The '58 Commander leaves Georgia

[mbstude]

The first "long" trip I ever took with the '58 was in May, 2009 to Fayetteville to visit Tom Elliott. This was the first time I'd ever been to Tom's place and he had invited me up for a Studebaker mini-meet that he was having at his home. So I gassed up the Studebaker and drove the 200 miles to North Georgia.

Jamie McLeod, known as Starliner62 on the Forum, was going to meet me there with some parts that he had picked up in South Bend for me. Jamie brought his two sons with him, handed over my parts, and left shortly after.

At the Southeast Zone Meet in March, Jamie walked up to me and asked if I still had the '58, and if so would I consider selling it to him. I had made up my mind that I was going to sell the car but was in no hurry as I wanted to find the right home for it. Jamie went on to say that his son James had saw the car 2 years ago, at age 13, at Tom's place and fell in love with it. James has apparently been drooling after my car for the past 2 years and I didn't even know it. When Jamie asked him what he wanted as his first car, he told his Dad that he would love to have my '58 Commander. I knew right then that there was no better owner for the car and I wanted James to have it.

Over the last couple of weeks, Jamie and I have been working out the details of him buying the Commander. A deal was struck, a date was set, and today he, James, and Joe Roberts loaded up and drove to Hazlehurst to pick up the car. They all looked the car over closely, decided they wanted it, handed over some cash and they loaded it up. James is pretty quiet, but it was easy to tell that he was about excited as he could possibly be.

All in all a nice time visiting with Stude friends and making another young guy happy with his first Studebaker. There's no doubt that James is the right owner for the old Commander and he'll have just as much fun with it as I have. They have plans to drive it to the Atlantic Zone Meet coming up in Gettysburg.

[Kurt]

Great story Matthew. Looks like the old 58 is going to a good home. I hope they have as much fun with it as you did. Are you putting your new found wealth into the pick up??

[55champion]

Glad it came to NC...couldn't have found a better new owner.

[mbstude]

Great story Matthew. Looks like the old 58 is going to a good home. I hope they have as much fun with it as you did. Are you putting your new found wealth into the pick up??

That's one option but instead it's the start of a savings pot for a Prewar car.

[kurtruk]

Some lousy guy stole the STAINLESS off that thing!!!

[Corvanti]

congrats james and jamie!!! can't wait to see it...

matthew, what year(s) pre-war are you looking for? i may know of one available soon...

[mbstude]

All of the stainless went with the car. I'd taken it off to polish it but they bought it before I had a chance. <grin> I stuck those pieces back on but the rest needed new clips.

As far as a Prewar car, I'm considering anything between 1938-41. Preferably a President sedan, but would "settle" on a Commander or Champ if it was the right car. It'll be a while before I have enough cash to buy a decent one but I'm saving up.. I really don't want a project.

[starliner62]

That 58 followed us all the way home. James, my son is still smiling. It was a whirlwind trip, quite a haul for one day. We did get to stop in Claxton for some original Claxton fruitcakes (or bricks, depending on if you like fruitcake or not).
Right now, plans for the car are to get it back together, add A/C, make it presentable and drive it to Gettysburg in July. I think we will leave the original paint on it for a while. Christine will live again!!!

And many thanks to Joe Roberts for all of his help!!!

[JRoberts]

Jamie, I was glad to do it. I had a great time. It was a fun trip. It was great to see James (and his Daddy naturally) so excited about this car. It is setting outside my window as I type this. As we told James he certainly will not be hard to keep track of with that car. There is not another one like any where near us! We seem to be becoming quite a 4 door Studebaker community. Now we have to get the '58 Commander and the '65 Cruiser ready for the road. Can't wait it will be a great tour to Gettysburg!

[monomaniac]

I certainly hope that stories as good as this one will end up in TW someday.

[mbstude]

Jamie and Joe... EXCELLENT!

Art, I'm working on an article just for you, don't worry.

[JBOYLE]

It looks like it went to a good home.
Hopefully, the young man will be very careful with it (I say this not out of disrespect for the boy, but 15-16 years old boys will be...gosh, 15-16 year old boys!).

In high school I had a neighbor kid (a real punk) who got his grandparent's cherry 65 Merc...he had it about a week before he totaled it.

[jclary]

It looks like it went to a good home.
Hopefully, the young man will be very careful with it (I say this not out of disrespect for the boy, but 15-16 years old boys will be...gosh, 15-16 year old boys!).

In high school I had a neighbor kid (a real punk) who got his grandparent's cherry 65 Merc...he had it about a week before he totaled it.

You gotta know...this is one tough old commander. It has already survived at least one youth. (Matt) Why it even survived running down one of those big Georgia deer. Now it will have an opportunity to add a North Carolina deer and perhaps a bear to the trophy case. When I was young, this would have been just another old used car(in a sea of used cars) for a teenager who couldn't afford the flashy ones.

Now, enough time has passed that this will be a cool time machine whether it is parked at home, school, church or the local mall.

[starliner62]

Well, the young man knows he better take care of the car or it will be mine!!!! James is a good boy. I don't expect everything to be perfect with him and I expect a few mistakes. He knows how I feel about my old cars and even though none of them are very pretty at the moment, mechanically, they are pretty sound. I would not hesitate to let him drive any of my vehicles across the states.
He watched his older brother make mistakes with cars and I'm sure he has learned what NOT to do.

[mbstude]

I'd forgotten to tell them about hitting the deer but I suspect they know already. BTW Jamie that's a NOS President grille in the car. I didn't think you'd want the mangled original.