This 1949 Studebaker looks farm-fresh and is said to have been stored in a barn since 1976. Found here on Craigslist with an asking price of $2,500, the truck has had some maintenance items addressed already. It is currently located in Glen Gardner, New Jersey and unfortunately the ad doesn’t state anything about the barn where it was found. Thanks to Barn Find reader Levi Andrus for the tip on this truck. Hopefully the seller will provide prospective buyers with more information (and photos).
You don’t see too many hood ornaments with style anymore. This one is subtle, yet really cool. Studebaker may be best known for the “bullet nose” that graced some of their cars in the 1950’s. You can see the jet age influence already appearing on this truck hood ornament.
There are only a few photos in the ad, none of the interior or engine. The seller does state that fuel system, brakes, belts and hoses have been addressed. Tires will be a must for the next owner. The truck is said to run and drive well, but a new set of rollers would be urgently advised. The truck has some rust spots that will need to be addressed although it has been painted Cuban Tan, so it looks worse than it is. What is your opinion of this truck? Would you take a risk on it with only a few photos in the ad?
I’m not familiar with Cuban tan – is that a nice way of saying rust? Maybe it’s my small phone screen, but it looks like rust to me.
Cool truck, and for once a reasonable asking price. I could see using this as an around town hauler for dump runs etc. I would probably shoot some flat black or something on it first.
– John
Such a shame these trucks don’t garner more interest. I think Studebaker was the best of the lot, because the people of South Bend were proud, just like the Rambler workers in Milwaukee. They had a flash in the pan right after the war, but never had the steam of the other makers, I just don’t get it. You saw 1 Studebaker for every 20 of the others. Being a Rambler fan, I’ve always rooted for the underdog, and I would have bought a Studebaker. You want a truck with your silly “patina”, this truck dripping with it, but it would be best restored. Check this out, what a beautiful truck this could be again, and it wouldn’t take much.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pictures_from_amsterdam/9401107786/
This is exactly how you want to find them. I’d much rather deal with this than a project that lost steam halfway through an engine swap, IFS, airbags, etc. Best strategy here is to get it rolling and see what you do and don’t like first.
Not enough pics, but what they show is good and surprisingly complete. There are patch panels for the lower door, so no worries there. Best of all, the fenders and tail gate look good. If you follow these 2R/3R trucks, that’s a miracle.
If this were mine I’d keep it looking stock, but definitely go for front disc brakes and (sadly) an engine swap. That 170 cubic inch I6 just isn’t going to keep up these days. A 259/289 Studebaker V8 would nearly bolt right in, though at 3-5 times the cost of everyone’s favorite crate engine.
Now I realize where the design of the Chevy SSR came from!
I love these old Stude pick ups…I’d love to drop a 440 under the hood, 4 speed…new tires clean, her up and drive her.
I may have posted this picture before, so apologies if you’ve seen it. In 1954, when I was 5 years old, my parents moved from Lovelock NV, about 90 miles east of Reno (and until last year, the prison home of OJ Simpson) back to the Salt Lake City area, where they were from. They bought a Studebaker truck, I’m not sure of the year but it was the color my mother called baby poop brown. There were 2 adults and 3 kids who got to ride in it on the way back. I was a budding car geek but don’t know how long they’d owned the Studebaker. We were only in Utah a couple of years and dad sold the truck to a friend and bought a ’55 Chevy 4door. This picture is the Studebaker and my Uncle Wayne’s 53-54 Mercury, on a picnic, probably the first summer we were there. Wayne was always kind of a jerk (just by nature) but he had cool cars and by the time I got to high school, he let me take his brand new Ford Galaxie on a prom date. My dad is in the picture in the white hat and my mom’s nephew, Chess, are the only people I can see. I have other pictures of the picnic but no cars in them :)
Learned to drive on the farm in a Studebaker pick up though a different body style being a 47. Nice truck that looks very restorable without spending a fortune and reasonable priced.
Humm, I was from Glen Gardner N.J. I wonder where it was hiding???Bruce.
Might have been my grandfather’s! His was nearby in Califon,NJ. I almost kept it when I bought his farm. Bought a twin supercharged car to get the engine. But towing it behind my 66 Chev pick up 283 I overheated. Pulled into a gas station and sold them the car.
Studebaker was too small to compete with the big 3 advertising budgets, production levels, nor their price wars. It is a shame because they build some fine cars. There was a truck like this sitting not too far from here that looked good until the garage next to it burned down. The heat from the fire toasted it big time. I hope they will save it, but not sure it will be possible.
One down the road from me. I,m trying to contact the guy now. No one knew anything was in the small building. Until the roof fell in and their set the Studebaker truck. A friend was visiting me the other day and asked if I had seen it. I told him I had and was trying to see the guy,s son about it. He laughed and said he was telling his son about it,but figured I was already on it. I remember when the man,s dad drove it. It was a good looking truck back in the 70,s.