1953 Studebaker 1953 Commander

Starliner Other

8 - Cyl.

Manual

8834284

Clear

Gasoline

This great car is being re-listed apparently because it had a reserve and no Buy-It now was offered. Well, you have another chance to bid on this, one of America’s most beautiful and most sought after automobiles, the so-called Loewy coupe. We have substantially lowered the reserve and we have now set a Buy-It-Now so here's your second chance .It still appears contemporary even after almost 60 years. Put this beauty along side another common ’53 model and you’ll see what I’m saying. These streamlined bodies have been a favorite of Bonneville racers from the beginning and you will see still see them on the flats today. They hold many land speed records running all sorts of different engines in a wide range of classes. In fact, Vintage Air has a video on their home page of the founder of Vintage Air driving his '53 Studebaker Starliner at Bonneville at more than 200 miles per hour...with the air conditioner running. Unfortunately this gorgeous auction car isn’t mine. I’m selling it for a nice young woman who inherited the car upon her father’s untimely passing. It was her dad’s pride and joy and she wanted to keep it, but after shipping it from Texas to her home in Virginia, she and her husband decided it just wasn’t practical for them to have it. For one thing, they had no place to keep it out of the weather. I am not a dealer or a professional seller and this is the first time I have helped sell a car for someone else. They found my name in Studebaker sources on the Internet and they contacted me. Since I own a ’53 Studebaker Commander Starliner myself, I believed that I could help them and the rest is history. Much knowledge about the car died with her father so I don’t have a complete history. For example, the odometer shows just over 32098 miles. I doubt if that is correct miles and I have no idea how many miles are actually on the car. However, with some research and with contacting the man who owned the car before her father I have learned quite a bit. The serial number indicates that it was built in the Los Angeles plant. From an earlier owner I learned that the car was sold new in Boise, Idaho. He bought the car in Montana and did the bulk of the modifications. He later moved to Arizona and sold the car to a man in Wisconsin who added some modifications then sold it less than a year later to a man in California who returned it to California. When he sold it, the car went to Texas where it was always garaged. So, its only real exposure to the elements has been the short time it has been in Virginia. It is very straight and solid and shows none of the frame fatigue common to high miles 1953 Studebakers. The '90s reproduction aluminum sill plates are in excellent condition. These are soft and vulnerable and much use will always show up in the dings on the sills. The doors, trunk lid, and hood all fit well, but not perfectly (early ’53 hardtops had some quality problems in body panel fit). All windows roll up and down as they should, but again, don’t take the car through an automatic car wash. All door, trunk, and window rubbers seals are in excellent condition. The “flippers” over the door windows are in good shape, but are a bit sticky from lack of use (sometimes need a little help closing fully). The factory tinted glass is in excellent shape except for some minor bubbling on both door vent wing glasses (these are flat glass and any decent auto glass shop can cut replacements). This car has been very tastefully customized and modernized to make it a very comfortable, stylish ride that will draw a crowd at any show or cruise-in. All ornaments and the trunk handle have been removed and filled. The trunk does not lock, but the latch assembly is in place and can be set up for remote release. This car is actually more what designer Bob Bourke had in mind when he created the beautiful 1953 Studebaker coupes and hardtops. He believed in clean lines free from ornamentation. While he still managed to keep it exceptionally clean for its era, marketers still managed to get a few “Studebaker”, “V8” and “Commander” emblems added. Sorry, the vintage Texas plates don’t go with the car. OK, more about the modifications: It is sort of a “resto rod”- built before the fashion was to install Fatman front suspensions, rack and pinion steering and all that stuff. It still features its rugged Studebaker kingpin suspension (may be old fashioned, but you won’t see a Studebaker lying alongside the road with a front wheel hanging off due to a broken ball joint). The drivetrain is vintage too (more on that further down). It has been converted to a 12-volt electrical system and the large brand new battery is in the trunk. All wiring is modern (no cloth-wrapped wires like the original cars). The red object in the cargo net is a hydraulic jack and handle neatly packarged in a convenient carrying care. It has ’55 coupe tail lights (much larger rounded lens that is MUCH brighter than the stock smaller ’53 flat lens. It has a ’64 Studebaker steering wheel on a later Hawk column with a ’61 Studebaker horn bar (cleaner looking than a ring). The instrument panel is done in ’54 Commander style (a complete hooded ’53 set comes with the car in case the buyer prefers the hooded style). The wheels are aftermarket Chevrolet Rally wheels with "cop car" center caps which snap in and off making easy access to the lug nuts. The