Not grassroots or motorsports but I had to share

Not sure if Im getting old or my interests are just changing but my latest accquisition is neither grassroots nor very motorsports but it makes me all kindsa happy.

The background. I bought a 63 Studebaker Lark to fix up for BABE, decided against it and moved to another car but Im slowly working on the lark. Turns out that in my small development of about 20 houses the guy 5 away from me is the president of the local studebaker club. He stopped by one day and sucked me into the club. My involvement has grown and since the lark is a few years away from the road I really wanted a nice driver. Ive got enough projects and increasingly little time so I decided to clear some things out to raise funds and just buy a nice driver quality car for a change.

I looked at alot of Studebakers throughout the years but I always came back to the 50/51 bullet nose cars. They are almost cliche but when you think Studebaker its what comes to mind. I purchased the car on ebay and the transport truck finally arrived friday. Its almost scary how much work it is to drive a 60 year old car but its still alot of fun. Now I just need some warm weather so I can enjoy it.

Sweet! Congratulations. I've always had a soft spot for Studebakers, especially those. Great color, too!

P71 wrote: Sweet! Congratulations. I've always had a soft spot for Studebakers, especially those. Great color, too!

The color was a definite selling point...Im so sick of the 100 shades of brown available these days. 50s cars had some great colors.

Nice. Nothing says class like suicide doors - the real kind, not the ricer kind.

(Totally Useless Trivia: my buddy in high school played sax in a '50s rock band called The Studebakers.)

Congrats!

I gotta find a way to pick up the '53 Ford that a buddy of mine is selling. Not quite as quirky as the Study, sure, but still. Original flatty runs perfectly out of straight pipes; it only has enough rust to give it character; and it's black... mmmMM!

That is such a cool car. She has lovely proportions and the colour is definitely flattering.

I know something almost grassroots motorsports that you could use it for

As a kid, my friend's dad had a bullet-nose Stude coupe with a 327 "Corvette" engine in it. That was the first car I ever exceeded 100mph in.

Very cool. Long way from a Yugo, eh?

JThw8 wrote:

P71 wrote: Sweet! Congratulations. I've always had a soft spot for Studebakers, especially those. Great color, too!

The color was a definite selling point...Im so sick of the 100 shades of brown available these days. 50s cars had some great colors.

Very nice car, I've always like this paint scheme myself

woka woka woka

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/reader-rides/918/

Nice!

I always liked the 62-64 Hawks myself.

I like the Lark wagon, the roof above the cargo area slides forward.

Is that your bullet nose or your neighbor's, I get confused. Google a Golden Hawk, supercharged goodness right there!

Dan

Neat car! You may be interested in this - a friend of mine built a grassroots friendly turbocharger setup for the flathead six in his '50 Studebaker: http://www.turbostude.com/

paging eastcoastmojo's avatar

walterj wrote: I always liked the 62-64 Hawks myself.

I know where theres a workable 64 GT Hawk for a good price. I looked at it while searching. Here in southern NJ if you are interested.

914Driver wrote: I like the Lark wagon, the roof above the cargo area slides forward. Is that your bullet nose or your neighbor's, I get confused. Google a Golden Hawk, supercharged goodness right there!

The Wagonaire...sweet wagon, I had a few of those on my short list while searching. This one is my bulletnose, my neighbor has a 51 Convertible and a 63 Avanti and yes, a 57 Golden Hawk supercharged. The Golden Hawk is at the end of a very long restoration but is coming out gorgeous.

stuart in mn wrote: Neat car! You may be interested in this - a friend of mine built a grassroots friendly turbocharger setup for the flathead six in his '50 Studebaker: http://www.turbostude.com/

I have read that site many times :)

JThw8 wrote: Now I just need some warm weather so I can enjoy it.

What? It doesn't have a heater?

A friend's dad had one of those when we were kids. Loved it!

Here's a later model ('53) in the 2005 Big Bend Open Road Race

and close to his target speed of 130 MPH:

slantvaliant wrote:

Raymond Loewy was a god among mortals. Chrome this, Harley Earl.

The bullitnose is classic, but the later smooth nose is more to my liking. Great find none the less.

Holy cow! I'm more partial to Avantis, but that car is fantastic! Is that original, or restored? That color is beautiful. Thanks for sharing..

Oh, and slantvalient, thanks for the pics of the `53. I like the way those late Champions look..I just didn't realize they were Champions (I thought they were all bullet-noses like JT's noo ride), I guess I thought it was the base model Hawk or something.

friedgreencorrado wrote: Holy cow! I'm more partial to Avantis, but that car is fantastic! Is that original, or restored? That color is beautiful. Thanks for sharing.. Oh, and slantvalient, thanks for the pics of the `53. I like the way those late Champions look..I just didn't realize they were Champions (I thought they were all bullet-noses like JT's noo ride), I guess I thought it was the base model Hawk or something.

It is semi-restored. Alot of original bits remain but it has had replacing what needed replacing. Its a fresh paintjob too but it needs some attention, not a particularly good job.

The bullet nose was actually 50/51 only then they went to the slant nose cars. Their designs were always unique at least and they knew how to keep something going longer than it should have. The cars from the late 40s through the mid 50s were virtually unchanged except for nose swaps. It was a way to keep it affordable for a small car manufacturer at a time when the big 3 put out new styles every year.

Turn it into a fenderless coupe. Yes, really.

This thing is sooo bitchin'. I've seen it in the flesh. Its now black and it rules. The HAMB has more. Look up the Cisco Kid.

Here's more: http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2007/06/16/hot-rodding-aint-near-played-out-the-stukabaker/