Look What I Just Bought

[pitbulllady]

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

[Carlaz]

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

[One Radical Dude]

Sweet-looking ride there.

[Jabberwocky]

That is so rad.

[lucyrocks73]

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

-Marty

[pitbulllady]

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

[Partymember]

Originally Posted by pitbulllady

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). pitbulllady

...oh my God. Congradulations!