Re: IML: Hayes Bodied Coupes

[RandalPark@xxxxxxx]

Fantastic information, Bill. This car needs to be saved. Whether it is a New Yorker or a Saratoga, those production numbers are low enough to satisfy anyone's idea of a specialty vehicle. There are suppose to be more pictures added tomorrow. I will be anxious to see if he includes anything that shows how the seating is set up. The car is in bad shape, but seems pretty complete. The license plates appear to be dated 1949. I have seldom heard of anything "parked" as long as that and still look to be considered restorable.

Paul

In an email dated Fri, 4 3 2005 12:32:28 pm GMT, "Bill Watson" <wwatson5@xxxxxxxxx> writes:

>
>Actually, total production of Imperial Hayes body coupes came to zero. ?The
>Hayes body coupe was offered as Dodge Luxury Liner DeLuxe, DeSoto Custom,
>Chrysler Royal Windsor, Chrysler New Yorker and Chrysler Saratoga. ?If you
>check any price or model listing from 1939 you will note the Club Coupe is
>not listed as an Imperial offering,
>
>The Imperial Hayes coupe information came from erroneous production data
>published in the early 1970's. ?John Bunnell, then head of the Chrysler
>Historical Section in the mid-1970's. corrected the error, but it persists
>to this day.
>
>The Hayes body coupe was called a Town Coupe by Dodge and Club Coupe by
>DeSoto and Chrysler. ?The Victoria Coupe was a Chrysler/Briggs production
>model based on the 2-passenger business coupe with fold away rear seats.
>An article not long ago showed a yellow 1939 Imperial Victoria Coupe that
>the author claimed was a Hayes coupe. ?That car was indeed a Victoria Coupe,
>but it was not built by Hayes. ?The upper body is totally different on the
>Hayes with the Hayes having a larger pasenger compartment. ?The rear seat in
>the Hayes coupe was transverse and thus its three passengers faced forward.
>The split seat cushion could be folded up out of the way.
>
>But the the most unique styling element of the Hayes coupe was the thin
>chromed window frames giving the car an almost hardtop appearance. ?The
>1939-40 Mercury also offered a 5-passenger coupe with similar side window
>treatment as did the 1939-40 Graham. ? I do know that the 1936-37 Graham
>used bodies built by Hayes, but I am not sure if the 1938-40 "Sharknose"
>Graham bodies came from Hayes. ? The Chrysler Hayes body, though, was
>strictly a Chrysler Corporation item and was totally different from either
>the Mercury or Graham coupes.
>
>For those of you unfamiliar with the Chrysler/Briggs 2 and ?4 passenger
>coupes, check eBay # 4531992260 - a 1939 Chrysler Royal 2-passenger coupe.
>And compare it with the "Imperial" Hayes coupe
>
>The book "70 Years of Chrysler" also compounds the error by showing the
>Victoria coupe as a 4-passenger coupe based on the business coupe in the
>Royal and Royal Windsor series (which is correct) and as a 5-passenger Hayes
>coupe in the Imperial, New Yorker and Saratoga series (which is incorrect).
>The book describes the Imperial and New Yorker 5-passenger club coupes as
>based on the business coupes, again incorrect.
>
>Production figures for the Hayes Town/Club Coupe :
>
>Dodge Luxury Liner DeLuxe 2-door Town Coupe : 363
>DeSoto Custom 2-door Club Coupe : 264
>Chrysler Royal Windsor 2-door Club Coupe : 255
>Chrysler New Yorker 2-door Club Coupe : 99
>Chrysler Saratoga 2-door Club Coupe : 35
>
>That makes a total of 1,016.
>
>The car in ?the eBay auction is definitely a Hayes Coupe,. but it is either
>a New Yorker or a Saratoga and not an Imperial. ? The serial number he
>displays is actually the body number. ?I have wrote to him and asked him to
>check the passenger side door post for a metal tag which is the true serial
>number. ?The serial number will tell whether the car is a New Yorker or
>Saratoga.
>
>Bill
>Vancouver, BC
>
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: Bob Smith
>To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2005 11:51 AM
>Subject: IML: Hayes Bodied Coupes
>
>
>The information they gave is slighly incorrect. ?For 1939, Hayes Body Corp
>supplied Chrysler Corporation with a ?total of 1,000 bodies. ?Of those, 35
>were the Imperial- -called the "Victoria Coupe" (the former San Fernando
>Valley Region WPC Club President, Jack Pinsker in North Hollywood restored a
>yellow one along with some other nifty Chrysler products).
>
>Chrysler offered 239 in the Royal and Royal/Windsor line, DeSoto made 264
>and the balance of 462 would be assumed to be the Dodge which was named the
>"Town Coupe." ?A couple from Utah who belong to my Registry own one of the
>Dodges.
>
>Hayes bodies were unique in that they were a close-coupled club coupe with
>rear seats that folded up below the small window. ?When down, the passengers
>faced one another instead of the front.
>Bob
>
>RandalPark@xxxxxxx wrote:
>There is an extremely rare Hayes Body 1939 Imperial Coupe on Ebay. Check it
>out, you may never get a chance to see another one. It says that there were
>1,000 made, but I have NEVER seen one. These were more popular in Mercurys
>around the same time, and those are super rare aslo.
>
>Paul
>
>
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