1937 Chevrolet Master Deluxe Series GA

Chevrolet had abandoned its attempt of competing head-on with Ford's Model T by the early 1920s. As Ford continued to lower its prices annually, Chevrolet's prices steadily rose and moved closer to the 'middle market,' gaining a degree of refinement lacking in the Ford product line. Formerly relying on four-cylinder cars, Chevrolet introduced a new range powered by the 'Stovebolt' overhead-valve six in 1929, which allowed GM's mainstay to outsell Ford for most of the 1930s.

For 1937, Chevrolet offered the Master and Master Deluxe Series, and both utilized a 112.25-inch wheelbase, and 16x6.00 tires and were powered by a six-cylinder engine that produced 85 horsepower. The engine had overhead valves, a 216.5 cubic-inch displacement, solid valve lifters, four main bearings, and a Carter one-barrel carburetor. Comparatively, the 1937 Ford Model 78 had a 112-inch wheelbase and a 221 cubic-inch V8 engine with 85 horsepower in the DeLuxe and a 136 CID V8 with 60 hp in the Standard. They had three main bearings, mechanical valve lifters, and a Stromberg two-barrel downdraft carburetor. Improvements to the 1937 Ford included a higher-capacity water pump, cast alloy steel pistons, and larger insert bearings. A cable linkage replaced the rod-operated mechanical brake setup.

Just like Chevrolet, Ford offered Standard and DeLuxe models with the latter version receiving additional brightwork, more standard equipment, a larger engine, and a more comfortable interior. 1937 Ford prices ranged from $585 to $860. Ford had 765,933 calendar year sales and 848,608 calendar year production.

Master and Master Deluxe Chevrolets used a three-speed manual gearbox with a single plate clutch, floor shift controls, a semi-floating rear axle, and four-wheel hydraulic brakes. The 'Deluxe' series came with extra convenience items such as a dashboard heater, a front passenger armrest, twin sun visors, double windshield wipers, dual tail-lights, Knee-Action front suspension, and front bumper guards.

Both series were available in six different body styles with the Deluxe selling for about $50 more than its counterpart Sibling body style. Prices on the Master (Series GB) ranged from $612 to $725, and prices on the Master Deluxe (Series GA) ranged from $685 to $790. A total of 296,396 examples of the Master (Series GB) were built in 1937, plus an additional 519,024 of the Master Deluxe (Series GA).

Chevrolet built 54,683 examples of the Master coupe with a factory base price of $619, and 56,166 of the Master Deluxe coupe priced at $685. 178,645 examples of the Master Town Sedan were built with a price of $655 compared to the 300,332 examples of the Master Deluxe Town Sedans priced at $721. Just 2,755 examples of the Master sedan, priced at $695 were built, and an additional 2,221 were the $770 Master Deluxe sedan. The Master Coach was priced at $637 and 15,349 examples were built, which was over twice the amount of the Master Deluxe Coach's production of $7,260 units (priced at $700). The Master Sport Touring Sedan was priced at $716 and 43,240 were built, far less than the $788 Master Deluxe Sport Sedan which had 144,110 units built.

The cabriolet was exclusive to the Master line, priced at $725, and a mere 1,724 examples were built. The Sport Coupe was exclusive to the Master Deluxe line, priced at $724, and 8,935 units were constructed.

Chevrolet model year production of 815,420 units (some sources state 825,220 units) was less than the previous's year's production of 975,238 units but much higher than the 554,457 units produced during the 1935 model year. Chevrolet's model-year production would slip to 470,766 units in 1938 before climbing to 587,177 units in 1939 and 775,073 units the following year.

Chevrolet's 1937 model year production of 815,420 units was slightly less than the 848,608 examples built of the less-expensive 1937 Fords.

by Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2008