1950 Studebaker Champion

1950 Studebaker Champion The 1950 Studebaker Champion Starlight Coupe attracted attention because of its ultramodern styling. Its center nose resembled an airplane, and its wraparound rear window and long, horizontal rear deck were radically different from teardrop cars of the 1930s and 1940s. While celebrating the machine age, the 1950 and 1951 Studebaker also marked a sharp break from 1930s streamlined or art deco styling and the beginning of flamboyant, futuristic styling of the 1950s. Studebaker led the way in this design and marketing change, and the Big Three auto manufacturers soon followed. Studebaker sales were fairly strong after World War II and reached a peak with the 1950 model. Studebaker was one of the first manufacturers to completely restyle its line, for the 1947 model year. The 1950 Studebaker featured even more radical revisions and styling changes. Robert E. Bourke, an automotive stylist who worked with the renowned industrial designer Raymond Loewy, was largely responsible for the 1950 Studebakers styling, now considered a classic of its era. 1950 would prove to be a big year for Studebaker, with the addition of an WWII P38-esque addition style front end being added to the existing body shell. This barn find plus condition 50 Stude retains all of its original charm and is ripe for the picking with its chrome, iconic styling, redone interior, solid undercarriage and original drivetrain. Please Note: NO TITLE-SOLD ON A BILL OF SALE ONLY Exterior A respray of aqua covers the original body with its well-known and love it or hate it bullet nose, (look ma, no propellor!), twin egg crate grilles, and chrome trimmed ventings. At quick glance this nose looks very much like the silhouette of a plane. A thin chrome bumper is perched below mounted on thick long bumper tubes. All chrome has some pitting, delamination, and haziness. The wrap-around rear windows, often criticized, give the impression this car doesnt quite know which is the front and which is the rear. The paint is an amateur application and shows with thinning on the roof, overspray on trim and molding, and various inclusions and scrapes are present. Overall presentable, but far from perfect, the body has its fair share of dings and dents along with invasive rust on the lower panels, especially at the front and rear wheels. Rounding out the tail end is a cavernous trunk which is flanked by oval tail lights and a chrome bumper hangs below. 15 body colored wheels with shiny Studebaker wheel covers and wide whitewalls are on all fours. Interior The interior has totally undergone a redux at one point in time, with now a full gray cloth covering. Gray broadcloth, showing some staining and aging covers the doors with a gray vinyl strip below. Chrome and bakelite pepper the panels in the form of window cranks and door releases. Moving inside we slip into the comfy gray broadcloth covered bench seat with its wide tuck and roll stitching and red checkering. A matching bench is in the rear and provides ample room for 3. The original black 2 spoke steering wheel fronts gray steel spartan elegance of the dash. A half round speedometer is in front of the driver and dead center is a slatted radio speaker and to the right is a large glovebox. All of this is artistically underlined by a thin chrome strip. Soiled gray carpeting floods the floors and above is a tight felted gray headliner. Drivetrain A lift of the hood reveals a patina riddled engine bay with a 170ci inline Flathead 6-cylinder. This mill is fed by a 1bbl carburetor residing under an oil bath air cleaner in black. Attached on the back is a 3-speed manual transmission which sends power back to a 4.10 geared rear axle. Undercarriage Surface rust covers nearly every part of the undercarriage, however no invasive rust is noted. Drum brakes are on all 4 corners and a single exhaust system handles the exhale. For the ride, independent coil springs are seen up front and in the rear is a leaf spring arrangement. Drive-Ability As with most of the barn finds that come through our doors we did not attempt to start this Champion. We can say however, that the engine turned over by hand. A rarely seen model in barn find plus condition. Complete on the trim, badging and chrome front, a redone interior and no invasive rust to note on the undercarriage. Hone in on your bodywork skills and you could have yourself a classic that stands out from the crowd, right out of South Bend and gracing our East Mallway.