The inflated Studebaker
About 5 years ago l sold my 1955 Champion Deluxe 4 door to a friend in the club at an attractive price. l had floated prices of $1000.00 and $1,500.00 higher for over a year previously, but no one else in either of the two SDC Chapters in Ontario seemed interested. That's life - you know how it can be.
I "rescued" the low mileage Stude (39,000 miles!), formerly from Connecticut and a homely-looking sedan in need of TLC, and made a few changes to it which gave it a unique flavour: new all black paint (South Bend made her with a white roof), fender skirts, red rims with new wide whites, an overdrive was installed (and the rebuilt 185 ran great with the original 4.10:1 rear end), a floor shift conversion, 1 inch lowering blocks, very mild glass tint, painted head light and tail light bezels (to make it look longer), yellow fog lights to match the yellow tint of the full wheel covers, etc, etc. It turned out pretty nice.
The gentleman l sold her to (her name is Jill, BTW) gave her a good home and did some further improvements, including a deluxe steering wheel, and installation of the new headliner and wind lacing that l had supplied.
This fall he phoned me saying that he was putting the car up for sale and that he was giving me first chance to buy her back if l want - and again at reasonable, attractive price . After agonizing for a couple of weeks, l told him that even tho l knew how good a car she was, my plans didn't seem to mesh with her re-purchase. So he put an ad on Kijiji for a more "retail" price that was still significantly under $10,000.00.
Last we talked, he said that she was bot by an American car dealer! Wow! Didn't see that coming! Thot that we'd be able to see her in hopefully appreciative hands in the club for years to come.
Well, l Googled "1955 Studebaker Champion for sale" a couple of days ago - and she popped up!!
She's now at River Front Auto Sales in Buffalo, New York With a price tag of ....wait for it.... $19,980.00 !!!!
It looks as if nothing new was done to her. Maybe a polish. Look for yourself: www.riverfrontautosales.com .
So, sure there are transportation, registration, advertising, and prep expenses, but the new price is well over 200% of what he paid for it.
Good luck to the dealer, l guess! It's whatever the market will bear, right? May be the sucker he is looking for is out there and a new record will be set for a price for a '55 Champion 4 door Deluxe! l don't know whether to laugh or cry!! But l think it's best to laugh
I "rescued" the low mileage Stude (39,000 miles!), formerly from Connecticut and a homely-looking sedan in need of TLC, and made a few changes to it which gave it a unique flavour: new all black paint (South Bend made her with a white roof), fender skirts, red rims with new wide whites, an overdrive was installed (and the rebuilt 185 ran great with the original 4.10:1 rear end), a floor shift conversion, 1 inch lowering blocks, very mild glass tint, painted head light and tail light bezels (to make it look longer), yellow fog lights to match the yellow tint of the full wheel covers, etc, etc. It turned out pretty nice.
The gentleman l sold her to (her name is Jill, BTW) gave her a good home and did some further improvements, including a deluxe steering wheel, and installation of the new headliner and wind lacing that l had supplied.
This fall he phoned me saying that he was putting the car up for sale and that he was giving me first chance to buy her back if l want - and again at reasonable, attractive price . After agonizing for a couple of weeks, l told him that even tho l knew how good a car she was, my plans didn't seem to mesh with her re-purchase. So he put an ad on Kijiji for a more "retail" price that was still significantly under $10,000.00.
Last we talked, he said that she was bot by an American car dealer! Wow! Didn't see that coming! Thot that we'd be able to see her in hopefully appreciative hands in the club for years to come.
Well, l Googled "1955 Studebaker Champion for sale" a couple of days ago - and she popped up!!
She's now at River Front Auto Sales in Buffalo, New York With a price tag of ....wait for it.... $19,980.00 !!!!
It looks as if nothing new was done to her. Maybe a polish. Look for yourself: www.riverfrontautosales.com .
So, sure there are transportation, registration, advertising, and prep expenses, but the new price is well over 200% of what he paid for it.
Good luck to the dealer, l guess! It's whatever the market will bear, right? May be the sucker he is looking for is out there and a new record will be set for a price for a '55 Champion 4 door Deluxe! l don't know whether to laugh or cry!! But l think it's best to laugh
1963 Canadian Lark VY-6 
4E2-122 Deluxe Scotsman
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