(by CC reader Steve Sicklick) The owner of this automobile (who does not use the internet) has asked me to place this ad and handle inquiries for him. I have become very familiar with this automobile because I have a personal connection to it. My family has been in the automobile business in Central Connecticut since 1920 and my family’s automotive history is of great interest to me.
During the 1930’s my grandfather and each of two great uncle’s owned new car dealerships in New Britain, Ct. and during the years before WWII collectively sold Chrysler, Plymouth, Hudson, Essex, White Motor Cars, Packard, Pierce Arrow, Reo, Willys, Dodge and Terraplane. For years, at local car shows I would ask owners of the above car brands from this era if they knew the name and location of the dealership that sold their car when it was new, hoping to find a car that originated from one of my family member’s dealerships. I must say that if I ever found a car sold new that many years ago by my grandfather or great uncles, I would expect that at very best, it would be a restored car. In June of 2013 at an auto concours event, I finally did come upon a car that was sold new by my great uncle Edward Honeyman’s Chrysler-Plymouth dealership…New Britain Motorcar Co.. And that brings us to the car advertised here.
To my complete amazement, the car I came upon, this 1937 Chrysler Royal is totally original with 10,700 original miles!!! It may seem unusual that I would be involved in the sale, but after first finding this car 3 years ago, I have become friends with the 80+ year old gentleman who is the second and current owner of this ’37 Chrysler Royal.
As the proprietor of an automobile service and towing business for many years just down the street from where the original owner resided, he serviced this car in the 60’s and into the 70’s and when the original owner passed away in 1972 he bought the car from his family. Still in the auto service business to this day, the second owner has kept this car inside at his service garage, but during the winter months it was moved to his home garage or, for a number of years, was displayed on the showroom floor during Christmas season in the 1990’s at Tufano Motors, the local Chrysler-Plymouth dealer. It has also been displayed at a number of antique car shows over the years by the current owner.
It has won a number of awards at events for its extraordinary original condition (photos are included showing the current owner with the car and trophies and show display signage back in the 70’s as well as today.) Even though the car has only traveled 3000 miles in the last 60+ years (see photos of repair records), it has not gone for long periods of time without being started or moved.
That being said, the original owner, living on a bus line, put it up on blocks every winter and used public transportation. This accounts for the extremely clean under-carriage. As the story goes, the original owner was known to take his wife shopping in town and if it looked like it might rain, he would immediately drive home to put the car in the garage and leave his wife in the store to fend for herself to get home.
This auto comes with a number of original documents including the original owners manual and other printed material presented to a first owner on delivery (owners identification card, owners service policy-see photo). There is even an In-Transit document showing delivery to the area Chrysler Distributor in Hartford, Ct. It was not uncommon up until the early 50’s that larger city dealers could appoint dealers in smaller cities and towns (with factory approval) and also be their source of new vehicle inventory.
Original repair orders showing the vehicle service history from day one also come with the car. The top one is for an inspection, chassis lubrication, and oil change. Total: $2.70.
The second owner being in the service business himself and putting less than 2000 miles on the car over the last 44 years did change fluids and properly maintain the car but since he did it for himself as compared to a paying customer, he did not create paperwork for oil changes, etc. Also included are expired Ct. registration documents for almost every year since new.
Among these documents is the very first registration issued upon new vehicle delivery and dated Sept. 2, 1937. This document references the selling dealer as New Britain Motor Car Co. which as mentioned above was my great uncle’s dealership and it was through this document that I was able to verify for myself that this was the car I had been searching for…one sold by that generation of family members who were car dealers before WWII (see photo).
An interesting feature of this car is the crank-out windshield. There is a crank handle at the center of the dashboard that when operated pivots the bottom of the windshield outward to provide ventilation directly into the passenger compartment (see both exterior and interior photos).
The second and present owner had seat covers made and installed by an auto upholstery shop about the time that he purchased the car in 1972. He has told me that the original fabric was very heavy and clingy making it difficult to for him to get in and out of the car. The original seat fabric is presumably in excellent condition underneath these covers.
