It puzzles me why people have become so insistent that low mileage and "one owner" cars are more valuable simply because of their mileage or the fact that they had only one owner. Those concepts used to be a short-hand, used mostly by used car salesmen, to indicate the car's great condition, without discussing real concepts, like compression tests and, well . . . the car's ACTUAL condition. But when a single owner allowed the car to fall into terrible disrepair, does the fact that the car only had one owner have any meaning? If the "low mileage" car was dismantled, rodents roamed the interior, and the engine allowed to rust inside from disuse and poor storage, is there any meaning left to the idea that it's a "low mileage" car? There are times when the shorthand marketing terms for a creampuff, cherry used car become meaningless and aren't worth mentioning. I recently saw an ad for a car here on the HAMB, where the seller was proud of the idea that the car had only one owner (before the current seller bought it). He seemed to think that the fact of a single owner was somehow meaningful, despite the fact that the single owner had used the car up, crashed it several times, parked it in a field, and let the elements and the local kids destroy it for forty years. That's about as ludicrous as mentioning the low mileage on a car that is dismantled, abandoned mid-project and in need of work in every way. At some point, the mileage simply makes no difference anymore, and isn't worth mentioning.
In my case, the "low mileage" was a totally rust free, dent free, unabused, complete, stored inside car...
I don't have one, allways wanted one. I do have a case of Studebaker script oil filters though. Lovin estate sales. The guy bought out "Lots".
One owner, even if negleted is much more appealing the truth. All my cars have been whores, saved from neglectful, Abusive owners. None ran. Most had a rod knock, and died between 86 and 98k miles. At last count the 55 had parts from 27 different cars, including the hood off of Cole Cutlers 53 bonneville car
I must confess, though it's a bit older than most. I bought it when I was a sophomore, that was a long time ago (I've been on S.S. for a while now). There has been others along with it over the years. The Wizzard
Having a Studebaker "car" is one thing... Having a car (ANY car) that is Stude powered...now there is a masochist. I've done a LOT of grinding/bench testing to learn what the Studebaker cylinder head can produce. Had some adjustable cam drives made, some roller cams made, know a guy that modifies Chrysler manifolds to fit the Stude engine. Like a machine shop owner friend once told me...ANYONE...can make a Chevy, Ford, Chrysler run well, takes a masochist to make horse power with a Stude engine..! Mike
Here is some pics from my build of a 55 Studebaker Champion. The chassie is scratchbuild with a Jag rear and Mustang II frontend and Wilwood brakes. The engine is Ford 351W and BorgWarner T5 gearbox and I hope to do a testdriving this summer.
Yep there are a bunch of us here. Glad to have you here with us. One of mine is the '61 Champ in my avitar is powered by a Studebaker R1 V8. Has a T85 three speed w/overdrive. My other Studebaker is a '65 Cruiser that my uncle bought new. It is now under a rebuild getting ready to drive to South Bend for the 2017 Studebaker International Meet. Since the '65 came with a Canadian GM 283 from the factory, we have rebuilt it with a few modifications. Though a 4-door I wanted it to handle so I have added an oversized front sway bar, a rear sway bar, quick steering arms and lowered a couple of inches. It came with a Dana 44 with Twin Traction and that remains.
Like so many others here, I, too, have a weakness for Studebakers. I have a '39 Coupe Express now going through final body work 350/700-R4/Ford 9", a 1941 Commander Sedan Coupe 350/350/Camaro rear, a barn find '41 President 4-dr Sedan with 31,000 original miles (For Sale), and '54 Studebaker Champion with a 350/700-R4,Ford 9" combination. Email me at [email protected] if you're interested in a rust-free '41 President 4-dr Sedan with NO rust-out.
