A lot of us know the classic bullet-nose Studebakers and a lot of us love them and miss the days when car makers took a risk in the design department. This nice-looking example can be found here on craigslist in one of the greatest cities in the US: Nashville, Tennessee. The seller is asking $14,000 for this beauty and they say, “No Shady Hucksters!!!!” I couldn’t agree more. Wait, that leaves me out.
The third-generation Champion is really the most famous one, in my opinion, or the cars made in the middle of the third-generation. The bullet-nose cars debuted in 1950 and only lasted for two model years but they sure made a mark on Studebaker history. One could argue that it’s the single most recognized design from Studebaker of all time and one of the most famous for any automaker ever. The seller isn’t giving us many photos of this car for some unusual reason. I would think that when someone is asking more than a couple of grand for a vehicle they would want to load up the listing with as many photos as possible since it doesn’t cost any more to do that. But, from what they show it looks great.
The speedometer/odometer/clock is the only other interior photos, believe it or not. Maybe they’re relying on people who are really interested rather than trying to grab everyone’s attention. I can’t imagine that gray velour is an original material and maybe even an original color for a 1950 Champion but I could be mistaken. The yellow exterior is not something that I can find on a 1950 Studebaker paint chart. This car was for sale previously in June of 2018 and they included many more photos and it does look great. It was in California at that time and they mentioned that it was “Originally Aero Blue, the car was repainted in a Mazda shade of A4J Lightning Yellow.” Now it makes sense! I believe that this would have been what it would have looked like originally. As much as I like yellow cars, I would personally prefer the original blue color, but that’s just me.
This engine is Studebaker’s 170 cubic-inch inline-six which would have had 85 hp and there has been a lot of maintenance work done to keep it working great. I believe that the engine bay would have been painted the body color from the factory rather than black, or maybe that’s the original blue color in there? The seller says “Body and paint work performed in 2009” and it’s in “Very Good to Excellent condition cosmetically and mechanically”. I agree, it looks fantastic. They have records dating back 8 years and there are a few extra parts that go with the car. Are there any fans of the bullet-nose Studebakers out there? Any thoughts on bright yellow color over the original blue?
Very few pictures, there but for a 70 yr old car it looks pretty good.
You got to love these “Bullet-Noses”!
My late father would disagree with you. We had one in our family. What a gutless wonder. A flat eight would have been better. Never heard him curse so much when he drove the family around. Ended up trading it in on a 1959 Buick Super. A big improvement, he did not say a word while driving then. If only the v-6 was out in the 5os.
Hey Howard, I think I have the answer to your question about the miles on the clock term!
Most car designers in the decade of the 50’s sure understood the word style.
Not my first choice in paint color…or even my last.
This car has one of the most interesting front ends ever manufactured. So sad that yellow paint was applied. It hurts my eyes. Unfortunately it will cost a lot to correct.
“Now Bob, eet has to look like zee aeroplane.” That was Raymond Loewy’s quote to designer Bob Bourke.
Where’s Fozzie? Sorry-I like these but bright colored ones remind me of The Muppets.
my parents had one of these in grey, nice smooth car , when the 1953 came along they traded for a starlite coupe also a nice car Mom had the 53 unitl 1958 when there were 6 of us and Dad bought a 1958 Ford Ranch wagon
Nice colour.
Love yellow.
My Uncle had a Studebaker dealership.
He went broke.
Del, don’t fault Studebaker or your uncle for going broke. My Dad had a Studebaker dealership and State distributorship. He went broke too. From he told me, there was a huge shake out of auto manufacturers after World War two. The public was denied new cars for the war period so after the war ended demand went off the charts. The could hardly keep up with demand and they built too much inventory. But when the demand was filled the cycle dropped. All that inventory had to go and everybody had new cars. You couldn’t give the things away, so the secondary manufacturers couldn’t make it. The dealers couldn’t make it either when the Manufacturers dumped all that inventory on them. There were a lot of broken dreams about that time. It was ’51 to 53. Dad called it the Eisenhower recession. I still have one of the first Studebaker TV ads ever produced. It’s literally the worst TV ad I’ve ever seen. But they made very good cars.
Good write up. Thnx ROC
I had an orange and black GMC van. I don’t know how many times I heard; I saw your van parked at that bar or I saw you going down C street or ………. And this car sticks out like a sore thumb. I also learned long ago that bees are attracted to yellow cars. My friend would start down the road in her yella ford and have to stop to shoo the bees out of the cockpit. They came in thru the vents from under the hood. Since I’m allergic to bee stings……….. NYET
Really like the 53 and 54’s but I really like this one even the four doors. Price is very fair also.
Hagerty evaluation tool puts this car at about $9600 so I think 14k is way too high.
To me, that color change ruined this car. It would have been worth the asking price with the original paint color repainted or not.
Studebaker did not offer a yellow for 1950 through 1953. In the 1940’s they offered a Tulip Cream, a pale yellow, which really looked great. It was available on 1949 convertibles and then retired.
For 1950 Studebaker did an ad using a Champion 2 door sedan with USAF jets (and pilots) as background interest. It was painted a yellow, not as hard on the eyeballs as the Mazda yellow though. But it did look good.
Although Studebaker never used velour upholstery they most definitely used grey materials in the interior. Grey went with everything.
Wrong color, wrong interior, inner fenders original color, this would have been great in the early 70s when these cars maxed out @ $2500 but it’s way overpriced for what it is in todays market.
Not a great car, my father bought one new trading in a ’37 Studebaker Commander 4 door sedan. Gutless, overheated even when new on a hot day going up big hills in upper NY State, did not come with an oil filter, (guess it was optional but who knew, my father did not)and so at 40,000 miles engine was toast. It was a Champion Regal Deluxe, like this one, but without the bumper guards. Midnight blue, which after a year became iridescent. (He did not believe in spending time polishing and waxing cars.) In ’56 he was going to buy a new car, I dreaded the ’56 Studebaker 4 door sedan, but he asked me, at age 15, what I would buy, and I said, with no hesitation, a ’56 Chevie with the V8, 4 door hardtop, Bel Aire. Well, it was a 210 regular 4 door sedan, with the PowerGlide 6, but a lot better than the Studebaker. Now I would like a Hawk, or an Avanti with the 289 V8 and a supercharger.
Old enough to remember these still running around as a kid. Really liked the design of this, the Henry J, and Kaiser-Fraser. My Dad taught me the love of cars from very early on… But the color on this is better suited on an A/Gas drag racer of the 60’s-70’s, with a big blown Hemi and a tube front axle. Sheesh. Don’t like the double chrome spotlights nor big bumper overriders either. Whoever mentioned that their family had one in grey…I’m with you !