Chevrolet Series D – Origin
Towards the end of the first world war, the year 1917 to 1918 witnessed the birth of the first-ever Chevrolet vehicle to have a V8 engine, and this was at a time in the company where Chevy boss William Durant was no longer satisfied with the low-cost, high volume vehicles made by the company at that time, and the result of that decree was the elegant Chevrolet Series D manufactured by American Motor company Chevrolet, the Series D was assembled in different states in America, some of which include the Oakland Assembly, Flint Assembly, Norwood, St. Louis Missouri, to mention but a few.
These are vintage vehicles, and not too many people know them, if you stay with me till then in this video, I have no doubts you’ll learn a thing or two about the vintage classics, and might even arouse your interest in vintage vehicles as well.
Chevrolet Series D – Overview
The fact is, not too many people know that Chevrolet made a V8 car before 1955, and this happens to be a V8 overhead valve produced by the company. This milestone vehicle with a 288 cubic inches’ engine is well capable of producing a power rating of thirty-six horsepower at 2700 revolutions per minute with a 3-speed transmission gear just like the modern gear transmission.
The wheels of this vehicle are made of wooden spoke of about 26 inches tall, with a 34 by 4 inches’ tire, which was more than enough to compete in high race speeds at the time. One of the unique components of this masterpiece is its Nickel-plated valve covers, you could see the shiny aluminum water-cooled intake manifold, the pushrods, generators, belts, counterbalanced crankshaft, and every essential component that makes up the engine. A pretty advanced vehicle at the time you might say.
The Chevy series D stands out in its own unique way owing to the interior design of the vehicle. Some of the eye-catchy parts of the interior include the mahogany steering with aluminum spokes, together with its ignition, light switch, ammeter, speedometer, the oil pressure gauge, and of course, the woodwork around the vehicle that makes up the windscreen frame and the dashboard, all essentially made of mahogany.
Chevrolet Series D – Brief History
One of D series, the 1918 model to be precise, was sold to a gentleman named John Becker of Lititz, who bought the whip for his son. Six years afterward, the Chevy series D v8 was famously called the “Honeymoon Car”, why the honeymoon car, you may ask? Well, it was time for the boy to become a man, Becker’s son Elam found a woman for himself and drove his soon-to-be bride with his Chevvy D all the way to Washington D.C. to get married. In the year 1928, the Chevvy whip was put into storage when Elam decided to get a brand-new car for himself.
In 1974, when Elam and his wife were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, they passed the car on to their son Warren and his wife Ruth, both of which enjoyed the car for another 38 years, before finally saying goodbye to the car.
Chevrolet Series D – Production
The series had well over 4,000 vehicles in production through the course of its reign before being succeeded by the FA Series in 1917.
Chevrolet Series D – Price
The Chevy D series whip cost around $1,385 at the time of its production, which was pretty expensive a century ago, you think that’s cheap? The price of the Chevvy series D goes for anywhere within $40,000 to $42,000 in auctions around certain places in the United States these days.
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