales. The biggest sufferers were the independents- Studebaker, Kaiser, Nash, Hudson, Packard.
This reminds me of the short clip on MST3k before Manos.
Jam Handy Productions reminds you to keep your preserves conveniently positioned.
Exhaustive explanation to distract consumers from the fact that car dealers were still selling 1941 models.
Creepy dealer was looking for some C-notes under the counter. This dunce was too thick to get the message...
It sucks to be you in that small town that sold 6 chevy's during 1941. You're not getting one soon...ha ha!
Now we wait,,
Well if you ever get in jam it could come in handy.
they was not 1949 chevys 1948 or before
This film must have been shot in 1948 before the new models came out in September. The shortage of new cars was over by early 1949.
No wonder guys coveted Cadillacs when they got that big promotion
First 2 minutes is like today for guys who want a new Camaro....lol
Man, pin stripe suits and cigarettes were cool...
I could do well without either one
Anyone know what kind of plane that is at 7:15? It’s not a DC-3.
It could be you but probably not.
It could have been me if I was around then I think. I always get the feeling that I was born completely at the wrong time and place 🤔
Stealing is just as fictional as auto companies, dealerships, etc. are.
I think a modern dealership just messed his trousers. Or starting weeping softly. Maybe both. I guess there is one group of people who can tell old-timers to piss off if the old-timers try to give them a line about how hard it was back in the day, and how easy today's salesmen have it.
1948 chevrolet
The film was completed in October 1948, before the new '49 models were introduced.
3:08- COLLIER'S, June 28, 1947 issue {"The Strange Embarrassment of Madame Aumont", by Jim Marshall [about Maria Montez and her husband, Jean-Pierre Aumont], page 12- followed by "Dreams Unlimited", by Bernard M. Crandell [about new car styles projected for the next 50 years], page 14}
thanks! i was wondering
Sorry folks that’s not a 49, is a 47 or 48, I own a 49!
What a about the 49 ford?
A beautiful machine...
I believe it was announced roughly the same time this film came out in '48. Ford was the first to offer a truly new car amongst the big 3. Some independents like Studebaker and Kaiser offered new cars in '47 but the independents didn't have the manpower to compete with the giants
I am sure you paid more than sticker price. Supply and demand.
There were still WPA price controls on new cars. So, you paid an inflated price on whatever accessories the dealer threw on the car before calling you to pick it up.
@@nlpnt OPA
It's yours for maybe 5 years until you go in debt for a newer model
Sounds like our pandemic and people waiting for EV cars.
3 model years of lockdowns/this/ that and what else. Not just EVs have waiting lists. I know people who are on a 2 year waiting list for Toyota's. What a time to be alive
0:20 Guy smokes a carton and a half a day......
Haha,the animations look so...Fallout!😹
As the saying goes - and went - "...be careful what you wish for...." Getting your own Chevy was no gift .... they were and are garbage..... the Googles of cars.
1947
American's in 1941 "what can we do for the common good". American's in 2020 "screw my neighbors and fellow citizens i won't wear a mask!"
New Danish study on masks proves that masks don't stop covid. the covid plandemic is a scam.
And I suppose all those deaths are a "scam", too.
@@fromthesidelines The virus is as deadly as the common flu and yes people who have comorbidity do die. The death toll is wildly inflated for political and economic purposes. Always be warry when consuming propaganda from the corporate mainstream media.
@@georgestreicher252 Oh, so all the numbers are inflated from all the sources all around the world in a tightly controlled conspiracy like flat earth and moon landing deniers...riiiiiight.
@@postal_the_clown Not all sources around the world. Alternative media is getting the truth out as apposed to the corporate controlled media. Follow the money. Figures lie and liars figure. I know its hard to admit the powers that be would lie to us but we must face that reality. To them we are no more than a disposable resource or in their new found save the planet philosophy, carbon pollution. Remember, only six corporation control the legacy media.