The current owner did replace the auto glass all around in the ‘80’s which suffered from the common problem of cars from this era of becoming foggy and discolored with age. The original wheels and hubcaps (currently not on the car) are to be sold with the car.
The original owner, Albert B. Carlson’s initials ABC are still present, painted in small gold leaf, on the driver’s door(see photo).
The car drives extremely well and has no operating issues. Everything inside the passenger compartment is in perfect operating condition. There are no rips, tears or loose pieces to the headliner, door panels or floor covering. There are no trim pieces missing inside or outside the car. The car is 100% complete. The paint is 100% original and in excellent condition with just a few minor blemishes. The paint on the body holds an excellent shine. The paint on the fenders is a little thin and the finish there has become somewhat flat. To my eye, it should be left as is because overall, the car is an extraordinary example of a totally original automobile from this era. More photos here
Price: $27,000 Contact the seller at blvdsteve@aol.com
Wow, what a fabulous car! It’s just outside my Mopar sweet spot of 1938-1939, if it was a 38 Desoto I’d be sitting on my hands right now. What a backstory.
It’s worth whatever someone will pay for it, but in this post here we ran across a mint 1950 Plymouth with 38,000 miles that could not find a buyer at $14,000 CDN.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/road-trip/cc-day-trip-a-beetle-among-the-vines/
As I always say the problem in the old car hobby is not a lack of old cars, but a lack of people willing to look after old cars.
GLWTS
Doug, this would pair very well with a VW.
Then it would have to live outside. I don’t think it would like that very much at this point!
Anyway, this year is new(er) motorcycles and a VW engine rebuild. Next year is something else?
“As I always say the problem in the old car hobby is not a lack of old cars, but a lack of people willing to look after old cars.”
So true more and more each year. I have watched many a typical non-Chevy mid-50’s car languish on Craigslist for over a year, or more, out my way. One guy has 5 ordinary mid-50’s 4 door sedan Pontiacs for sale that need restoration. Problem is grandfather who owned them has passed. Next down the family line may have also passed or are too old to deal with restoration.. The grandson and great grandson don’t care.
The cars are not unique enough to be true collectibles which would be snapped up immediately. They are just ordinary enough to be a dime a dozen and there will be more of them, coming out of the woodwork, then people to save them or want them. Friends may love to ride in my 67 Park Lane but none are interested in owning it. I fully expect to have to have the car scrapped in 20 more years. A Mustang and Cougar may fair better but not sedans.
I feel your pain. As much as I’d like to see this car find a buyer, I think it’s going to be a tough sell, especially at this price.
I love cars from the 1930s and love “time capsule” original cars, so this really stands out. The Royal was Chrysler’s bottom model then and was probably the biggest seller.
These 1930s models from Chrysler Corp are a little maddening to me from a styling standpoint. Ray Dietrich who ran Chrysler styling then always did well on the overall shapes, but could be hit-or-miss on some of the details. The front on the 37 was one of the less graceful ones of that era. However, the great art deco styling of the dash sort of makes up for it.
I hope someone buys this who will keep it as it is. The car deserves a good owner. Thanks for sharing it.
Agreed about the front end styling.
If those two intakes above the script are considered part of the grille, it’s somewhat like today’s upper and lower grille motif, that is sometimes done well, and sometimes not. I always thought the look of the ’37 Chrysler’s prow was a bit on the trucky side.
The interiors of cars before the mid 1950s are so inviting because of the vertical space that’s available. I wonder if part of the appeal of SUVs is that they have returned the concept of “air rights” to the interior of the personal vehicle.
Agreed about Dietrich. As a rule, his bodies were usually better than the front ends, although the 39’s were pretty nice, but I’m not sure if he’d been pushed out by then.
His background as a coachbuilder might have played a role – they generally designed from the cowl back. The ’38 was a bit better, but not by much.
Excellent point about Dietrich’s custom body experience and how it would never have involved anything from the cowl forward.
I understand that he was pushed out in 1938 so the 39 was probably dialed in by then. The 1940 body was a very different shape, one that I understand was the work of Henry King who took over after Dietrich. King always struck me as the opposite of Dietrich – he always did nice work on the details but his basic shapes did not always come off quite right.
