Ryan, I think you remember it green because of Kris' pal Donnie. He had a green and similarly scalloped Oldsmobile.
I realize it's a bit O/T for this thread (and for the H.A.M.B.), but I've always dug Jack Chisenhall's "COOL 200" Bonneville Studebaker: In 1995, Jack ran 219.585 mph at Bonneville in his 1953 Studebaker with the air conditioning on to demonstrate the reliability and performance of Vintage Air air conditioning systems. Immediately after the event, he changed tires and gears, and drove the Studebaker from Los Angeles to Detroit on the Hot Rod Power Tour.
... and on another O/T but somewhat related note ... Just this past weekend, Brandon Leggitt made a 275 mph pass at El Mirage in his '53 Studebaker:
Love the Studes. Notice in pics how many do NOT have the bumper "bumperets". What did Barris leave them on??? Love the clean front without.
Yeah, man. They certainly did have some clean lines. Love them just as they rolled off the assembly line.
I'm biased but the great majority of attempts to customize the 53-55 studes just ruin what is a timeless perfection. IMHO
In total side profile the roof is just a wee bit too high. Surely that dimension was established to create room for your Fedora, but we sorta don't need that any longer. It's not hateful, but especially in the HT versions it shows up fairly easy. Now I reckon you could cheat a sedan version, simply black out some of the door/window frames and make em "go away". Always timeless though, no matter what. My pal Jerry has a gennie Studillac conversion from back in the day, paperwork included. Too kool...
Love this thread. I fell in love with the Loewy coupes as a teenager, and finally bought my first a decade ago. As much as I love customs, it's hard to settle on any custom treatments that really look good on these cars. Besides shaving trim, they seem to always look best left mostly stock. I've seen very few that I like with the tops chopped. Something about the curvature at the back of the roof looks good from the factory and always seems to get screwed up when you chop them. So far I haven't done anything to alter mine, though lowering is in my plans. I'm tempted to remove the bumper guards too.
Personally I love the upward sloping roof line of Studebaker C/K cars. When you get the stance right, that slight upward slope against the downward slope of the front fenders makes for a very unique contrast in lines. To me that juxtaposition really sets the design of these cars apart from so many others. I do prefer the hardtops (K) over the coupes (C) and the waffle grille inserts over the flat bar inserts like those on my old '54 Commander. Looking forward to the day I own one again.
So far I haven't done anything to alter mine, though lowering is in my plans. I'm tempted to remove the bumper guards too.[/QUOTE] Off with those bumper guards!
At Wayne's Custard cruise in Cederburg Wi. , A man had a Studalac, 53 or 54, the owner said it was a survivor car/Hot Rod, and that conversion was popular in 50's 60's. Very KOOL little car, pretty stock appearing w/ caddy under hood, cannot remember trans, maybe a fellow cheesehead will see this and add more detail. We have a local rodder that has one under construction, 53, rebuilt a 283 for it, pretty nice car, but his age and health have caught up w/ him, hoping for him, gets to drive it, he also has a 58 corvette that he purchased new and restored years back. Them Studies are KOOL !, So far ahead w/ design, style, but I guess the buying public did not agree, think Studebaker merged w/ Packard and closed the door late 50's, early 60's.
Can't forget my Dad's 354 Hemi powered '53 he built with Doug Robinson in '58. This turned out to be the inception of Horsepower Engineering many moons ago.
This is some nice cars right there! Anybody got any color pics of the "Howard eater" or Howard eater II"?
I agree with many posts here. You can spend a fortune customizing one and not improve very much on the beautiful looks of an original. Raymond Loewy and designer Bob Bourke created a masterpiece.
OK, you've convinced me! God those speedsters are lovely! My coupe is a pretty bare-bones model with the Champion six, stripped down with no radio, even. The one extra-cost item on my car is the "butter knife" stainless trim along the sides like the speedsters had. I've been imagining a new two-tone paint job to make it look a bit more like the speedsters.
If all goes as planned, I will be the owner of a 1954 Stude post coupe this weekend. I'm planning on going for the LSR look. ....maybe Cadillac powered.
Yeah, in fuel and altered coupe the SCTA says no chop. A lot of chopped comp coupe Studies at Bonneville wish the could go 275 in 5 miles where Brandon did it in a 1.3 miles.
Raymond Lowey's design is a tough one to improve on... That green one is a gem... A chop on one of these needs to be oh so subtle to work...
Had a kid in my Sophomore class ('55), who I was so jealous and envious of, who's dad bought him a '53, (and anything else he wanted) This kid didn't know how good he had it in anyway. Kingston trio starched shirts, pegged pants, flat top, always in style shoes, always got to buy lunch, named Mike Marks. It of course was the hit of the school and the auto class. I liked the kid and did meet him years later when teaching classes for Boeing. Asked him what ever happened to the Stued, said he couldn't remember. Couple of years back had a chance to buy a '57 Silver Hawk below market value out on the field at Barrett/Jackson but after going back at least three times passed on it. This picture is not it, this from Wikipeda.
I remember a guy in the neighbor hood that had a 390 cad engine in his. As a kid 14 years old, What a treat.
The white and yellow Studebaker is on the cover of Rod & Custom Dec. '59 unfortunately I don't have the article.
I also remember a few years back when Dennis Denham showed at Bonneville with his Black Studie. I knew him when I was a teenager in Inglewood. His had some Mercedes front head lights as I remember. It’s always good to see them racing...
Copy that! The Sanchez Stude was the first 200 MPH door-slammer. My favorite configuration was the 220 MPH chopped-top version. What an icon!
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