1953 Studebaker Champion DeLuxe

Lowey Coupe Coupe

6 - Cyl.

Manual

Clear

Gasoline

The Driver: Ten years ago, I saw this car at a Drive-In theater and it made my heart race. The 1953 Studebaker is an award winning design and was coined the "Lowey Coupe". My husband and I were looking for a joint hobby and thought taking up a restoration project would be a great idea. Our goal was to get to the Great Race, where cars have to be 50 years old and restored to original to enter the race across the United States. We set our sights on 2003. Instead of the Great Race, we welcomed our first baby home. Three kids later, we have not really touched the Stude since 2003 except to run the engine and an occasional drive around the block. The Mechanic: As mentioned, we were restoring it to original. We sent the Straight 6 engine off to Connecticut and had it overhauled by Bill Cathcart. While the engine was out, we rewired (with the exception of the overdrive wiring), rebuilt the suspension and steering (new bushings, etc., etc.), installed new wheel cylinders and master cylinder as well as new brake shoes and drums all around (more on this later), and new exhaust, front to rear. We even put on a set of new wide white wall tires which makes it look great from a distance. Although we had the radiator cleaned, it now leaks at the top tank. Also, we did not replace the fuel lines nor did we replace or seal the fuel tank, one of these is most likely the cause of the car stalling out on drives… it’s starving for fuel. The brakes need some work, we had fixed them, but years of sitting has not been good for them. (The brake pedal goes to the floor… most likely the seals in the master cylinder dried out while in storage.) In short, it’s not too drivable right now, but the items keeping us from taking it for a spin are relatively minor. We wanted to get everything running mechanically before we worried about fine-tuning the body and interior. We have done no body work, nor have we touched the interior. Apparently, someone did attempt a restoration about 20 years prior to us purchasing this car. The interior was redone (not to original, however), and the body/paint work wasn’t the best. Most of the original embellishments are still on, however, some of them are not very secure. The paint is pretty rough, and the chrome needs help. One item that has been a bit concerning is that the last few times we’ve driven it, the temperature gauge climbs well above the midpoint. It hasn’t overheated yet, but its indicating hotter than I’d like. I haven’t spent any time at all trying to figure out whether it is a gauge problem or if it is actually overheating. If it is trying to overheat, I haven’t spent any time trying to figure out why. The Couple: This car is a real head turner and it is a fairly rare find. It is still a work in progress, but we want it to go somewhere that it has a chance to return to its glory days (which we would prefer rather than being turned into a street rod, but realize we can't be picky about it). Between schedules and events, we are not in a position to do that, and hey, college funds are low and getting some of the money back out of this is better for us than hanging on to it. During our work on this ol’ Stude, we took lots of pictures and scanned our receipts. Although we can’t guarantee that we’ve saved everything, we will happily provide any or all at your request. Or, if you want pictures of anything in particular, let us know and we’ll be happy to oblige. We also kept the original parts that were replaced if at some point we were unable to get replacement parts. They can go with the car, or we will dispose of them, whatever the buyer prefers. If you have any questions, please email and we will get back to you asap with an accurate answer. Thanks for looking and bid high to start enjoying your American classic, the 1953 Lowey Coupe Starlite Champion! Good luck. On Oct-19-10 at 22:49:59 PDT, seller added the following information: Just a few clarifications.... The Stude's serial number, located inside the driver side door pillar, near the hinges is: GI246898 I do want to emphasize that the car isn't drivable right now. The fuel pump seems to be drawing a lot of vacuum, but it isn't getting very much fuel to the filter bowl. I initially thought that the fuel tank was plugged, but I'm not convinced that this is the case. I tried to draw a vacuum on the fuel line to prime the filter bowl, but I couldn't do it. I'm now thinking that the fuel line has a leak somewhere. Once I do get it running; however, it does seem to run pretty well. As described in the original listing... the past few times I've run the engine, the temperature gauge climbs beyond the midpoint fairly quickly. Again... no idea why. (Gauge issue... actual heating issue... no time to diagnose) Also, as mentioned in the original text, the brake pedal now goes to the floor when braking. This "gem" just popped up a few weeks ago... grrrr... sitting in the garage hasn't been the best for this beauty. The floor pan (at least in the front) needs some attention... Your feet won't poke through causing you to do the Fred Flinstone thing, but it needs to be replaced sometime (forgot to include it in the original listing) In reviewing old pictures, I've found that we did NOT replace the brake drums... we did; however, have the original drums turned. Shoes and cylinders were replaced back then, though. (sorry... it's been a few years) The last I knew (which was a few years ago), the heater motor and all electrical interior "stuff" worked. The "heat" pullout lever (as I recall) doesn't work yet. It wasn't a priority at the time, so I didn't mess with it. The heater is on all the time. The car is a three speed manual with overdrive. Shifting from 2nd to 3rd takes a bit of feel. Again, I didn't take the time to play with the linkage to make it better. We did replace the clutch, etc. though. I have no idea if the overdrive works or not. As described in the original listing, we didn't rewire it, because the wiring wasn't included in the wiring kit (harness) that we bought. We never drove it fast enough to even try out the overdrive, so it is truly untested. Since we're not the original owners, we can't confirm that the listed mileage is accurate. The person that we bought it from many years ago was pretty sure that it was accurate, but one never knows. The current odometer reading is 66657. The reading when we did the work in 2001 was 66282. As such, the mileage since the work was done (9 years ago) is about 325 miles. The car has been stored in a heated garage since that time, with occasional drives and engine starts from time to time. There's lots more that "works" and "doesn't work" but I can't really capture it all. I strongly encourage you to ask about any specifics. Here's a link to many photographs and documents (invoices/receipts, etc.) that I saved during the work we did during the 2001/2002 timeframe. (Again... no guarantee that I captured everything back then, but I think most of it is captured) IF you have a Windows Live account, you will be able to download all the files in each folder as a .zip file... otherwise, you can view the files individually. The photos; however, should be viewable as a slideshow. I just learned how to upload the pictures and documents... I hope it works. http://cid-fb0b97811b5f29f4.office.live.com/self.aspx/.Public Please feel free to contact me if you have any specific questions about this car. Our goal is a smooth transaction. Ed (The Mechanic)