As others mention below, this ’37 Chrysler is mostly a stodgier version of the ’37 Buick – probably not coincidental.
The Chrysler Airflow also factored into this car in a significant way. While the Airflow is beloved today, that sales debacle was just finishing its 1934-1937 run when this car was built. Likely nobody was in the mood to sign off on any anything even slightly adventurous.
If I were the original owners wife, and I was left at the store in the pouring rain to fend for myself while he took the car home so it wouldn’t get wet, I’d be looking for a new mate. One who wasn’t a nut. Beautiful car though. I hope it finds a good home
If the wife were the one posting the ad, it might go something like “Mint condition 1937 Chrysler for sale; will throw in husband for free.”
I don’t think the husband was a nut…be he sounds like a hardboiled egg! 😀
I hope that car finds an owner who appreciates what that car really is – a time capsule.
Good one!
Beautiful old car.
“As the story goes, the original owner was known to take his wife shopping in town and if it looked like it might rain, he would immediately drive home to put the car in the garage and leave his wife in the store to fend for herself to get home.”
Wow, just wow.
There were similar owners of a Volare wagon featured in Hemmings Classic Car. This thing was in mint condition and had something like eight thousand miles on it.
An ex-colleague told me almost the same anecdote. His friend bought a last of the line Capri 2.8i and when his wife called him asking him to pick her up as she had lots of heavy bags, he said “I’m not taking the Capri out in the rain, you’ll have to get a bus!”.
This seems to have been a thing for people back in the day. Not entirely surprising for an era when many people paid cash for their cars.
I’m just saying I wouldn’t have been married for very long with that attitude. 🙂
Sorry, I would love Mrs. 64 more that my car. That includes picking her up in the damn rain. Jeesuz, some people…
That makes me dislike it on principle. Suppose the car picked that _essence_ up like Christine. It IS a Mopar, after all.
What a sweetie .
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I love the various Art Deco styling touches every where .
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I thought the Chrysler engines were supposed to be silver ? .
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No mention of price in this for sale advert .
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I too hope it finds a happy home where it’ll be cherished and used periodically .
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-Nate
No mention of price in this for sale advert .
It’s right there at the end of the post. $27,000
-bangshead- ~ Jeezo=peezo, time for new glasses _again_ ?! . =8-^ .
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Thanx Paul .
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-Nate
This is a wonderful 1937 Chrysler Royal, obviously well-preserved for these many years. Old Chryslers are superb, beautifully engineered and well-built icons of an earlier era, and by all means, these cars deserve to be preserved. In many ways—in my opinion—Chrysler Corporation cars of the earlier years, especially, symbolized the best automotive engineering from American manufacturers, and thus have enjoyed a unique place in American history. Hopefully, therefore, someone will carefully inspect this car for its lineage and mileage originality and purchase it!
That said, should this be the venue for “Car-For-Sale” ads? Probably not. eBay, Hemmings or the like would be a better place to list this car, and those venues would find more likely buyers. Describing this car is quite another thing, and everyone enjoys reading about a preserved Chrysler Royal that is 80-years old!
Attached is the 1940 Chrysler dealer-showroom portrait of Walter Percy Chrysler. Many dealers across the country proudly displayed this framed picture of the man.
It’s also listed at Hemmings. The seller is a regular CC reader, and he thought it might be interesting to our readers to post it here too.
We have done other “CC For sale” posts in the past.
Why not take it to Barrret-Jackson? They’d be more likely to find a good buyer there.
Hey, do you have any more info on this photo? Is there anywhere to purchase one?
Great CC Paul . Its good to see that there are still a few of these classics around in original condition . There certainly are not in my neck of the woods (Western Canada). I’ve attached some pics of my 1937 Dodge Brothers , the close cousin per say, to the beautiful 1937 Royal displayed in this CC . I’ve had my 37 for close to 20 years and be it far from the apparent condition of this Royal , it is stock and a runner . I have been approached by a few people that want it for a Rat rod project but, even though my son complains that the old Dodge is taking up valuable space from our other projects, I have managed to hang on to it thinking that I would one day finish bringing it back to its original glory . It needs a complete interior re-do other than the wood work which has been redone . What to do …what to do !
