More fun Studebaker "Facts"

[Sdude]

We all get a kick out of what people tell us about our cars. I showed a picture of my 51 Champion to a friend and he told me that he bought one of those brand new. He told me he paid $11,000 for it. When I told him the base price of the car new was closer to $1500, he told me that he had a lot of options on it.

I just smiled and said, see ya Flint.

I suppose we are so accustomed to ridiculous prices for new cars that we can no longer fathom buying a new car for so little. Or maybe he's just getting old....

[KJongenburger]

The interesting thing is that if I put your $1500 in an inflation calculation with the initial year of 1951, the 2010 value would be around $12.500.

1 - He was not so far of as seen in this light.
2 - What car would you buy for $12.500 now?

Money and value are hardly related.

[BobGlasscock]

"2 - What car would you buy for $12.500 now?"

A Golden Hawk.

[alanahasan]

A 1950 Studebaker land cruiser sticker price was $2995.
alanahasan

[52hawk]

$12.500 barely buys a TOY car.[twelve dollars and fifty cents]

[Chris_Dresbach]

I think the base price for my '40 was something like $660. Unreal. If I could go back in time I think I would buy a fleet of them and bring them back!

[Milaca]

I think the base price for my '40 was something like $660. Unreal. If I could go back in time I think I would buy a fleet of them and bring them back!

Perhaps there is a shipment of new Studebakers on a sunken ship at the bottom of Lake Michigan....seems to me this vary thing happened to a new shipment of Nash cars. Recover them late at night so that nobody notices you, or else the insurance company will demand payment for them.

[clonelark]

Well according to Bing, for me as a machinist wages were .90 to 1.07 per hour in 1940. it would be very hard to buy a fleet of 1940 Studebakers on those wages. I'd be lucky to buy one and feed my family too. An hours wages would buy about 10 loafs of bread.

[PlainBrownR2]

Well according to Bing, for me as a machinist wages were .90 to 1.07 per hour in 1940. it would be very hard to buy a fleet of 1940 Studebakers on those wages. I'd be lucky to buy one and feed my family too. An hours wages would buy about 10 loafs of bread.

....except Bing doesn't tell the whole story. My grandfather was a tool and die maker during the Depression and after WWII. He acquired a collection of tools that he transported in a toolbox with him from jobsite to jobsite. When he was finished at one jobsite, he would move onto the next jobsite. After the war he came back with my grandmother(warbride), settled down started a family, and bought a house that he had in Chicago for the next 50 years. After the war he went to work for places such as the Buick plant and Bethlehem Steel, on more than one occasion, the graveyard shift. Work was much more substantial by this point, so he migrated to another company when it was necessary. He was making decent wages, so much so that he substantially improved and expanded on his house, and he sent my grandmother, mother, and uncle back to France every 5 years for 5-6 weeks at a crack. He built up a shop in the basement to house, store, and utilize his tools. And yes, everybody was WELL taken cared for, WELL fed, and WELL dressed, for my Parisian grandmother would NOT stand for anything else while she was in this country.

[Cash]

....except Bing doesn't tell the whole story. My grandfather was a tool and die maker during the Depression and after WWII. He acquired a collection of tools that he transported in a toolbox with him from jobsite to jobsite. When he was finished at one jobsite, he would move onto the next jobsite. After the war he came back with my grandmother(warbride), settled down started a family, and bought a house that he had in Chicago for the next 50 years. After the war he went to work for places such as the Buick plant and Bethlehem Steel, on more than one occasion, the graveyard shift. Work was much more substantial by this point, so he migrated to another company when it was necessary. He was making decent wages, so much so that he substantially improved and expanded on his house, and he sent my grandmother, mother, and uncle back to France every 5 years for 5-6 weeks at a crack. He built up a shop in the basement to house, store, and utilize his tools. And yes, everybody was WELL taken cared for, WELL fed, and WELL dressed, for my Parisian grandmother would NOT stand for anything else while she was in this country.

And that's the way things are supposed to work..or at least the way they used to.
Thanks for sharing that story, made my day!!

[Greenstude]

I have the original invoice for my 1947 Champion 6G-W3, sold new by Isnor Motor Sales of Halifax, Nova Scotia to Mr. Robert B. Hayes. The price was $1,989.90, with overdrive transmission.

[commander56]

when i bought my 56 commander i received the folder titled "local retail prices for the big new studebakers" here are some of the prices listed champion 2dr sedanet $2145, 2 door sedan $2247, 4 dr $2297,
commander 2dr $2486, 4 dr $2535, president 2 dr $2602, 4d $2649, station wagons pelham $2533, parkview $2714 pinehurst $2943 flight hawk $2336, power hawk $2461, sky hawk $2887, golden hawk $3625.
it also has a great list of available options like an oil filter, electric windshield wiper and an antenna . if anyone wants a copy drop me your email address and i'll send you the scans

[522rtruck]

I have a 1952 Studebaker 2R Truck in the restoration process. I am looking for a cheap inline 6 Studebaker engine from that era.

[2R5]

Remember Henry Ford paid his workers $5.00/day , which was good money , it would take you years to save enough to buy that $600 car....don't think much has changed.

[Corvanti]

Remember Henry Ford paid his workers $5.00/day , which was good money , it would take you years to save enough to buy that $600 car....don't think much has changed.

except credit terms available!