Double-ender

[DougHolverson]

I was thinking about how for a "which way is it going?" mobile, my '47 Champion is almost like two different vehicles once you get to know it. You have a blunt front with that busy Exner '40s Art Deco grill. The tapered rear end is like an early salvo of '50s Googie. The rear fenders even have a boomerang looking curve, and the boomerang is like a stereotypical Googie motif.

OTOH, one of the guys that rents Mom's farm glanced over my '51 Starlight the other day from the rear 3/4s and made a remark like "It almost looks like they put the windshield on the wrong end.

[Lou Van Anne]

They were the butt of many jokes.....50/51s were know as: "Two-row corn pickers"......ya have to have some farm experience to understand.

[r1lark]

The '52s we're termed "clam diggers" by some. I always like the '52s tho.

[TWChamp]

When I was about 10 years old I remember seeing a newspaper article showing two 1950 Studebakers that someone cut in half and welded the two front together.
Of course now I realize what a waste of two beautiful cars that was.
In the late 50's and early 60's I remember several times people remarking about my dad's 1950 Champion that it was a "coming or going" styled car.

[swvalcon]

I never understood the coming and going thing. Did hear them called corn picker front end.

[52-fan]

The two front end thing has been done numerous times with many cars. The first Studebaker I saw like that was at the Gettysburg IM in 1980.
The clam digger reference regarding the 52 models never connected with me. Maybe because I know nothing about clam digging. The design reminds me more of a combine.

[rockne10]

Just my opinion but, I believe the original query about "coming or going" was probably as a result of the wrap-a-round four rear windows in the 5-passenger coupe of 1947. Prior to that the majority of glass was in the front of the vehicle. With the debut of the "Starlight", all of a sudden, the most extensive view was from the rear. Had it only been driven backwards these would have the greatest panoramic view of the road ahead.

Here's the "double-ender" that was at the 1980 Gettysburg International Meet. It was then and still is owned by the Clown Brigade of the Jaffa Shriners Mosque in Altoona, PA.

[studegary]

I agree with Rockne10's opinion on the "which way is it going" saying. The five passenger coupes were quite a sensation when they first came out. I still remember seeing one in late 1946. It was the glass (far above normal for the time) and the rear styling being somewhat similar to the front styling (novel at the time).

[8E45E]

I was thinking about how for a "which way is it going?" mobile, my '47 Champion is almost like two different vehicles once you get to know it. You have a blunt front with that busy Exner '40s Art Deco grill.

There is truth to that. Two different designers, one legitimately working at his job to satisfy his boss, and one working after-hours on the front end to satisfy the customer as I stated here: http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.c...-going-to-hurt!

Craig

[Skip Lackie]

I agree with Rockne10's opinion on the "which way is it going" saying. The five passenger coupes were quite a sensation when they first came out. I still remember seeing one in late 1946. It was the glass (far above normal for the time) and the rear styling being somewhat similar to the front styling (novel at the time).

Yes. I guess you hadda be there. I recently was listening to a rebroadcast of a fall 1946 Jack Benny radio show where the new "coming or going" 1947 Studebakers were the running gag of the night. Not in a disparaging way. (The show was sponsored by Jello, not Studebaker.)