Get a detailed look at the new 1933 Standard model line in this original Chevrolet film.

We found this 1933 Chevrolet film interesting from a couple of angles. First, it opens with a closeup of the famed Fisher brothers coach, followed by a hard, hard sell for General Motors’ increasingly antiquated wood-and-steel body construction. As the rest of the Detroit automakers were shifting to all-steel bodies and touting their benefits to car shoppers, GM stubbornly stuck to wood-composite bodies, finally completing  the switch to steel in 1935-36. In the meantime, here we get some excellent glimpses of how Michigan hardwood (the Fisher brothers reportedly owned 160,000 acres) was employed in GM body construction in the ’30s.

Next, the film features a brand new model for 1933, introduced at mid-season in March: the Standard. Rushed into production in response to the failing economy, the Standard (Model CC)  was bare bones with a shorter wheelbase than the Master/Eagle (107 vs 110 inches) and smaller wheels, a non-synchronized transmission, and louvers instead of doors in the hood. Also, a short-stroke 181 cubic-inch stovebolt six with 60 hp replaced the 194 cubic-inch, 65 hp six found in the senior (CA) models.

The Standard was limited to just three body styles: a Coupe, a Coupe with rumble seat, and the two-door Coach, priced at $445 to $475–around $50 to $60 less than the comparable Master/Eagle models. (For scale, the average auto worker made $900 a year in 1933.) And there were only two colors: blue and black. The Standard was not a big seller for Chevrolet with around 36,000 vehicles produced in ’33, compared to 450,000 for the senior line. Still, while the Standard had only basic equipment, in reviewing the film we see a nifty little car. Video below.