? ‘ What do do ‘ ? .
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SIMPLE : give it an extended service and then DRIVE the damn thing ! these are simply wonderful drivers, just don’t lug/over speed the engine nor run it wide open on the Highway/Freeway, keep the RPM’s in the sweet spot, around 3,000 RPM and give Women, Children and Men who might (it’s possible) be interested in it, rides on Sundays .
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-Nate
A beautiful automobile. Hopefully, it finds an owner that will keep the condition current.
As to the styling, look at this car, then look at a 1937 Buick. It’s very easy to understand where the sales went. Chryslers of this vintage were engineered cars, not styled car.
Chrysler styling was part of the Engineering department in those days. Ray Dietrich who was in charge of styling did not get along with Fred Zeder, to whom he reported. Walter Chrysler had been his protector and when Chrysler had his stroke and went home to bed, Dietrich was out.
It would have been interesting to see what Chryslers of this era would have looked like if styling had been its own department as was the case at GM and not under the heavy thumb of engineering. Or perhaps Dietrich’s skill with design in the classic era did not translate as well to the streamlined era as some other designers did.
The Loewy-designed 1937 Studebaker (not to mention the Harley Earl-designed Buick) was a very attractive car in ways that this 37 Chrysler was not.
For comparison purposes, the 1937 Buick
Split windshield, tipped back grille, elongated headlights and fenders. Definitely more moving toward the 1940’s.
Remove the rear two doors, the hump trunk and the whitewalls and that was my baby 45 years ago.
At the local AACA shows in my area we always had three 37’s in a line: my Special, another chapter member’s Roadmaster 4-door (identical to the picture), and an elderly couple’s from Berlin, PA Limited seven passenger sedan. And always parked in that order, left to right. Next to the lineup of T’s and A’s, we were one of the most noticed displays in the show
And the 1937 Studebaker as another example. Even this low-end Dictator sedan has an elegance to it that the front part of that Chrysler cannot match.
Emajay is right in that the backwards slant of the nose prow was almost universal then. This Chrysler’s upright nose was just awkward and stodgy. The rather blunt leading edge just compounds the awkwardness.
I’m always amazed when something like this turns up with such low original mileage.
(Sweeping generalization ahead…..)
There seems to have been a certain mindset in the 30’s that causes cars like this to be in such excellent condition and with low mileage. The owners were very careful about spending money (the depression, maybe?). They tended to be meticulous about maintenance on anything they DID purchase. And compared to drivers nowadays, they drove comparatively little and only for short distances (I recall a story in Hemmings, for example, regarding a farmer who owned a Hupmobile, would drive it to the edge of town and park it, walking the rest of the way).
Reading articles about such cars, many of them fall into that same pattern.
Well, you would think during desperate times people would be meticulous about auto maintenance, but I’m not so sure. For starters, someone who only drove a car, on average, 155 miles per year over a period of 69 years, well, I’m thinking they really didn’t need to have a car in the first place. I mean, one of the primary reasons for a car is to be able to travel in inclement weather, and this guy’s ’37 Chrysler doesn’t sound like it saw much of that. And I wouldn’t think that most people who actually needed a car could afford a Chrysler back in the day, either. Most bought Fords, Chevys, and Plymouths, drove them regularly, and kept them going as best as they could.
Then there’s the whole driving experience back in the thirties. People didn’t have hours long commutes. A car, even the cheapest, really was a luxury, not a necessity. So, after some thought, a survivor thirties’ Chrysler with extremely low mileage doesn’t sound nearly as unusual as one might first think.
@Rudiger ;
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Just so ~ I see lots of low mileage (under 70,000) 1930’s cars but very few have good cosmetics like this one does .
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I can’t see it getting anywhere near $27,000.00 even though I know and like this car very much .
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-Nate
Honestly, I think to some extent the perception is skewed by sort of de facto selection bias: Individual cars of the ’30s that have survived this long have generally done so because they were either super-expensive and rare (and thus pampered as objects d’art) or because they were owned by people who were unusually fussy or meticulous about them.
