Look What I Just Bought
 

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Ever since I found one of these falling apart in a field not far from where I live(it's picture is in my DA gallery, along with Wilt's now-famous quote about everything wanting to belong to someone-I hate seeing old cars just abandoned and rusting apart), I've wanted one. We finally settled my late grandmother's estate and sold the house, which gave me a little bit of spending money, and a couple of days ago I came across this baby for sale down in Florida, over the 'net. It's a '51 Studebaker Champion sedan, in case y'all aren't familiar with this particular automobile, and it still belongs to the ORIGINAL owner, who bought it in 1950 from a Studebaker dealer up North, and has kept it in great condition ever since(he's a mechanic himself). He's now found that he's just getting too old to drive and keep the car up, sadly, so he had his daughter put it up for sale. It's got the original "flathead" six-cylinder engine(how does 40 miles per gallon sound?), that has been rebuilt and runs great. The interior has been totally restored, the electrical system re-wired, new brakes installed, and a new paint job done. The car was originally black, but the black color proved too heat-absorbant for the Florida climate, so he re-painted it "Old Ivory". It does need some of the chrome refurbished, and two of the guages have to be hooked up, and it needs new rims or wheel covers, and the passenger side front window got cracked and has to be replaced, but other than that, it's in great shape and according to the owner, is a very reliable driving vehicle. I'm not sure if I'm gonna leave it this color(which doesn't do much for me, honestly), or repaint it something with a bit more pizzazz, or if I'm gonna add an after-market "vintage" air conditioner system and modern stereo. If I do that, I can't show it as a restored/original vehicle, but will have to show it as a customized classic. I've also got to get seat belts put in it, since those were NOT standard on 1951 vehicles! The original owner still has all the original owner's manuals and paperwork that came with the car from the Studebaker factory in South Bend, Indianna!

Right now I'm sorta dickering with some transport companies for the best shipping rates, since I won't have time to go down to Florida until mid-April, and even then, I'd have to ship either this or my current car back, since there's no one to go with me, and I can't drive two cars, obvously. At least this is one old Stude that won't have to worry about belonging to someone!

pitbulllady

What a beauty! It looks like it's in good shape. Congrats on your classy wheels PBL! :D

Sweet-looking ride there. :D

...oh my God. Congradulations!

That is so rad.

Sweet. That rocks... I love it!!!

-Marty :goo:

I can't wait to start driving and showing this thing! I stopped to talk to a guy who does restoration of old cars about doing the electrical things, and he said it would be no problem. Fortunately, there is a LOT of Studebaker stuff available online, since there are a lot of people who collect these cars, and the cars themselves are very durable. I've had to replace the engine already in my '97 Toyota RAV-4, so the newer engines(all those plastic parts and aluminum)don't last nearly as long. I think I'm going to go ahead and customize this, rather than just do a factory-stock restoration, since it would be ashame to have a ride like this without a decent sound system, and AM just doesn't cut it anymore, lol! I'm going to stick with stock color, though, since in my head I can already hear Bloo and Cheese debating "HOT ROD FLAMES" vs. "BUNNiiiiieessssss"!

pitbulllady

I don't know the first thing about cars other than they have wheels. But I'm glad you're happy with your new car, Pittbullady.:D

not much of a car person, but it looks cool, and im assuming that it works nice, so congrats on the new car

Lol, if you ever come out here to visit me, you'll have to talk cars with my dad. ;)

That's a nice-looking vehicle. I'm glad it still runs, though.

Oh my, I love Studebakers! Oh if only I could land a car like that. So beautiful. They don't make cars with real style anymore.

You got THAT right! Most of today's cars look just alike; if you can't find the company logo, you can't tell what it is. I pass a car dealership that sells late-model used cars, and with just a couple of exceptions, all the cars on the lot look basically the same, even though they're of all different makes and models. Back in the "old days", which lasted pretty much through the '70's, you could tell what kind of car you were looking at just by seeing the taillights at night, since each was that distinctive. The copy-cat syndrome actually wound up being part of Studebaker's downfall in the '60's, when they began making cars that were exact dublicates of European sedans, especially Mercedes, and a lot of American car buyers just didn't like the Larks and Daytonas, figuring that if they were gonna have a car like that, they might as well spend a few thousand more and get a real Mercedes! I really loved the look of some of the early '50's small manufacturer's cars, though, especially the Studes and the Kaisers, since they were vastly different from the big, chunky, rounded style of most cars of that era.

pitbulllady

thats wonderful 8-)
an original 50's Stud. i think the cars of the 50's and 60's looks sooo much better than the newest ones.

the nwe cars looks quite all the same. but the 50's and 60's are all different. Oldsmobile,Dodge,Studebaker,Chevrolet.
every car looks different from the other one. and for these cars you need no logo to know from which company it was 8-)

That is a sweet ride.

Wow, It's just like The car from the Muppet Movie.


MOnty :-/

That's because IS the exact same kind of car as in The Muppet Movie! I'd completely forgotten that one!

I'm waiting to get a shipping quote from an old guy who lives around here, who says he can beat any offer made via the internet. When I told him that the car I wanted picked up was a Studebaker, he sounded like he was about to tear up; he drove a Stude of one make or another for most of his life, and he can actually restore these cars and work on their engines! He's a big fan of the cars, that's for sure! He lives less than five minutes away from me, which could come in handy if I have a problem with this one later on down the line.

pitbulllady

Somebody up there loves you!

:)

that is awesome!... i have always liked studebakers... they made them in indiana... and i am from indiana... hehehe...

Yep, right there in South Bend! Studebaker International is still located in South Bend, and still stocks and sells parts for the cars, so it's not difficult at all to find parts for one, even though they don't make cars there, anymore. In a round-about way, the company IS still in business making vehicles, though, but the plant in now located in Georgia. They make the Avanti, an ultra-expensive sports car, and just started a line of SUV's this year(bet those aren't cheap, either).

pitbulllady

i know a lot of people that want a studebaker to fix up... there is a museum for studebakers in south bend... sputh bend also has the worlds largest living sign in the world... it is made of trees and says studebaker and you can only see it from the sky...

i am jealous of your car. hehehe...

I've seen pics of that sign, too(puts crop circles to shame). I'd love to see that company really get back in business, on a larger scale, since this is one American car company that really could compete with the Japanese auto makers when it comes to fuel efficiency and durability. If they did, no one could afford the cars, though, since the two models they make now are extremely expensive, since they're not made on a large prodcuction scale. Besides, one of the reason that they got such good gas mileage back then was because there was not a lot of extra parts sapping fuel from the engine; the more complicated cars got, the less fuel efficient and reliable they got, too.

pitbulllady