(Pm me if you would like the rest of this long article on the Golden Hawk) Hello, Ever since I saw one on the street as a little kid, I was fascinated by this weird looking finned car. The Studebaker Golden Hawk (March 1957 edition of Hot Rod Mag) made me want to read all about it. The odd thing was that I never liked reading about tech articles, as they just kept going on and on. Short attention span plus wanting to see those great photos and features drew me back month after month…not those drone humming articles about valve lash, adjusting, installing, gear ratio mix, etc. This kid just liked seeing all of those cool looking hot rods and customs. But, for some unknown reason, the first page of the tech article on this Studebaker Hawk kept me interested for days. It was the only Studebaker with a McCulloch supercharger stock from the factory. But it had a funny name, “Jet stream”supercharger. No, I could not finish the whole article in one sitting. I remember it took me several days of stopping, going to another photo feature car, coming back to read a little more, etc. Finally after many days, I was able to finish this super long article. (6 full pages and four 1/3rd columns inbetween more fascinating advertisements for Honest Charley and a myriad of cool ads for parts.) 16 sec and 82 mph for the ¼ was fine for us. Faster than my dad’s big, Buick Roadmaster at 18 and 79 mph. I was impressed with the Hawk’s cool fins and the sporty look. I could imagine this car lowered or on a rake with Moon Discs or mag wheels. I must have been influenced by this article for more than just information. Later on in 1961, I liked the writings of the author, Racer Brown. He was a journalist that started a camshaft company that was popular in the 60’s. We installed one of his first Racer Brown Cam and solid lifters sets in our 1958 Impala 348/280 hp motor. Of course, I was given the weekly responsibility of adjusting all of the solid lifters to make sure they did not make any noise. It was as quiet as if we still had our hydraulic cam in there. So, it must have made more than 280 stock horsepower. It certainly felt more powerful. No more A/Stock class for this car. Jnaki But, I ask my self, what happened to that kid that read the “tech” article? Maybe after that article, the rest of the tech articles got too boring or something. If memory serves me correctly, those tech pages were/are the fastest skimmed parts of any magazine. In looking back, that Studebaker with the cool motor, images of the car cruising in our home town with Moon Discs…wow…That is how memories still linger. This Studebaker body style did make a cool Bonneville racer for many, always decked out with all sorts of streamlining and those ever present, Moon Discs. Street version? It certainly would draw a ton of looks on any street, lowered with Moon Discs. Our continued likes for the Studebakers showed up in 1959-60 with the supercharged sedans of Junior Thompson and Al Hirshfield. These two were always at the top of the Supercharged Gas Coupes And Sedans classes all over the So Cal dragstrips.
Remember that factory supercharged Studebakers did not end with the last two years of Golden Hawks, '57 and '58. In 1963 and 1964 R2 and R3 engines were available not only in the Avanti, but also Larks and GT Hawks. These Paxton supercharged engines, along with R1 non-supercharged performance engine, set many records on the salt. R1 and R2 engines were 289 cubic engines while the R3 engines were 304 cubic inches. There was also an R4 engine which had 304 cubic inches, but had two four bbl carbs and was not supercharged. The above is a shot of the factory's attempts at many records on the salt. As you can see they ran on Allstate tires. All sorts of records were recording during these attempts. This is the late Ron Hall's record setting Avanti on the salt.
1929 Dictator cabriolet, 39 President 4 dr., 40 Commander 2dr., 49 Champion 4 dr., 49 1/2ton pu., 49 2 ton truck............GUILTY
Havent had the privlige of owning one yet, but will some day. A very good friend of mine has a sweet little mild custom Lark.
My old Commander Coupe, pic borrowed from someone on the net. My Studie Powered Model A Motor in the Model A with a rare STU-V intake
The styling of the Avanti was certainly ahead of its time, but the rest of the car was old stuff. The frame was a Lark convertible item and the engine had been around since 1951. Still it was a great attempt to bolster the brand, but as you say it was just too late.
Studes are the coolest of all. I have a 54 Coupe that I built in 2010 and been having a ball bracket and heads up racing. There's a 63 Lark 2dr Sedan in the Barn waiting and I'm currently working on a 53 Coupe Gasser. Hopefully the Gasser will make a pass sometime this year ! Good luck with yours !
Add another to the list. I have a thing for the pickup trucks. The first one I owned in high school, and this is my 3rd. It's a fun project, as nothing is "normal" about a Studebaker. Pic3 by Wallaby posted Mar 22, 2017 at 5:17 PM Pic1 by Wallaby posted Mar 22, 2017 at 5:13 PM
I don't own one but I've done some artwork of a couple of pretty wild concepts. Maybe somebody will build one....Or maybe string me up for blasphemy
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