The Chevrolet Series BA Confederate (or Chevrolet Confederate) is an American vehicle manufactured by

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

in 1932 to replace the 1931 Series AE Independence. Production slipped significantly from over 600,000 cars to 323,100 for the model year as the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

continued, but was still sufficient for Chevrolet to retain first place in the American car sales table. Sales were also affected by cross-town rival Ford introducing the Ford V8 coupe and sedan. A new body style called a station wagon was produced in limited quantities by coachbuilder Mifflinburg Body Company of Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania.

Specifications

The Series BA carried over much from the Series AE and the main external differences were the sloping of the windshield and the removal of the external visor above. Once model year 1932 Chevrolet offered fourteen different body style choices, which were all supplied by

Fisher Body Fisher Body was an automobile coachbuilder founded as the Fisher Body Company by Frederic and Charles Fisher in 1908 in Detroit, Michigan when they absorbed a fledgling autobody maker. By 1916 the concern had grown into one of the world's large ...

and continued the program of devoting production to different factories for national consumption. The choices were now broken into "Standard" and "Deluxe" and one distinguishing feature was that on either side of the hood the previous louvers were replaced by opening vents, finished in a distinctive chrome on DeLuxe models. Flint Assembly, Buffalo Assembly and Janesville Assembly provided more than one coachwork choice due to production capacity. In May 1925 the Chevrolet Export Boxing plant at

Bloomfield, New Jersey Bloomfield is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, and an inner-ring suburb of Newark. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 53,105, an increase of 5,790 (+12.2%) from the 2010 census cou ...

was repurposed from a previous owner where

Knock-down kit A knock-down kit (also knockdown kit, knocked-down kit, or simply knockdown or KD) is a collection of parts required to assemble a product. The parts are typically manufactured in one country or region, and then exported to another country or r ...

s for Chevrolet, Oakland, Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac passenger cars, and both Chevrolet and G. M. C. truck parts are crated and shipped by railroad to the docks at

Weehawken, New Jersey Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on the Hudson Waterfront and Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's po ...

for overseas GM assembly factories. It remained powered by the "Stovebolt" six-cylinder engine, but now upgraded with a downdraft carburetor and a higher compression ratio to produce . A three-speed synchro-mesh transmission was fitted and a "Free Wheeling" mode called Wizard Control was standard, which permitted the car to coast when the driver's foot was lifted from the accelerator. The electrical system was 6 Volt Negative ground, dual front (referred to as "Town and Country") horns and a passenger side Brake and Parking lights were options that could have been added on at either the dealership or factory. Turn signal systems had not yet been implemented, the generator used a "Cut-out" relay which only used 1 wire for its generating system. Voltage regulators weren't implemented until 1935.

References

Series BA Confederate Cars introduced in 1932 Cars discontinued in 1932 {{Classicprw-auto-stub

Specifications

See also

References