1952 Studebaker Commander Land Cruiser 4-Door Sedan

The year 1952 was Studebaker’s 100th Anniversary, and the automaker had been planning an all-new design to celebrate, but ended up having some problems, so a new car would have to wait for 1953. For 1952, Studebaker had to do another facelift on its now 6-year-old design, with a low full-width grill hinting at 1953’s styling replacing the bullet nose of the 1949 to 1951 models. Otherwise, they were very similar to the previous years, with Champions powered by an 85-horsepower 169.6-cubic-inch inline 6-cylinder engine, while Commanders and the long-wheelbase Land Cruiser pictured here at the 2004 Clatskanie Heritage Days Car Show were powered by a 120-horsepower 262.6-cubic-inch V8 engine. 

1951-1952 Chrysler Saratoga Club Coupe

Photo by Cliff West

 

Chrysler styling for 1951 and 1952 was nearly identical. The tail lights are the only distinguishing characteristic, with the 1952s featuring integrated back-up lights. Chrysler didn’t even keep separate production figures for the model years. The Saratoga was just above the base-model Windsor in the Chrysler lineup, on a 125.5-inch wheelbase, and didn’t return for 1951 until well into the model year. With its return, the Saratoga became the smallest Chrysler to offer the new 180-horsepower 331-cubic-inch PowerFlight V8 engine with its hemispherical combustion chambers, and was capable of going from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 10 seconds with a top speed of nearly 110 miles per hour. The Club Coupe shown here at the Northwest Car Collectors Association Car Show & Swap Meet at the Portland Metropolitan Exposition Center in Portland, Oregon, on October 18-19, 2003, represents the only 2-door Saratoga body style, with 6-passenger and long-wheelbase 8-passenger 4-door sedans and a Town & Country 4-door station wagon also available. The Saratoga model would be discontinued after 1952 and would not return until 1957.

1952 Chevrolet Styleline Deluxe Sport Coupe

1952 was the last year for Chevrolet's 1949 redesign, which had seen only minor changes after 1950. As in the previous two years, 1953 Chevrolets were powered by a standard 92-horsepower 216-cubic-inch in-line six-cylinder engine with a 3-speed Synchro-Mesh manual transmission, or an optional 105-horsepower 235-cubic-inch in-line six-cylinder engine with the two-speed Powerglide automatic transmission. The Styleline Deluxe Sport Coupe, as shown here at the 1999 Eagles Car Show in Rainier, Oregon, has always been outshined by the more exciting, but also more expensive, Styleline Deluxe Bel Air hardtop coupe. The Sport Coupe, however, was over 100 pounds lighter than the Bel Air, and looked almost identical below the bottom of the windows. Style was king in the 1950s, though, and the stylish Bel Air outsold the more conservative Deluxe Sport Coupe more than two to one in 1952. Even today, it seems one is far more likely to see a Bel Air than a Sport Coupe at a car show, which makes this Sport Coupe that much more special.

1952 Cadillac 4-Door Sedan

Photo by Cliff West

Cadillac introduced new models in 1948, and gave them a facelift in 1950. Satisfied with the results, the 1951, 1952 and 1953 models saw only minor changes in the details. This 1952 model, pictured at the Towe Ford Museum (now the California Automobile Museum) in Sacramento, California, in March 1992, is most easily distinguished by the gold-colored winged emblem in the trim beneath each headlight, signifying Cadillac's golden anniversary of its introduction in 1902.