tires are 205x70x15 radials. However, the date code on them is the 48th week of 2002 so I think they should be replaced. We debated about putting on new tires, but decided it would be better to let the buyer choose his or her own tires. Wouldn’t raised white letter tires look great on this car? The car has been converted to front disc brakes (original ’53 style brakes were notoriously weak). Now the biggies- it has a vintage Chevrolet 327 cubic inch engine mated to an equally vintage Chevrolet Borg-Warner T-10 four-speed transmission controlled by a Hurst shifter and a hydraulic clutch system (no all-electronic, fuel-injected Corvette with a mega-speed electronic automatic). The drive shaft has been changed to a one-piece shaft (no center universal joint and carrier bearing). Ignition is by a famous Delco “window” distributor with a Pertronix electronic ignition system installed. The engine has an electric choke Edelbrock four barrel carburetor and Edelbrock air cleaner plus Edelbrock valve covers. The more recent previous owner told me that he had the engine completely re-manufactured after he got the car- high end valves installed, bored a bit over to dress up the cylinders, new pistons, new, not reground cam, reground crankshaft (.010) new lifters, new lightened push rods, new HD oil pump, new water pump. I’m a total dummy when it comes to Chevrolet engines, but my two sons who are familiar with them tell me this is a performance engine. It has “double hump heads” and a “performer” intake manifold along with the Edelbrock four-barrel carburetor. The man who made most of the modifications indicated that the engine was a 1969 hi-po 327. Both my sons and my daughter-in-law (also a car person and a very sharp body shop appraiser) commented on how well done the modifications are. Everything lines up well and brackets are very professionally fabricated. I can also attest to the quality of work from the time I have spent under the car installing a new electric fuel pump and ethanol resistant fuel lines and flushing and bleeding the hydraulic clutch installation. While we don’t know how many miles it has been driven since the rebuild, it can’t have been too many. It carries good oil pressure, doesn’t smoke or leak, and it doesn’t make any bad (expensive noises). I call tell you this- it is STRONG, very quick and smooth. On my first test drive I laid rubber in my driveway (not on purpose- sensitive clutch and throttle) then when I went out on the road I got second gear rubber on the 1-2 shift and third gear rubber on the 2-3 shift and I wasn’t pushing it. The shifter has very short throws and a narrow gate which makes shifting a pleasure. The Turner disc brakes pulled it down quickly, smoothly and evenly (Jim Turner is a Studebaker enthusiast who designed an excellent disc brake conversion for older cars- are noted for their simplicity and reliability). I thought it had the original rear end, but I now think it has a later rear end. I can’t find any tag or numbers to tell me which ratio it is, but it appears to be a 3.73:1 ratio which was standard on Studebaker cars with four-speed transmissions. By now you have probably noticed the air conditioner compressor. Her dad had a Vintage heat and air conditioning system installed at a cost of a little over $2,200. The compressor was specially polished to provide a little more under hood shine. It is a very neat installation, very unobtrusive under the dash. Right now it is blowing cool, but not frigid. The condenser side of the compressor is hot, but the evaporator side isn’t sweaty. I will have added some 134 before you pick up the car. The fan really moves the air through three outlets (including one on the left of the steering column) and the whole interior of the car should be very comfortable. While the original under seat heater and defroster are disconnected, the original fresh air system is intact. A nice Alpine CD-stereo radio has been installed where the stock AM radio would go and large speakers are installed on the back shelf with small Sony speakers on the front kick panels. Sound is great, but I had to have my son set the buttons on the unit and don’t count on me to tell you how to do it. The interior is exceptionally nice, and while not original, is very authentic having been done by Phantom Automotive, the premium supplier of authentic Studebaker interiors. There is no noticeable damage or wear except for some wear and some fading on the carpet at the foot pad. It has a lot of nice little touches. The headlights are very bright halogen units, all the interior lights work including all instrument lights, turn signals and brake lights are fine. The electric wipers work on both speeds just as they should. Even the original clock runs (a bit of a cheater though- it has been converted to a 12-volt quartz movement). It even has a vintage aftermarket Day-Nite mirror glued to the windshield. The horn doesn’t seem to want to honk, but I will check and clean the connections before the buyer picks up the car. All the interior chrome is generally excellent (some pitting on the window and door handles) as is most of the exterior chrome. Bumpers are great. There is some slight pitting on the right side lower windshield molding and a very small amount on one grille surround. An uninstalled either re-chromed or NOS windshield molding is included with the car. The grille bars have been painted a gray-silver color, but they are very