Maybe it’s dramatic to say, but I don’t think my life will be completely fulfilled until I own something made by Studebaker, that plucky independent from South Bend, Indiana. Just look at how gutsy this 1951 Commander Land Cruiser is: the “bullet-nose” grille, those suicide doors, the name itself—”Commander Land Cruiser.” It sounds like a tank, but it looks like nothing else on the road. The seller of this Maui Blue example, which apparently wears its original South Bend-applied coat of paint, is selling it to buy something “more reliable and less finicky.” Luckily for you, if you’re a Studebaker fanatic, this one’s had a lot of tinkering done already, but nobody’s bitten at its $8,000 starting bid here on eBay. You can find the Land Cruiser in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
In the seller’s words:
Engine runs and car drives….but not reliably….it will run fine in the afternoons but struggle in the mornings. I frankly don’t have enough time to fiddle with it as I have for the past three years. I was able to drive it without issue to the local car show last year but since then I have found I am tuning the car more than enjoying a drive.
Fortunately, the problems facing the new owner can’t be too dire, as the seller posted a video of the 120-horsepower, 232-cubic-inch Studebaker V8 ticking away, its solid lifters making themselves known, but not too loudly. It has a new oil pan gasket, new valve cover gaskets, new intake and exhaust gaskets, and new driver’s side core plugs (numbers 1 and 2). The engine has also been repainted, and perhaps most importantly, it has a new 6-volt OEM-style wiring harness. The carburetor is a Stromberg Aerotype two-barrel, an extremely reliable old carburetor (I have one on my ’53 Buick).
The interior materials are, according to the seller, original. That includes the upholstery and the headliner, and both are in “great shape.”
In addition to the engine work, the car has new brake shoes, universal joints, spare tire, seat belts, tail pipe, and differential gasket. As you can see from the photo above, it also has an automatic, which was a $201 extra.
Aside from the Commander State Convertible, the Land Cruiser was the most expensive Studebaker in the line in 1951, and it rode on a wheelbase that was four-inches longer than other models: It was truly the “Cadillac” of Studebakers. That status, combined with this one’s originality and the fact that the current owner has clearly cared for the car, makes it a tempting early-1950s independent for those who want something a little different and bold. Clearly, the opening asking price has turned some people off to the car, but honestly, it doesn’t seem that far out of line. What would be a fair bid for this Stude?
Yes, another Korea and I say that with merit, like the Ford, there’s no way cars like this would have survived any other way other than the original owner never came back. If they did come back, these cars were well used. “Struggles in the morning, but fine in the afternoon”,,,oh good heavens, mechanics have heard them all, but even Geomechs would get a kick out of that,, I shouldn’t gloat, but it’s all I have, someone never heard of a choke,,,again, by all rights, this car should be sold, like the Ford, just no interest, even with what I would consider plausible prices, and this is even an automatic. While the Ramblers nemesis, they were great cars.
Maybe the automatic choke never worked right.
My parent bought a new 67 Rambler American ; it was in pretty much the same shape as this Stude when they sold it in 2001. and my mother never went to Vietnam !
There are plenty of cars like this around the country ;something a family took extra good care of, or a little ol lady who always parked it in her heated garage.
what a beautiful dash! I’d also love to have a Studebaker in my garage before I kick off. I’d settle for a Lark, but if time, location, and cash align, I’d much rather have a beauty like this.
One of my earliest automotive memories as a child as my grandfather had one and the bullet nose styling stuck in my head.
This would have Studebaker’s first automatic transmission, the “Automatic Drive” (as called out on this car’s trunk), designed by Studebaker and Borg-Warner Detroit Gear division. That transmission has pretty interesting story of its own:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/automotive-history-studebakers-automatic-drive-borg-warner-dg150200250-advanced-in-some-respects-not-so-in-others/
My 50 Starlight Coupe was one of my all-time favorite cars, and I only sold it to a good friend who had driven the identical color and style car on his honeymoon! I once drove it to San Francisco from Los Angeles – the Hill-Holder managed the steepest of streets, and the 3-on-the-tree and overdrive just sailed along the road. My girl-friend, her daughter and I delivered the car to my friend in Arizona, after a trouble-free drive through the desert. And parts were very available – I needed a cylinder head and found a guy who sold Weasel parts (a military amphib with Stude drivetrain), who sold me two NOS military heads still in canvas and Cosmoline, for $20 each.
Even with the problems the owner has stated still seems like a good buy. The cars looks to having been taken care of over its life and one of the great looking car to come out of the 50s.
looks like the 1 from vise grip garage
I am not up on the prices, but this looks like a great entry vehicle into to classic car world. Possibly the choke is the only problem?? If so, any old time mechanic can fix it..
My grandfather’s sister and her husband had one of these and they visited us in it. I wanted to sit in it. They had no children and they apparently didn’t want any dirty little kid sitting in it. They said “No!” I’m surprised my grandfather didn’t insist that they let me inside, because they were staying with us for free.
They said a kid wouldn’t know one car from another. I was 6, but I did know what it was.
There was one of these parked on a side street in Chicago that I would see frequently in about 2015. Apparently a driver, as I’d see it parked on different blocks. Four door sedan, paint was a very faded green. I always enjoyed seeing any vintage cars still being used.