Cool Car of the Day: Hendrick's 1941 Chevy Carryall Suburban

By Tom Jensen
Published

NASCAR team owner and mega-Chevrolet dealer Rick Hendrick has been known to drop big money for rare and desirable General Motors collector cars, especially the Corvettes and Camaros he’s so partial to.

At the recent Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Collector-Car Event, for example, Hendrick ponied up a cool $800,000, all of which went to charity, for the right to purchase the first production example of the all-new z06 Corvette convertible.

But not everything Hendrick likes is so rare, exotic or expensive. At Scottsdale, he also picked up this exceptionally clean 1941 Chevrolet Carryall Suburban, which he intends to keep on the floor of his showroom.

With fees, it sold for the comparatively modest price of $77,000. And it is today’s Cool Car of the Day.

In the years before World War II, “suburban” was a generic designation used by numerous automakers, including Dodge, Plymouth, Studebaker, Nash, Chevrolet and GMC to connote a windowed, station wagon-type body on a commercial truck frame.

Chevrolet began production of its all-steel "carryall-suburban" in 1935, eventually tweaking the name to "Carryall Suburban."

This model shared the front sheet metal and frames of the half-ton pickup models of the same year, but featured all-metal wagon bodies similar in shape to contemporary woody wagons of the day. Seating for up to eight occupants was available, with three in front row, two in the middle row and three in the rear row.

Third generation (1941-1946) Suburbans were built in model years 1941, 1942 and 1946. They were also produced during the war as a military transport vehicle. Models with rear panel doors like this one were designated 3106, while those with tailgates were designated 3116.

The Chevrolet versions were equipped with a 216 cubic-inch inline 6-cylinder engine. This newest acquisition for the Hendrick collection features a period-correct Wayne-Chevy cylinder head and Offenhauser intake manifold.

We just think it’s cool, and that’s why it’s our Cool Car of the Day.