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. 

2001 Avanti

The Studebaker Avanti was introduced in 1963. Failing Studebaker discontinued it in 1964, but sold the rights to the design to the new Avanti Motor Corporation, which revived the sports car in 1965 as the Avanti II. The company maintained limited but profitable production into the 1980s. A new generation of Avanti was introduced, and the original Studebaker chassis was eventually abandoned for a newer, more modern Chevrolet chassis. Production continued until 1991, when the company went bankrupt. In the late 1990s, a new Avanti design based on the chassis of the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird was developed, and this new design was introduced to the public in 2001.

This was an entirely new design, with little in common with the previous Avanti except the basic styling. Shown here at the 2001 Chicago Auto Show, the new Avanti was available as either a T-Top Coupe or as a Convertible. With General Motors discontinuing the Camaro and the Firebird after 2002, few of this generation of Avanti were ultimately built, and a new design based on the Ford Mustang was introduced in 2004.

1955 Studebaker Ultra Vista 4-Door Sedan

In 1955, Studebaker gave a facelift to its 1953 styling for the last time before a major redesign in 1956. The 1955 Studebakers were introduced in the fall of 1954, but received an update in January of 1955. Most notably, the "flat" sloping windshield was replaced with a more upright wraparound design that Studebaker referred to as "Ultra Vista." Pictured here is an Ultra Vista 4-door sedan. It is either a Champion Deluxe or a Commander Deluxe. Commander had been Studebaker's top-line model, but the introduction of the new Studebaker President in 1955 bumped the Commander down to a mid-price position. The Commander and the Champion were now very similar, with the main difference being the engines: the Champion was powered by an L-head in-line "Victory Six," while the Commander had a more powerful V8 "Bearcat" engine.

1950 Studebaker Commander 4-Door Sedan

Photo by Cliff West

Studebaker was "first by far with a postwar car," introducing all-new models designed by Raymond Loewy in 1947, while the other automakers were still selling facelifted versions of their prewar models. Unfortunately for Studebaker, the high demand for new cars after the war meant that their new design was wasted on consumers who just weren't that discerning. By the time the other automakers introduced their truly new cars, Studebaker's design looked dated.

For 1950, Studebaker responded by giving its models a facelift in the form of the bullet-nosed front-end pictured here. The look was definitely different, though there were some similarities to the 1948 Tucker, and Ford used a similar though less dramatic bullet in its grilles for 1949 and 1950. Studebaker called the aircraft-inspired styling the "next look," but it would tone-down the styling for 1951 and become much more conventional in 1952 before finally introducing new designs in 1953.

Along with the new styling, the 1950 Studebakers also introduced a new fully automatic transmission as an option. Called "automatic drive," it was developed with the Detroit Gear Division of Borg-Warner.

Pictured here at the Towe Ford Museum (now the California Automobile Museum) in Sacramento, California, in March 1992 is a 1950 Studebaker Commander 4-Door Sedan. The Commander was Studebaker's higher-priced model, riding on a 120-inch wheelbase, and was powered by a 102-horsepower 245.6 cubic-inch six-cylinder engine. The lower-priced Champion had a 113-inch wheelbase and an 85-horsepower 169.6 cubic-inch 6-cylinder engine.

1953 Studebaker Commander Convertible

Spotted in The Dalles, Oregon on June 10, this car is perfect for my first classic car profile. It is more than it seems, as Studebaker never sold any convertibles with this body style. But first, some history...

In 1947, Studebaker was "first by far with a postwar car;" the first major U.S. Automaker to have a significantly new car design that wasn't based on their prewar models. At the time, postwar carbuyers weren't really so concerned with models that were truly new designs. They hadn't been able to replace their cars since 1941, and having been in a depression, many had cars much older than that, or were young G.I. just coming back from the war with a lot of cash saved to buy a new car. The other carmakers held onto their new designs for a couple more years, by which time the Studebaker design had become dated. Studebaker planned new models for the company's 100th anniversary in 1952, but they didn't actually come out until 1953.

The 1953 Studebaker line featured a sleek hardtop coupe designed by Raymond Loewy and Bob Bourke based on an earlier show car, and the sedans featured similar lines. With their European-inspired lines, all were sleeker than just about anything else available. A single prototype 1953 convertible was built, but convertibles had only accounted for 2% of Studebaker's 1952 sales so it didn't go into production, and financial troubles kept them from making a convertible version in subsequent years.

This example actually started out as a 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk Hardtop Coupe. In 1983, the roof was removed and a convertible top from a 1964 Dodge Dart was installed and the styling was changed to that of a 1953 model. Carol and Steve Hudson of The Dalles discovered the unfinished project in 1995 and completed it in 2003.

This beautiful car is perfectly restored and looks stunning with its red paint and white interior. It absolutely looks like a factory model, and if you don't know that Studebaker never actually amde any you'd never suspect that any significant work had been done to it. It is a shame that Studebaker never actually sold 1953 convertibles, but it makes this custom car that much more unique.