1948 Tucker - Worth Its Own Post

A friend sent me an amazing set of photographs taken by a good samaritan who helped a Tucker driver get back on the road.

"We were driving back from Las Vegas when we came upon a mint-condition '48 Tucker having tire problems. A tire was not flat, but starting to come apart. We followed him to an abandoned gas station in Yermo, Ca. to get out of the desert sun and helped him change the tire. During the process I got some great photos of a great car."

Read the full story here and see all of the photographs.

Quick Digression - Tucker

From the NY Times:

What’s a Tucker Cost? "Last month Tucker No. 1041 brought $765,000 at an estate sale by the Clars Auction Gallery in Oakland, Calif. It had been owned by Bev Ferreira, who bought it in 1970 for $5,000."

Read the full article and watch the slide show.

Image from BusinessWeek.com.

Studebaker Meet: Cedar Rapids, IA

There are Studebakers in the Heartland this week as members of the Studebaker Drivers Club descend on Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Here are a few press mentions about the event:

"It's taken a lot of work," says Chairman Alan Meeker. "We started planning for this four years ago."

"More than 500 Studebakers of every model year and style are registered for the event. And it's not just drawing interest from Iowans. People from across the U.S and six countries are planning to attend. "More of them are going to come out of the woodwork that you didn't know were here. I'm hearing more and more just here locally that are just coming out, just for this purpose," says Studebaker owner Kevin Roberts."

Nice video clip from CGRG TV

Iowa Radio article

The Gazette Online article

Other articles found through Google News.

$50 Studebaker Champion Turned into a Collectible

"Pushed against a corner was a Champion Starlight Coupe with a wraparound rear window. “This is the car that Bob Hope made the jokes about, that you couldn’t tell if it was going forward or backward,” he said. “It’s a bullet-nose Starlight Coupe, which is the combination you want. You could only get a car like this in ’50 or ’51."

Mr. Shiller said he found the car on a vacant lot in Amagansett, on the eastern reaches of Long Island, that used to be the Studebaker dealership DiSunno Motors.

“Of course they were no longer in existence,” he said. “And the guy who had it said, ‘Give me 50 bucks.’ So I pulled it out of there for 50 bucks. It wasn’t running but I got it running right away.

“It was a big mistake,” he continued. “When I first started working on it, I would get ticks. I had to actually fumigate the car.”"

Read the full article on the NY Times website.

First Annual Drive Your Studebaker Day

I prepared with a 45 minute cruise yesterday. Today, my five year-old accompanied me on a tour of a few local parks and areas in Sacramento, CA, including: Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown, and Downtown. "Doc" performed well and is now parked proudly in the driveway for all passers-by to see.

I was wary of driving as far as Grass Valley, but appreciated the invite by the Karel Stapel chapter of the SDC.

1955 Studebaker Vista Cruiser Deluxe

1955 Studebaker Vista Cruiser Deluxe that I owned from 1971 – 1978.

"After two years I felt like upgrading the engine. I was a member of the Studebaker club at the time, so I was able to find a brand new inline 6 engine for $500. It ran so quiet you had to open the hood to see the fan blade turning to know that it was running. It had fog lamps, fender spears, hill holder (to stop on a hill and take your foot off the brake to push the clutch) and overdrive. The radio worked. All I did was buff it and wax it."

See the full article here.