An awful lot of ’30s cars have simply not survived this long — workaday cars of this vintage that were NOT recipients of uncommonly scrupulous care got beat to hell, used up, and scrapped before a lot of us were born. Most 1937 cars would have been very weary by the end of World War II, and if they didn’t make it that far were probably fodder for wartime scrap drives. Of the ones that survived, some end up being bought up after the war for pocket change and hot-rodded into oblivion.
So, it’s a bit like making judgments about the health of people in the ’30s based on folks who are now 100 years old.
In any era there were folks who took car care and maintenance to an extreme, which resulted in a few remaining well-preserved examples such as this ’37 Royal six sedan. Although cars in general then required more regular attention to keep them operational and the annual average mileage was half what it is now, most simply got used, worn out, traded from hand to hand and ultimately scrapped. That goes for cars all across the price spectrum.
As perspective, the same year this Royal was made, one Custom Imperial Eight chassis was shipped to Derham Body Co. to have a full-custom convertible sedan body mounted. That car is now lost, if any ’37 Chrysler would have survived in fine original condition, one would think it would be a full-custom Derham.
Yeah, it’s the fallacy of that whole “if only I’d known” thing about scoring a big pay-day on cars once worth very little now commanding stratospheric prices. Even if it were known that a 1971 Hemi-Cuda convertible would go for millions 45 years later, there’s the cost of buying one in that era’s money and making sure it was kept in pristine condition for nearly half a century. That’s not exactly cheap.
It also explains why the rarest cars ended up in one of two extremes. There’s the first, meticulous, OCD maintenance group that doesn’t drive it, at all, then the other, couldn’t keep it going group because so few were produced it was too difficult and expensive to preserve it.
I would imagine that one-off Custom Imperial Eight with the Derham Body was in the latter category. It probably cost as much as a nice, new home back then so someone got in way over their head when they bought it. Later, it was sold for peanuts to someone else who didn’t have enough money to keep it properly, either, and it just deteriorated over the years, finally being sold for scrap by someone who just thought it was some rusted out hulk of an old car and didn’t have clue as to what it really was (or might have been worth).
Thank you for sharing! Any survivor automobile in this condition, is welcome on my computer screen. The fact that it is for purchase is icing on the cake.
Someday… when I have the space… I will own a survivor this clean, regardless of make or style.
27k plus a buck a mile shipping to your left coast yeah pretty much what the retail for such a car would be here, people in NZ pay absolutely stupid money for tidy US cars but most cant see past 60 pony and muscle cars.
it just boggles my mind about the mileage. I don’t work, live in town and couldn’t keep my driving to under 10,000 miles A YEAR if someone shot the tires off my car.
as someone said earlier…….wow, just wow…..
Change, as they say, is constant. I think 1930’s era driving habits are re-emerging, at least among many people I know.
In the fifties, responding to Depression era unemployment and war prosperity, we believed growth was the answer. Borrowing and spending were seen as good things, essential to economic health. Boomers, raised in this mentality, borrowed and spent with abandon. Millennials, now heir to the deferred debts and inflated assets of the growth era–loaded up with student debt, and unable to buy a home or health insurance–necessarily have to adopt 1930’s strategies. This includes not owning, or rarely driving a car.
I think we will be seeing a lot more of this in the future, current aberrations notwithstanding.
I agree with some of what you say but disagree about Millennials not buying a car. Unlike in Europe where not having a car and taking public transport is very feasible, in the USA for a lot of folks public transport is not an option due to there no being any in their locale or it is spotty or it is too much of a hassle(i.e. adding a hour or two to your commute verses driving a car). I can see the switch over from buying new to a used car.
Such a nice looking car.
You could tell that the original owner was proud to own this car. He had his initials painted on the door. The original owner would have been 54 years old in 1937 if this grave stone on this find a grave site is the right person
https://forums.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Carlson&GSfn=Albert&GSmn=B&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=8&GScnty=305&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=81918112&df=all&
The original owner probably paid for cash for the car and took care of it. The Depression era mentality probably meant that this car was well taken care of and used for years. Most likely this might have been his only car from 1937 until he died. The owner and the car looks like they spent all of their life together in New Britain CT so it did not get out much.
