Vienna Blue is the perfect color for this 1954 Studebaker Commander Land Cruiser. With a new grille and new body style in a two-door station wagon for ’54, the Commander series was the one to have. The seller has this beautiful car posted here on craigslist in beautiful Santa Rosa, California, and they’re asking a reasonable $5,700. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Rocco B. for the tip!
The Commander was heavily restyled for the 1953 model year and was available in the Commander Deluxe, Commander Regal, and Commander Land Cruiser, as shown here. The 1954 models came with a heavier frame as the ’53 frames had thinner gauge steel, with the thought that a bit of flex would give a better ride. It ended up causing issues with the V8 engine and the front fenders not fitting correctly with the heavy engine installed. Also, when jacking up a corner of the car to change a tire, there was enough flex that opening a door could be troublesome.
As perfect as this car looks in the overall photos, you can see some detail work is needed to take it to the next level, such as redoing some of the badges, the roof needs to be repainted, and some other things. Just as a general reference, Hagerty is at $7,200 for a #3 good condition car and this sure looks like all of that. This is the only four-door 1954 Studebaker that we’ve seen here on Barn Finds.
I wish we had better photos; most of them are verticals, just showing snippets of the gorgeous sweeping views this car deserves. I get it, most humans live and die by the supercomputer in their pocket. They’re also looking at vehicle listings on their phones, which are held vertically most of the time. I’m old and old school, I like to see horizontal vehicles in a horizontal format, but it’s not going to change. In any case, from what we can see in the cut-off photos of the interior, it looks great. This seat fabric and pattern aren’t what would have been here originally, but it looks nice. The trunk looks clean, and the underside looks solid.
The engine is Studebaker’s 232.6-cu.in. OHV V8, which would have been rated at 127 horsepower and 202 lb-ft of torque when new. Backed by an automatic transmission, this car is said to have a stock V8 in running and driving condition with an excellent rust-free body, and that works for me. Any thoughts on this Commander Land Cruiser?
This is one sweet Studebaker. Very nicely redone. I had no idea the older ones had thinner gauge steel for the frames and that they flexed. I always say I learn something new here on Barnfinds every day. I like that they kept the 232 V8 . Its a beautiful color combination too. I hope it gets a good new home.
As much as I like the coupes and hardtops these leave me cold.
It’s a nice looking Studebaker. The color is good on it as well. However, the two-door hardtop stole the show. The four doors always looked awkward. Raymond Lowey designed a beautiful two-door hardtop, but a very poor looking four-door. Additionally, it was out of step for the time. It was just too low. Maybe this is what did Studebaker in? Their advanced styling just did not sell. And the 1955 version of this model with the wraparound windshield and two tone styling was just strange. Packard was a fool to buy Studebaker. Have they not bought Studebaker, they would’ve had the resources to restyle the 1957 models of Packard after the Predictor. James Nance made very poor decisions.
Very nice top-of-the-line Studebaker. You could not paint it and put whitewall tires on it for the asking price. Nearly a give-away price! If it were closer, it would be in my garage by now.
Thanks for the comments, folks! I actually prefer the four-door sedan in this model. The two-door always looked a little long-in-the-tooth (grille) to me, like the front end was stretched too much and was a bit of out of scale. But the four-door added enough to the rear and the roof to balance the long front end and pull the whole thing together. Two extra doors or not, this appears to be a bargain in 2025. I’d much rather have this than 1,000 dozen eggs!
Wouldn’t have traded my ’53 coupe for any 4 door Studebaker made. Making the the 4 doors out of the coupes just didn’t get it for me.
The steel gauge thickness of the frame did not change between ’53-’54, but they added another bolt-on crossmember (aka “batwing”) in ’54 that reduced body flex significantly. LandCruisers shared the Starliner/Starlight Coupes’ 120.5″ wheelbase and look more elegant than the regular 4-door sedan and the really hideous 2-door sedans built on a 116″ wheelbase. The rear seat legroom in these is exceptional, and a revised version of this body shell was used for the later Lark Cruisers that often saw taxi fleet service. Surprised this car hasn’t sold already.
This is a very nice car and a part of our history, although it is a four door should not really matter unless u are a collector. Is not what this hobby is all about buying a classic car that is affordable, original and in running condition! The Studebaker was a very good car reliable maybe a little plain, but with the v-8 and the automatic transmission this car is well worthy as an investment, again sure a two door or a convertible are worth more, this car would probably be suited for an older person who can appreciate the styling and originality of a car that is 71 year old vehicle….. there are not many of these orphan vehicles left that are in good original condition compared to all that alter and change an original car therefore decreasing its value and desirability to others
The seller has removed the listing, did one of you buy this Stude?