This somewhat innocent in appearance 1939 Chevrolet Master 85 Coupe could easily be viewed as one of the world's more remarkable models: a car that helped shape the driving prowess of a man who was arguably the world's greatest race car driver. For it was in this model Chevrolet this racer first experienced major success behind the wheel.
He would eventually race in 51 World Championship Grand Prix, winning 24 of them. Juan Manuel Fangio made his early breaks in a Chev … a far cry from his days ahead in Gran Prix winning Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Maserati.
The bottom line is all racers have to start somewhere, and Fangio was no different. Fangio raced A-Model Fords at the start of his career in Argentina in 1934. But, it was not until 1940 that he tasted national success as Argentine National Champion at the wheel of a 1939 Chevrolet Master 85 Coupe – a car donated by General Motors locally to the up-and-coming national hero. While it would be easy to underplay the Chevrolet, this model in Fangio's deft hands, can lay claim to one of the marvels of motorsport. Some say this was the greatest-ever road race.
Image courtesy Museo Juan Manuel Fangio
After taking possession of the Chevrolet the car was cut back in the mudguards and the vehicle's appearance made an ugly duckling in comparison look like Miss Universe. It was skinny and tall, and ran on pizza-cutter wheels. During his career Fangio did not care about appearance. He would swap teams and cars if he thought they had a better chance of winning.
This less-than-handsome Chevrolet Master 85 took out the 5900-mile road race from Buenos Aires, the Argentinian capital, to Lima, Peru and return, averaging 53.5 mph, covering the some of the world's roughest, most isolated roads. The year was 1940 and at 29 years of age Fangio was a late bloomer. It was the start of Fangio's success and in the coming two years at the wheel of Chevrolet he won four races in succession to launch his stellar career in spectacular fashion. That career was assisted when the Argentinian government of Juan Peron – husband of Evita – backed Fangio to go to Europe and compete against the world's best.
The Chevrolet Master 85 with it's six cylinder engine can trace its roots to around 1925 when Chevrolet began considering a switch from four cylinder to six cylinder engines after the company assisted in designing a new six for fellow GM stablemate, Pontiac. A 3.2 litre overhead valve six was manufactured was launched in December 1928. Chevrolet had a significant piece of luck come it's way in 1927 when competitor Ford shut down it's Model-T production lines to tool up for the Model-A.
With the six introduced Chevrolet blitzed Ford in the early 1930s and in 1933 GM designers made major changes to the Chevrolet models – changes that also saw the Master and Standard lines introduced. The Standard was a lighter, shorter version of the Master and as Chevrolet's cheapest-ever car, was well suited to the hard-pressed Great Depression market.
In 1937 Chevrolet again made a major change doing away with the two wheelbase sizes for Master and Standard and bringing in a single wheelbase of 2855mm. The long-serving six cylinder `Blue Flame' valve-in-head engine was also upgraded going from three main bearings to four with the capacity upped to 3.55 litres or 216.5 cubic inches. It prouced 85 horse power, hence the Master 85 moniker. This was the engine used in the 1939 Chevrolet Master 85, the same car that underwent race preparation for Juan Manuel Fangio, courtesy of GM of Argentina.
The car was fitted with a three speed manual transmission and used a `Tiptoe-matic diaphragm spring' clutch along with `knee action' riding system, or suspension as we now know it. Our beautiful featured 1939 Chevrolet Master 85 Coupe is a fitting tribute to Fangio away from the glitz and glamour of the early days of Grand Prix racing and the European super cars that dominated the sport in the 1950s.We found the car at the July, 2010 RACQ Motorfest in Brisbane.
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