This 1951 Chevrolet Deluxe wears the trim level that outsold nearly everything else Chevrolet built during the 1940s. Underneath its stainless-trimmed body sits an engine architecture that would eventually become famous in its own right. Here’s the history behind Chevrolet’s best-selling postwar sedan — and the six-cylinder that outlived it.
1951 Chevrolet Deluxe 235 CID Inline 6 3-Speed Manual
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A maroon two-door with chrome that still catches light the way it did off the showroom floor — that’s the kind of car that stops people mid-stride at a cruise-in. This particular 1951 Chevrolet Deluxe carries the badge that outsold nearly everything else Chevrolet built in the 1940s, riding on an engine architecture that would eventually become one of the most famous six-cylinders GM ever produced. Most people walking past see a pretty old Chevy. Fewer realize they’re looking at the direct ancestor of an engine that powered millions of cars for the next three decades.
Chevrolet’s Best-Selling Trim of the 1940s
The Deluxe name ran from 1941 to 1952 and, for most of that stretch, represented Chevrolet’s volume sales leader — the trim level everyday American buyers actually drove home. This particular body generation ran from 1949 through 1954 and added stainless steel trim and nicer interior appointments over the stripped-down base models, riding on a 115-inch wheelbase and originally listing between roughly $1,630 and $2,200 depending on configuration.
The Six-Cylinder That Would Become a Legend
Buyers choosing the automatic-equipped Powerglide transmission — a feature exclusive to the Deluxe and Bel Air lines at the time — received the 235 cubic-inch six shown in this car, rated at 105 horsepower. That engine would go on to earn the nickname “Blue Flame Six” and, in later, more refined form, would famously power the original 1953 Corvette. Buyers who stuck with the standard three-speed manual got a smaller 216.5 cubic-inch six making 92 horsepower instead — proof that even in 1951, the transmission you picked decided which engine came with it.
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