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Bill Kreiner

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Everything posted by Bill Kreiner

  1. I'm inclined to agree with you, Andy. The Tatras weren't numerous over here in the U.S., either!
  2. Andy, I don't have the actual publication. I just have that scan, sent to me by my Australian friend who is also an automotive historian (specializing in Buick). As for the Czech cars, I would guess both Skoda and Tatra (the only car makers left there by 1950, as Aero, Jawa, and Praga gave up the ghost in '47) made up those figures. There were considerably more Skodas built than the more luxurious Tatras, but more than half of Tatra's production of the 1947-1952 Tatraplan was exported to various countries. I have several books and other data on all the Czech marques. Also just realized that my title is incorrect -- it should read "1939-1950 . . . "
  3. Sadly, Chrysler, Desoto, and Plymouth (though curiously not Dodge) are lumped together, and 1942 thru 1945 are lumped together. But at least we have an idea as to Chrysler Corp. (T. J. Richards) production before 1946, since new registrations are a function of production. The document is interesting because it shows new Aussie registrations of cars originating from North America, Continental Europe, and Britain, in addition to Holden registrations.
  4. Bill, I sent you several emails containing attachments a few weeks ago. Did you get any of them? It's all production data I thought you'd be interested in.
  5. Tod, the data was sent to me in Excel format. All I did was convert the document to PDF since people with different versions of Excel complained they couldn't open it. I did not alter the data or structure at all. Also, I can't post an Excel document on this forum. If you want the original Excel version, I can email it to you. Rich, I do not see any figures for the convertible in 1939 -- the fields are blank. Next to the 1939 columns are the columns for 1940. Are you looking at those?
  6. The figures come from Chrysler Historical. The Desoto portion includes 1939, and the Imperial portion includes 1950-52. This is a PDF file. 1940s Model-Year Chrysler Production.pdf
  7. Found some more stuff in my files which may only fuel the flames. As shown by the scan from the 1942 edition of Automobile Facts and Figures, 536,105 cars were in stock as of the end of February 1942. 135,081 were set aside for rationing from March 1943 onwards. That left 401,021 for rationing till then. Of that number, 78,504 were released by the end of April 1942. The scan below that, from the 1944/45 edition, paints quite a different picture. It states that 918,607 cars were in stock at the end of February 1942, and shows the number available afterwards fluctuated up and down, which must mean that these numbers are what the gov't saw fit to release at various times. But what of the 536,105 vs. 918,607 cars-in-inventory discrepancy for the same date -- 28 February 1942? The only assumption I can come up with is that the latter figure includes military cars. If that's not the case, then I have no idea how to explain it. ARGH!
  8. Interesting article, but there were definitely more than 340,000 new cars in dealer inventories when production ceased. Figures vary, but most are near the 500,000 mark, give or take 20,000 or so. The first image shows new-vehicle registrations for 1940-1948, by month (Automobile Facts and Figures, 1949 Edition). If you tally the figures for March 1942 through July 1945, you'll get over 480,000. The Ward's page showing 1943 new-car registrations (which I posted together with the 1944 page on an earlier thread) places the '43 figure at over 230,000, so that would make the total number higher. Below this is a scan from the November 1942 edition of Motor, showing a dealer storage facility. The last 3 images are from the AACA magazine (sent to me as attachments by a friend), discussing various gov't edicts, including the blackout order.
  9. Another War Wagon is the 1944 Ford, built by Schult Trailer Co. Circa 100 seem to have been built, and the one featured here is a survivor. I scanned these in from Sorensen's Famous Ford Woodies book some time back. I found them on a flash drive I just accessed.
  10. These are from the 1949-1950 (pub. 1950) issue of Ward's Automotive. Unfortunately there are no similar tables for prewar and wartime years. (There are some with grand annual totals, not broken down by make, which I have as well). I went through a bunch of issues of Ward's while at the N.Y.P.L. last year.
  11. The Heiligmann Desoto may well have been the one Joe is referring to in Hemmings! I'm glad to have seen it in person. http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/2010/07/01/hmn_feature10.html
  12. What issue was that in, Joe? I haven't been getting it lately. I spoke with Carlos Heiligmann, who owns the often-photographed 1947 Desoto Diplomat (badge-engineered Plymouth) assembled in Mexico, at a car show in Manchester, Vermont, some years back. He had a wealth of data on the subject. I intended to stay in touch with him, but it never happened. I must have spent a good half-hour looking at his car.
  13. I didn't see the speedster before! Overseas Graphic must contain a wealth of data. Thanks again for posting all this. I'm definitely saving these JPGs.
