Re: IML: Hayes Bodied Coupes

["Bill Watson" <wwatson5@xxxxxxxxx>]

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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