South Bend’s finest, what a beautiful truck. With a one-piece windshield, this would really look like a modern truck, even more than it did at the time. It was a low, sleek design by Studebaker’s own Robert Bourke – with help from Virgil Exner – and this former San Diego 1949 Studebaker 2R5 half-ton truck is listed here on craigslist in the Boydton, Virginia area and they’re asking $16,000. Here is the original listing, and thanks to T.J. for the tip!
This example has an interesting history with it reportedly having been in San Diego, California until 1980 when the seller purchased it. They had it “on blocks” in the garage until 2006 and it has had minimal use since then. They say the only rust is the typical rust on the leading edge of the hood, but then they say they’ll throw in a Dodge Dakota in case the buyer wants to put this body on that chassis, as they planned on doing.
I can see the appeal of having a modern chassis under an old pickup body. Hey, maybe that’s why 99% of TV reality shows do that?! (crickets). Having power steering, power brakes, and all of those things on an old-looking truck would be nice, but that’s a tough one. You’d lose the experience of what it was like to own and drive an old truck if you just got in, pushed a button, and drove off at 140 mph, with one finger on the steering wheel and the other nine fingers on your phone. I mean, not that anyone does that.
Beautiful! I did not expect to see such a nice interior for some reason, but I should have given how nice the exterior looks. The seller says this truck is 90% original and it looks perfect to me, as in being a nice old truck that I wouldn’t really want to be any nicer or I’d never use it. We recently saw a 3/4-ton Studebaker, a 2R10, here on Barn Finds and it appeared to have been painted, maybe a bit hastily, and I’d much rather have this half-ton truck, even though it’s another $6,000…
Sadly, there is no engine photo and the seller mentions including an additional engine and transmission with the sale, so that’s nice. It should have Studebaker’s 169.6-cu.in. (2.8-liter) L-head six with 80 horsepower. That’s not a lot but I would probably look for the upgrade, a 245-cu.in. Power-Plus six with 102 horsepower. It would have been optional throughout the series not long after this truck was made. This one has been converted to a 12-volt system and the clutch is a little “grabby.” Hagerty is at $17,800 for a #3 good-condition truck, how much would you pay for this one?
This generation of 2R pickups are one of my favorites. Other than the hood rust the rest of the truck looks pretty good. I’m probably going to get booed out of the room here, but at first glance I thought to kyself when I saw this, ” This is what it would’ve looked like if Old Navy had a Studebaker instead of a Chevy truck holding t shirts for sale in the bed.”. Personally, I’d leave it exactly as is. The interior looks great, maybe just address the hood rust and whatever it would need mechanically and have a huge grin on my face running it through the gears.
I agree. It’s far too nice to chop up to fit on a later chassis.
I had one of these way back when, mine was not nearly as nice as this, it was a $500 work truck. They are rugged vehicles and easy to work on.
I agree with the author. Ahead of its time in the style from south bend.
Timeless looking truck. Stylishly utilitarian yet rugged looking. A usable classic.
Great looking truck. More fun to look at than to drive in modern traffic, though- hence the Durango frame and power train swap idea. Part of me would hate to see that done, but on the other hand, if it was done right…I might be ok with that too.
I tried to use a 1950 Chevy truck as a daily driver back in high school in 1993. I always reached my destination late, sweaty, and smelling of exhaust fumes except for the times that I didn’t reach my destination at all due to the 6 volt battery not being able to fire the truck off. So if you buy something from this era, just remember to keep it on the side roads and drive it only on the weekends…during the fall…but not in the rain (vacuum powered wipers – on the Chevy, at least).
It had a 169.6 ci engine not a 196.6.
Gaaaaa! My apologies for that, Vincent and all. Thanks for catching that!
It had 169.6 cid engine not a 196.6.
Because of it’s condition and how rare it is, I think it will easily bring the asking price. I like to say ” If you think it is too much, find another one!
I still want to take a B series Mack grill shell, shorten it and modify the front end to fit, and make a newer Mack Jr. pick up truck.
I have a Mack EE pickup cab, fenders and running boards for sale.
After I had it shipped to WI, I learned it was a bit different from my EH.
I just finished a first generation Dakota sport. Nice little truck but not nice enough to ruin the Stuabaker.
It appears to be the same one listed on bat in Sept. 2021—more pics and info there.