A guy I know has a early (41) Studebaker 2dr. It is 100% complete and in decent shape. The motor is toast an partially dis***embled. I am kicking around the idea of picking it up. It has some decent lines and you don't see them often. I have a few questions for anyone knows the cars. Are parts available? It has a independent front suspension like I've never seen before. Are they "upgradable" to anything else? M-2 ect? Anything you could share and school me on would be appreciated. Thanks, Todd
Go to Studebaker International on the web. A lot of parts to be found, would bet all the parts are available to rebuild a front end.
Studebaker was founded in 1852, so a 41 is almost a late model The front suspension is called Planar with a transverse leaf spring like a Ford, but with uprights and upper control arms. They work pretty well.
The Studebaker Drivers Club Forum is a very active site that has a ton of folks that know the cars and parts inside and out. Join up and ask, we're not all that bad. You can also find the Stude folks in your area there and at http://www.studebakervendors.com/
same deal here on the planar works well. mines an old drag car from the early 60's. lots of cool studes around
Hello, In all of our weekly reading and devouring the local Drag News published paper, we always saw The Junior Thompson 1941 Studebaker Sedan. Then the Howard Cam 1941 Studebaker Two Door Sedan. Then one time, we actually saw another 41 Studebaker two door sedan in the weekly national Drag News Paper. We did not think anything of it at the time, as we consistently saw and studied the 41 Studebaker sedans locally in So Cal. Those So Cal sedans were going to be our compe***ion in the Gas Coupe/Sedan Cl***es so, anything we could pick up would be helpful. The Studebaker action filmed in the Summer of 1959. The “sound” was recorded in September of 1959 at the Nationals. TURN IT UP! We had the best speed shop located in Long Beach, but so did others. We were getting our feet wet with a carburetor powered SBC motor in our 1940 Willys Coupe. That was a street legal coupe and it was drivable on the Bixby Knolls streets, until we ran out of gas. A small 3 gallon Moon Tank does not go very far cruising around. But, it was great for the quarter mile runs. Al Hirshfield Studebaker Sedan: Jnaki So, we were surprised that there was someone from out of state that had a fairly compe***ive 1941 Studebaker Sedan in the Gas Coupe and Sedan Cl*** group. His time of 13.31 seconds was about the same as our 6 Stromberg carburetor powered 283 SBC motor set up. And he had a 471 supercharger. Then as the 1960 season started, we had a 671 supercharged SBC 292 c.i. motor that finally ran a 12.60 seconds for our fastest time. Now, we were in the ball park as far as being compe***ive in the Gas Coupe and Sedan Cl***. YRMV Note: Did the top two Studebaker Sedans ever race? 2 door vs 4 door? Yes...
You mentioned a later front suspension. I would caution to check how well the OE works and mild upgrades before cutting and hacking, unless you are well-equipped for the big work needed to rework the frame and hang different parts.
Studebaker was unusual. When car sales would slow down Stude didn't lay off and would have employees making spare parts instead of cars. All those remaining NOS parts are at Studebaker International. A couple years ago I bought an NOS tailgate for our 59 Lark 2dr wagon. The club has all the production records. For a fee you can find how/when your car left the factory and where it went.
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