HomePick of the DayPick of the Day: This 1936 Chevy must have a story, but...

Pick of the Day: This 1936 Chevy must have a story, but what is it?

Intriguing photos show a couple and a car, but that’s not nearly enough to make the sale

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The advertisement on ClassicCars.com for the Pick of the Day, a 1936 Chevrolet 2-door hardtop coupe, snagged my attention as soon as it displayed on my computer screen.

The first photograph shows the car, from a nice front 3/4 angle, and with a perhaps slightly beyond middle-age couple standing next to the vehicle. They are wearing matching-color shirts, sort of pale blue/green shade, she with her right elbow on the door sill and her right foot on the running board. He standing beside her, their eyes meeting, their faces smiling. 

1936 Chevrolet 2-Dr Coupe Hardtop

This must be an amazing story, I figured. Who is this couple? What is their story? How does the car figure into that story? Why are they selling it?   

I click to the next photo. Again, the car and the couple, this time the man and woman sitting on a blanket with a picnic basket and a sign, or is it a large license plate, sharing the words “The Brastads.”

Click to the next photo. Again, the couple and the car.

OK, I’m hooked. I slide down the page to read their stories, the couple’s and the car’s, only to find this:

“1936 Chevrolet 2-Dr Coupe Hardtop with rumble seat. original steel body. new shocks and valve cover caskets. new radiator. car shows great.”

1936 Chevrolet 2-Dr Coupe Hardtop

That’s it, well, except for the “Vehicle Details” section that follows: Savage, Minnesota, white interior, 5,000 miles on the odometer, replacement engine, car partially restored, but running, for sale for $39,000.

Wait! What! That’s all? What about the story?

I should have known better. We never ever, ever run photos of Pick of the Day cars with people, even if some advertisers think some cheesy cheesecake helps to sell their vehicles. 

But the photos with this ’36 Chevy aren’t cheesecake photos. Rather, they show what appears to be a loving couple and their car. Oh, to know their story.

Which brings me to this. At first, I picked this car because of its photos. Normally, seeing so little information I’d skip on through the listings to find something else. 

But I’m sticking with this car as my Pick of the Day for two reasons:

One — as an illustration of how not to advertise a vehicle, in that we’re into stories here at the Journal and “1936 Chevrolet 2-Dr Coupe Hardtop with rumble seat. original steel body. new shocks and valve cover caskets. new radiator. car shows great” is a horribly inadequate description of this or any other car.

And two — I’m still hooked and desperate to know this car’s story. So if you are the car’s private seller up in Savage, Minnesota, please email me at larrye@classiccars.com and tell me the story of your car. 

For those of you who also have become curious, you can see this listing at Pick of the Day. (And if I do ever learn this car’s story, I’ll share it with you on the Journal someday. Hopefully, someday soon.)

To view this listing on ClassicCars.com, see Pick of the Day.

Larry Edsall
Larry Edsall
A former daily newspaper sports editor, Larry Edsall spent a dozen years as an editor at AutoWeek magazine before making the transition to writing for the web and becoming the author of more than 15 automotive books. In addition to being founding editor at ClassicCars.com, Larry has written for The New York Times and The Detroit News and was an adjunct honors professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.

7 COMMENTS

  1. 35 Chev is a 5 window coupe, not a hardtop. You could possibly call a 3 window coupe a hardtop, but you;d still be drawing a long bow

  2. A 2nd cousin had a 36 or 37 Chevy Coupe, black when we were young lads. His father bought this for him as his first car. This would be about 1956. Rock and Roll was coming on strong I didn’t yet have a license and run around some with Jimmy and just thought it was such a nice car. Remember the round dial radio in the center of the dash. It was in great shape and 20 years old. Jimmy dies of a heart attack far to young but still fond memories of those early times and that black Chevy coupe.

    • Steve is funny. I don’t bury my valve covers as they just keep covering up the valves. I love the old cars and am working on one now. My 1950 Packard is coming along slowly. I hope I live long enough to drive it again. Otherwise I may need one of those valve cover caskets.

  3. My question of the day is….valve covers, as in plural, meaning more than one valve cover. So what is under the hood of this Chevy?

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