smooth and don’t show signs of pitting. While the grille moldings have been re-plated, there are thin spots at the extreme inner corners. Keep in mind that these parts were produced during the Korean War and chrome was very poor quality due to wartime restrictions so it is very unusual to find such nice chrome on a ‘53. And, the ’53 coupe and hardtop grille parts are not the same as sedan parts and they are VERY hard to find and are VERY expensive. Warts? Yes, a few. The car is not detailed for show. Even though it has a great paint job, it was done in the '90s to be a great driver and it has been used accordingly. So, it has accumulated a few rock chips and dings. There are some marks around the passenger outside door mirror and the air scoop seems to have met a curb that was too high. However, the paint is very solid today- no lifting, peeling or discoloration and virtually no orange peel. Other than the chips, I did find two spots where the paint is flawed. There is a small spot on the top of each of each of the the rear quarter panels where they meet the body. I have the same flaws on my '53 Starliner. The red color was '94 Mustang Laser Red, the white was a custom mix, both colors done in R&M Diamont. The right rear corner of the hood shows signs of having been carelessly opened or closed at some time in the past as there is a slight crease immediately over the hinge. I would have called this car completely rust-free, but I did find some rust through in both torque boxes (aka “hog troughs”). These are easily patched. Replacement is not necessary. Right side Left side Otherwise there doesn’t seem to be any rust on the car (other than some light surface rust). The trunk floor is fine. The passenger compartment floors have light surface rust, but from the underside there is no sign of rust through. If I owned the car I would pull up the carpets and treat the floors with POR15 or something similar. There is also light surface rust on parts of the frame and underside metal parts. Passenger floor underside Rear foot wells underside Right side underside Underside front to rear Underside rear to front Anyhow, don’t let this rare opportunity to buy such a great car get away. The reduced reserve is very reasonable and, as mentioned, you now can select “Buy It Now” to end the suspense of an auction. I have many more pictures and I will be happy to take new specific pictures if you need more views. Thanks for looking, but please don’t bid unless you are serious about buying. If you have fewer than five buyer feedback postings or you have negative feedback, you must contact me by eBay “ask a question” email first. During the first auction I was questioned about power steering and power brakes. The answer is neither steering or brakes are powered assisted. Personally I don't find the steering to be that heavy. However, I believe a late Hawk power steering set would go right on. The brake system that Jim Turner uses is very heavy duty and he mainatins that no power booster is needed (and I have certainly found that to be true). One other thing I meant to note was that a shield that screws to the inner fender and body that deflects water from coming in to the passenger compartment through the clutch and brake pedal holes is missing. It looks as if it was taken off because of a conflict with the new wiring harness. It doesn’t strike me as very essential, but a shield could be fabricated pretty easily. One more update from the first listing- While the car is running great, I was concerned that the gas smelled kind of stale (the car hadn't been driven much recently). I was afraid that there might be rust and/or crud in the tank so I removed the tank. I found that it was indeed rusty inside and there was a varnish coating on the gas gage sender. I have taken the tank to a shop that specializes in old car radiators and gas tanks. It is being cleaned and internally coated with an ethanol-resistant material. One less thing for the buyer to worry about. What would I do if I had the car? Just my personal preference, certainly not deal breakers, but for one, Jim Turner now offers a dual master cylinder with a remote reservoir (for easier filling) for this application- I’d get that. And, if a whole lot of “brisk” driving is intended, I’d look for a later Studebaker Dana 44 Twin Traction rear end (called positraction by most people) with flanged axles.On May-16-11 at 08:54:59 PDT, seller added the following information: In response to the question about apparent bubbles on the right rocker panel I have noted that there are rough spots on the rocker panel and at the bottom of the right door. However, I performed the magnet test and the fingernail test all along both the rocker panel and the lower edge of the door and neither test indicated plastic or soft spots. While it is possible that there is some body filler there, it must be pretty thin because the magnet pulled equally hard no matter where I put it. I noted some similar rough areas on the left rocker panel and tested there with the same result- no sign of filler or soft spots. In a couple cases the spots appeared to be paint sags that weren't caught. Otherwise I can't account for the rough spots- maybe so far below the normal line of vision that the painter didn't notice. Right Rocker Panel Right rocker and lower door Left Rocker PanelOn May-18-11 at 13:22:09 PDT, seller added the following information: Please note that trades cannot be accepted.