  14. This is all great stuff, eh dubya, please keep it coming! I'm off to go explore a cave for the day!
  15. There are 2 Macungie shows per summer? I was just there a few weeks ago, which is the same show I go to every year (with bands performing, fireworks, etc.).
  16. I can't find anything specific on Chrysler in Sweden, other than the page at Allpar, which isn't very detailed, and which states assembly ceased at the outbreak of war, which may or may not be true since Volvo and Ford passenger-car output did not cease. I've asked a few people, so we'll wait to see what they come up with. I've asked about 7-passenger Plymouths built during and/or after 1939 (i.e. wartime). In the meantime, I've attached the Ford Motor Company 1940-1944 deliveries-to-dealers sheet that covers Stockholm, Sweden. As can be seen, there was a continuity of assembly and deliveries of passenger cars -- both American types and European. Not sure exactly what is meant by European, since there were the British-specific, German-specific, and even French-specific models. I doubt the French ones come into play here but either or both of the other might. I'll also reproduce here the 1938-1946 Volvo car production figures, from Lindh's book Volvo: The Cars -- From the '20s to the '80s. As far as annual passenger-car figures go, only total figures are available, not broken down by model. These figures don't include trucks or buses. The models in production at this time were the PV53-57 series; and the PV800-802 series long-wheelbase models which were used mainly as taxis, limousines, and gov't vehicles. Some of the wartime cars were fitted with producer-gas engines, right from the factory. From 1944 to 1946 there were also ca. 200 all-terrain cars made, included in the figures. Volvo passenger-car production: 1938: 2,132 1939: 2,834 1940: 564 1941: 106 1942: 99 1943: 176 1944: 335 1945: 416 1946: 905
  17. Thanks very much for the kind words! It's nice to know the data is appreciated and desired. I will search for data on the 7-passenger Swedish Plymouths in the material I have. If I don't find anything, I will check with Swedish contacts I have in the Society of Automotive Historians. Maybe Bill Watson or Eh Dubya will turn something up as well. Someone is bound to know something about this.
  18. You turn up some awesome photographs! Where did you find this gem? This is showing assembly in Mexico? I wish I had detailed worldwide Chrysler figures like I do for Ford for the 1940-1948 period. I plan to expand to previous and later eras next time I get the chance to research at Benson Ford.
  19. Thanks for that 1943 Dodge Derham pic -- I never thought I'd see an actual photograph of one! I did see what I immediately knew was a Monart, in relatively poor condition. It was titled as a 1944 Mercury, which must have been when Monart converted it from a new '42 car in stock. It looked like a '42, but with all chrome painted (black-out model), and the wooden body was painted grey. It had a name on the side, but it was too worn to see. Next time I went to this lot, it was gone, and I was told someone else (besides I) recognized its rarity as a Monart and immediately bought it. I hope it gets restored and gets brought to shows! I wonder if you'll discover anything specific about the '44 Plymouth wagon.
  20. Back in '99, I was in touch with Tad Burness, the author of those wonderful spotter's guides and columns. He sent me some of the wartime examples he had done for his weekly newspaper column. The 1943 Monart and 1943 Dodge represent new 1942 cars in stock converted in 1943 by Monart and Derham, respectively, into station wagons for transporting war workers. The 1944 Plymouth represents one of the 1942 models held over by government edict and sold new in 1944. Below those, I've attached scans from a late-1940s edition of Ward's Automotive, showing how many new cars (sadly, not broken down by make) were released for sale in 1943 and 1944. Both scans also show federal authorizations at the bottom, and 1943 even shows bus conversions, which I suspect may include the likes of the wagons like the Monart and Derham, since they were war-worker "buses" of sorts. It does not appear cars taken from stock and delivered to the military are included here, and the continued production of Chevy and Ford sedans for the military certainly aren't included. In addition to the 1943 and 1944 figures, there were about 220,000 new cars sold to civilians between March and December of 1942, and about 8,000 sold between January and July 1945. The VAST majority of these 1942-1945 sales came from dealer stocks. Factory sales for 1943, 1944, and early 1945 were a mere 139, 610, and 700 cars respectively (late 1942 is unknown).
  21. The first three sheets compare 1941 & 1946 sales of U.S.- and Canadian-sourced vehicles amongst various companies and brands for the U.S., Europe, and Canada. The last sheet compares 1946 thru 1950 factory sales amongst the biggest producers in the U.S., with exports included. I found these while researching at Benson.
  22. This is a PDF file. Hopefully it will open for those interested. These were compiled by the late archivist there, Adrian Ryan. Thought it might be interesting to compare what Holden, Ford, and Richards were doing, since Andy kindly posted the 1946-1952 Richards figures. Ford of Australia Sales Figures 1925-1971.pdf
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