Sedan delivery (Car derived van in British English, commonly called a
delivery in US) is a Two-door station wagon with solid panels in place of the rear side windows. Sedan deliveries were almost always ordered from the factory with few or no options and spartan trim. They were used in the same way a delivery van is used today, by businesses ranging from plumbers to bakeries.
Through 1965
Plymouth produced them for a short while until 1937.
PontiacPontiac is a brand of automobiles first produced in 1926, and sold in the United States, Canada, and Mexico by General Motors . Pontiac has been marketed as an "athletic" brand, specializing in mainstream performance vehicles....
produced them through 1953 in the U.S. and through 1958 in Canada. This was possible because Canadian Pontiacs of the forties and fifties actually used Chevrolet bodies; in fact, they are known to have used the rear sections of Chevrolet bodies through 1954 (creating odd Pontiac-Chevrolet hybrids; Pontiacs from the firewall forward, but with Chevrolet tail-lights!). We suspect...but do not know for a fact...that Canadian Pontiacs of the forties similarly were Chevrolets at the rear, with Pontiac sheet-metal and trim at the front (Please correct this as needed?!).
These models were usually produced in VERY small numbers (200 or less) [see http://www.pcpvpoci.info/Pont%20SD%20production%20totals.pdf]. 449 Canadian Pontiac sedan-deliveries were built in 1958. From 1959 on the sedan delivery was no longer practical; it was phased out in 1960 as a Chevrolet model, so the requisite Chevrolet body was no longer available...and the "hyper-finned" Chevrolets of 1959 did not lend themselves to a "sedan delivery" model! Sedan-deliveries were typically used as work vehicles, so they tended to wear out more than a better cared for family car.
The 1949-1952
ChevroletChevrolet is a brand of automobile produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant in 1911, Chevrolet was acquired by General Motors in 1917...
Sedan deliveries were attractive and dependable work vehicles. The 1957 150 series Sedan delivery is a valuable collectable Chevy sought by collectors.
With the growing sales of the
Volkswagen MicrovanThe Volkswagen Type 2 was the second automotive line introduced by German automaker Volkswagen. It was a van introduced in 1950, initially based on Volkswagen's first model, the Type 1, also known as the "Beetle". The Type 2 is the forerunner of modern cargo and passenger vans...
and the introduction of
compact vanA compact van is a type of van characterized by a flat front design, mechanicals based on a compact car, an engine placed either at the rear or between and behind the front seats and were roughly the same size as the VW Bus. Popular in the United States during the early 1960s, they were replaced by...
s, Sedan deliveries faded from the scene. Chevrolet dropped the body type in 1960, while
FordThe Ford Motor Company is an American multinational corporation based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury brands, Ford also owns Volvo Cars of Sweden, and a small stake...
moved it to the Ford Falcon line-up until 1965. Ironically while in decline in America, the sedan-delivery concept inspired
HoldenGM Holden Ltd is an Australian automaker based in Port Melbourne, Victoria. The company was founded in 1856 as a saddlery business, but later moved into the automotive field, becoming a subsidiary of General Motors in 1931. Holden has taken charge of vehicle operations for GM in Australasia and,...
and Ford in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
to manufacture their own sedan deliveries, which evolved into the
panel vanA panel van is a form of van; in some national usages it is distinct from a purpose-designed van in that it is based on a family car chassis; elsewhere in the world it applies to any solid van, smaller than a lorry or truck , without rear side windows — in this usage the term is...
s.
1970's
Chevrolet and Ford offered "modern" sedan deliveries in the 70's- The
Chevrolet VegaThe Chevrolet Vega is a subcompact, four passenger automobile produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors for the 1971–1977 model years....
Panel Express and the
Ford PintoThe Ford Pinto was Ford Motor Company's first domestic North American subcompact automobile marketed beginning on September 11, 1970. It competed with the AMC Gremlin and Chevrolet Vega, along with imports from makes such as Volkwagen, Datsun and Toyota. The Pinto was popular in sales, with 100,000...
Panel Wagon.
The Vega Panel Express was introduced first, in September 1970, and was Chevy's first sedan delivery since the final 1960 full-size model. Chevrolet offered the rare body-style Vega for the 1971 through 1975 model years. Pontiac Astre Panel, Pontiac's version of the Vega Panel Express, was also available in the US for 1975.
The Pinto Panel delivery was introduced in 1976 and was offered in both commercial and "factory customized" Cruising Wagon versions, featuring round port-hole rear side windows.
Today
Chrysler had shown a concept-car edition of a sedan delivery based on the PT Cruiser at the NAIAS in 2002, but it wasn't approved for production.
In 2007 Chevrolet released a Sedan delivery version of the
HHRThe Chevrolet HHR is a small retro-styled compact station wagon launched by the Chevrolet division of American automaker General Motors at the 2005 Los Angeles Auto Show as a 2006 model — and designed by Bryan Nesbitt. Smaller than the Equinox, the HHR shares the GM Delta platform with the...
, called the HHR Panel. Some restore and customize sedan deliveries, and some convert station wagons into deliveries and are now popular in
hot rodHot rods are typically American cars with large engines modified for linear speed. The origin of the term "hot rod" is unclear. One explanation is that the term is a contraction of "hot roadster," meaning a roadster that was modified for speed. Another explanation is that the mufflers were...
circles.
Europe
In the past, sedan deliveries were also popular in Europe. However, in the 1950s the larger sedan deliveries were replaced by vans like the
Volkswagen Type 2The Volkswagen Type 2 was the second automotive line introduced by German automaker Volkswagen. It was a van introduced in 1950, initially based on Volkswagen's first model, the Type 1, also known as the "Beetle". The Type 2 is the forerunner of modern cargo and passenger vans...
, the
DKW vanFrom 1949 to 1962, DKW produced a van with a trailing-arm rear suspension system which incorporated springs in the cross bar assembly. It had a very modern layout with a front engine and front-wheel drive, but the engine was remarkably underpowered. The van was first equipped with a the prewar...
and the first-generation
Ford TransitThe Ford Transit is a range of panel vans, minibuses and pickup trucks, produced by the Ford Motor Company in Europe.The Transit has been the best-selling light commercial vehicle in Europe for 40 years, and in some countries the term "Transit" has passed into common usage as a generic term...
. The smaller sedan deliveries continued; but now they are frequently replaced by small
panel vanA panel van is a form of van; in some national usages it is distinct from a purpose-designed van in that it is based on a family car chassis; elsewhere in the world it applies to any solid van, smaller than a lorry or truck , without rear side windows — in this usage the term is...
s like the
Renault KangooThe Renault Kangoo and Kangoo Express are panel van and leisure activity vehicle produced by French automaker Renault since 1997. The Kangoo is manufactured in the MCA plant in Maubeuge, France, and in Santa Isabel, Argentina. It is also sold by Nissan in Latin America and Europe as the Kubistar.-...
and the
Opel ComboThe Combo is a panel van and leisure activity vehicle from General Motors, which is branded as Opel, Vauxhall, Holden and Chevrolet, depending on the market...
. But still today, some station wagons can be ordered as a sedan delivery.
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