The car is a survivor in more ways then one. The fact that it is 80 years old and runs and looks like new is great but the fact that it survived the 1938 New England Hurricane that went through New Britain and survived when most cars did not is astounding.
I hope this car finds a loving owner
“You could tell that the original owner was proud to own this car. He had his initials painted on the door.”
This may have been a “thing” back then. Harold Warp, a plastics pioneer who made a fortune founded Pioneer Village in Minden, NE. The “Village” is an eclectic museum of Americana. It includes a collection of 350 cars, and many of the older early cars acquired for the museum have Mr. Warp’s initials on the door.
I am the person selling this car for the current owner. The owner and I appreciate all of the positive comments the car has received in this submission. I am astounded that Leon took the trouble to look up the first owner’s grave stone and calculated how old he was when he bought this car. This is great information to add to the history of the car and after sharing it with the current owner, he confirmed that Mr. Carlson was in his 90’s when he passed away so there is no question that the grave stone shown belongs to the first owner.
Part of me would hate to see the car leave Central Connecticut and lose contact with such an important touchstone of my family’s auto history if sold to someone from outside the area (I am not in a position to buy it myself). The other part of me, having been in the automobile business myself (vehicle leasing)and now retired would overcome this ’37 Chrysler no longer being near-by with the feeling of satisfaction that would come from selling the same car that my great uncle sold new 80 years ago one more time!
I shared all of the comments made here with the present owner and he said “if someone steps forward with a decent offer let’s sell the car” !!!
I am a history major and love finding out folks history. This may also be the reason I prize collecting watches that have presentations on the back of them. This because these watches tell the store of the original owner.
I am guessing that the current owner bought the car from Mr. Carlson’s son Philmor. According to the Find A grave site, Mr. Carlson’s wife Signe (aka the poor woman that would have to walk home from the store in the rain) passed away in 1971 so she would have had no hand in selling the car. I wonder why he did not keep the car?
It seems longevity runs in the family as Mr. Carlson’s son died in 2009 at age 93.
I hope it will go to a person that will take care of it as it is a true 2 owner car.
Your research led me to contact one of Philmor Carlson’s children, to make them aware of the car and it being for sale. I looked up Philmor’s obituary and found the names of children there but how did you find out that Philmor was the son of Albert Carlson? I am wondering if Philmor had any other brother’s or sisters that I might reach out to? thanks for your taking this story into a whole other direction.
Love the ad featuring the owner testimonials, and the reminder to:
“TUNE IN ON MAJOR BOWES, COLUMBIA NETWORK, EVERY THURSDAY”
In addition to old cars, I’m also a fan of old radio and television, and it’s fun to see reminders of when shows had a single (and often, rabidly loyal) sponsor.
? The Red or the Blue Network ? .
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-Nate
NBC had the Red and Blue networks. In 1939, the FCC forced NBC to divest one of the networks, and the junior Blue network became ABC in 1942.
Major Bowes had a couple of Crown Imperial limousines as part of his deal with Chrysler.
Major Bowes was apparently debatably ever a Major, but he was probably the founder of the national scale electronic medium talent-to-stardom shows that are carried on to this day – such as America’s Got Talent. The full name of his show was “Major Bowes Amateur Hour.”
His biggest “find” was Frank Sinatra. The show spun a catchphrase in “What do you think this is? The Amateur hour?” While Major Bowes was before her time, successor shows on television led my mother to ask me this whenever I broke out into song or some attempt at comedy.
I don’t see it on Hemmings anymore, did it sell?
Hoy he descubierto ésta publicación, y quería compartir con ustedes que mi padre, de profesión mecánico de automóviles, hizo el Servicio Militar en 1955 como chofer del Coronel Jefe de la Isla de Ibiza (España) con un Chrysler Royal de 1937, matrícula del Ejército de Tierra (ET-9722). Un saludo
BIENVENIDOS MANUEL ! .
Mi Espanol is no bueno pero encanta qualquier que disfruta Automoviles viejas .
-Nate