What's the story with this cool Champ?

[junior]

Haven't been on the forum for a while, but just came across this thread on the cool Champ http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.c...r-en-argentina
...is the box fabbed, or was there really an 'export' Champ produced like this? Stude myth or legend? Has this been discussed on the forum before? I like it, the box actually seems to fit the cab. Look kinda reminds me of the old Isuzu/Chevy Luvs. Need to know more, but my Spanish is worse than my French, which is really not saying a whole lot! Just wondering. Junior.

[JeffDeWitt]

That's not a Champ, it's more of a Larkamino as it's built on a car frame instead of a truck one. They've been talked about before and as I recall they weren't really built for export but were assembled in other countries (like Australia).

Take a look at the ride height and at that front bumper. If it were on a truck frame it would ride higher and the front bumper would look like it didn't fit properly.

[martincl]

Not here in Australia though I wish they were!
I've only heard of them in South America. See Fred Fox's Feb 1987 TW article on Champs. I've read about these E9 models in other articles as well.

[junior]

I'll see if have TW's that go back that far, thanks. Sure do like the fit/look of the box better than the domestic ...kinda makes one wonder why they were not installed on all Champs. One of these would make a great start for a real-life version of the Champ that HotWheels released this year. Junior.

[kmac530]

I have been thinking about building a Champ like that someday. I love the Champ cab, but I am not too partial to either of the boxes. Not to knock those who love them. I just personally would prefer a bed that matches the shape of the cab a bit better.

My thoughts on a build would be find 4 door skins, and 1 of each side front fenders for the wheel wells. Patch them all together and you have about 8' long bed sides. Now just adjust the inside of the bed width to accomodate the new body line width. Done, well in over simplification anyway. Now you would have a bed that would follow the nice cab body line like most trucks have. I think it would look great like that.

The front fender wells would address the slightly mismatched fender opening on Claudios truck...not knocking it at all, just thinking of how to take it to the next clean line level.