Studebaker’s advertising slogan for 1947 says it all. In- troducing in May 1946 the first all-new car to the market in more than four years, Studebaker beat every major man- ufacturer by at least a year and even stole some of the at- tention from the new Kaiser and Frazer cars, which would be introduced in October 1946. Of course “all-new” should be understood in the context of the time, as in this imme- diate postwar era it often meant new chassis design and body styling while the engines and transmissions were car- ryovers, perhaps with minor upgrades, as in Studebaker’s case.
Obviously, it was the new cars’ exterior styling that garnered the most attention. Nearly all body panels, and even the bumpers, were streamlined, putting Studebaker far ahead of its competition. The only sign of a fender line was the rear fender line that was canted forward slightly on the front edge and seemingly faded into the body and trunk lines at the rear. Other modern design features included elimination of running boards, forward slanting B-pillars on 2-door coupe and sedan models, and one-piece curved windshields on all convertibles, 2-door coupes, and the Commander Land Cruiser sedan. All other Studebakers, and nearly all other cars on the market, utilized two-piece flat windshields. The downside to this new styling was the jokes that soon began circulating. “Which way is it going?” and “Is it coming or going?” were popular questions from comedians of the day.
Front-end styling was unique to each of the series. The Champion had horizontal bars on the center section of the grille, with four vertical bars on each side, and this sat under a top grille bar that was covered in chrome above the
vertical bars only. Bumper guards had round pods on top of the bumper with a vertical guard below the bumper, and parking lamp/turn signals were incorporated into the head- lamp bezels. For the Commander, a body colored steel framework separated three horizontal sections, each con- sisting of eight rectangles. Parking lamps and turn signals were placed at each end of the grille directly below the headlights, with a small trim strip rounding the front fender edge ending at the front wheel opening. Commander front bumpers wrapped fully around the front fender edge, and bumper guards were fin-like appendages below the bumper. Other distinctions were made between the two series, each of which came in two trim levels, DeLuxe and Regal DeLuxe. At the front, there was a different hood emblem for each series. On the body sides, small chrome hash marks were placed on the fender mounted ventilation doors for the Commander. Regal DeLuxe models of both series had stainless steel windshield trim, chrome rear fender gravel shields, and rocker panel moldings, whereas DeLuxe mod- els carried only a black rubber gravel shield. The long wheelbase Land Cruiser used a stretched “W” 4-Door sedan body and had more interior space, with distinctive luxury style interior trim. On the 4-Door Sedans, Studebaker con- tinued to utilize rear-hinged rear doors, as it had continu- ously since 1937 and on some earlier models. Interestingly, a Champion station wagon was proposed to compete with Chevrolet, Ford and Plymouth, but it never reached pro- duction due to the high costs of lumber after the war.
At the rear end, the deck lid on all models had quite a steep slope, somewhat restricting trunk space but giving a very aerodynamic look. Taillights were small, rectangu-
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4
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lar units, divided into two sections on Champions and four sections on Commanders. A very futuristic greenhouse area was created for the 5-passenger coupes. To be known as the Starlight coupe starting with the 1949 model year, these coupes featured a four-piece, curved glass rear window that fully wrapped around each side. The visual effect was sim- ilar to the observation cars on trains of the 1930s to 1950s. The modern touches extended inside to the black light
instrument illumination. Interiors were of a more tradi- tional design, with a horizontally themed dashboard, and utilized a variety of cloth and vinyl trim, depending upon model. Powertrains had not been changed since 1941, but with Studebaker having an excellent reputation of de- pendability and relatively high gas mileage (something around 25 miles per gallon, which was high for 1947), there was not much incentive to change a winning formula.
Champion Regal DeLuxe 4-Door Sedan Commander Regal DeLuxe 2-Door Coupe
Commander Regal DeLuxe 4-Door Land Cruiser Sedan
Champion DeLuxe 4-Door Station Wagon (prototype)
Model year production:161,496, up 737.85% from 1946.
Domestic market share:4.77% (8th place).
Base price range:$1,378 to $2,236.
Studebaker average base price:$1,701, up 62.42%.
Introduction date:May 22, 1946. Land Cruiser sedan — Jan-
uary 10, 1947; Convertible models — July 11, 1947.
Assembly plants:Los Angeles, CA and South Bend, IN.
Serial number identification:Seven digit code located on left
front door lock pillar in which first digit indicates series (Champion = G; Commander = 4), followed by six digit se- quential serial number by series and assembly plant as in chart that follows.
Serial Numbers by Assembly Plant and Series
Assembly plant Beginning Ending
Los Angeles, CA — Champion 824001 827210
Los Angeles, CA — Commander 818501 820468
South Bend, IN — Champion 212500 314397
South Bend, IN — Commander 232501 286934
Powertrains
Compression
Engine Ratio Gross HP Transmission Champion Commander
169.6 CID, 1-bbl., L-head, 6-cyl. 6.5:1* 80 3-speed manual S -
Overdrive $85 -
226.2 CID, 1-bbl., L-head, 6-cyl. 6.5:1* 94 3-speed manual - S
Overdrive - $91