One of Chevrolet's first post-WWII cars, the Stylemaster arrived in 1946 as a replacement for the Master Deluxe. It was sold as the company's base model and remained in production, alongside the Fleetmaster, until 1948. Come 2022 and the Stylemaster is a rare bird. And that's why seeing an all-original survivor in excellent condition is a big event.
Just like the more expensive Fleetmaster, the Stylemaster was a big hit. Chevrolet sold about 550,000 of them from 1946 to 1948, a figure that says it's far from being a rare classic. But as the U.S. car market grew bigger and Detroit automakers rolled out brand-new designs in the 1950s, many Stylemasters were eventually retired from use.
Junkyards across the U.S. are now packed with derelict Stylemasters that no one wants, so most of the cars that are still in one piece will eventually rot away due to exposure to the elements. Granted, some of them had a better life and soldiered on into the 21st century in better condition, but all-original survivors are hard to find. The 1948 Stylemaster you're about to see below is one of those gems.
Showcased by YouTube's "Strong's Garage," this Stylemaster is described as a barn find, but it's not a classic that's been forgotten in storage. While it did spend a whopping 46 years off the road, it was kept in a heated in what appears to be a heated shop.
A full-blown survivor, the Chevy not only sports all of its original parts, including the numbers-matching engine, but it still wears the paint it came with from the factory. And the 74-year-old coating appears to be in fantastic condition, even though it's covered in all that dust.
But don't worry about that. The footage below shows the Stylemaster being washed for the first time in almost five decades, so you'll see that light green paint come back to life. If you want to see the Stylemaster shine (almost) like new after proper polishing, make sure you don't miss the second video.
While we don't get to look under the hood, I know from a previous video that this Stylemaster still rocks its original 216-cubic-inch (3.5-liter) inline-six engine. The only option at the time, the six-cylinder was rated at 90 horsepower and 174 pound-feet (236 Nm) of torque when new.
There's no info on whether it still runs or not, but it should come back to life with a bit of work. Hopefully, we'll see this Stylemaster hit the road again soon. Until that happens, watch this barn find morph into a squeaky-clean classic below.
Ask Ciprian about cars and he'll reveal an obsession with classics and an annoyance with modern design cues. Read his articles and you'll understand why his ideal SUV is the 1969 Chevrolet K5 Blazer. Full profile
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