Creating a 39 coupe express clone

[t walgamuth]

I was admiring a 39 coupe express the other day and it occured to me that it might be possible to take a sedan and graft the back of a pickup cab onto it and create a coupe express clone. Has anyone ever thought about this or tried it?

[Welcome]

I was admiring a 39 coupe express the other day and it occured to me that it might be possible to take a sedan and graft the back of a pickup cab onto it and create a coupe express clone. Has anyone ever thought about this or tried it?

Sorry, can't answer your question, but do have a question for YOU. Many, many moons ago I had a neighbor with the same name as yours. Did you live up here in South Bend at one time??? TIA

[t walgamuth]

I was born there. My dad, grandfather and uncle all worked at Studies. I have my grandfather's 25 year pin. My dad died about six years ago, (Chuck). My name is Charles Thomas but as dad went by charles I go by tom. We lived on Mayflower road from about 1954 to 1960 in a house that mom and dad built.

[Welcome]

I was born there. My dad, grandfather and uncle all worked at Studies. I have my grandfather's 25 year pin. My dad died about six years ago, (Chuck). My name is Charles Thomas but as dad went by charles I go by tom. We lived on Mayflower road from about 1954 to 1960 in a house that mom and dad built.

Sorry, I am still no help with your CE question ...

...but...

...your Dad and mine used to car-pool to Stude's and your sister 'Ruth' was my baby-sitter!!!
You & family (except Ruth?) all moved to Greencastle, IN ...right??? What a small 'Studebaker World' this is!

[PackardV8]

I was admiring a 39 coupe express the other day and it occured to me that it might be possible to take a sedan and graft the back of a pickup cab onto it and create a coupe express clone. Has anyone ever thought about this or tried it?

The street rod guys do it all the time. I've seen '39-40 Ford extended cab pickups, among others. Why not build a phantom - one Studebaker could have built but didn't? Start with a President tudor and build a sleek long-wheelbase truck.

jack vines

[t walgamuth]

Yes. Ruth lives near south bend now too. I live in Lafayette.

Sorry, I am still no help with your CE question ...

...but...

...your Dad and mine used to car-pool to Stude's and your sister 'Ruth' was my baby-sitter!!!
You & family (except Ruth?) all moved to Greencastle, IN ...right??? What a small 'Studebaker World' this is!

[t walgamuth]

The street rod guys do it all the time. I've seen '39-40 Ford extended cab pickups, among others. Why not build a phantom - one Studebaker could have built but didn't? Start with a President tudor and build a sleek long-wheelbase truck.

jack vines

Hi Jack, i believe we are both thinking along the same lines!

[kurtruk]

Yes. It can be done. BUT....What pickup cab back do you use? (If you have a coupe express cab, well, you already have...nevermind.) And what do you do for the bed? The coupe express bed is part of the complete styling package that makes these trucks so special. Curved sides and curved tailgate are unique.
Someone will reference a Turning Wheels feature where Richard Dormois (?) had one made up from separate pieces.
Maybe a brand-X pickup cab back would work.

[Commander55]

I was admiring a 39 coupe express the other day and it occured to me that it might be possible to take a sedan and graft the back of a pickup cab onto it and create a coupe express clone. Has anyone ever thought about this or tried it?

Check with Mike Gaither in Jourdanton TX. He has such a project in progress but he is building an extended-cab 4 door pickup from a 40's Studebaker sedan. He is using a genuine Coupe Express pickup bed.

The CE beds are rare but some are out there. Mike found one at the annual South Bend Studebaker Swap Meet. Several years ago I was coming home from an SDC South Central Zone Meet in Denton TX and found one For Sale on the side of the road when I was driving through Graham TX. I couldn't believe it! It had been converted into a pickup bed trailer and had no fenders. I bought it at a bargain price (not saying how much). The PO was using it to carry water to his piggies and had cut an 18" x 18" hole in the floor for the water spout on a plastic tank he had mounted in the floor of the bed. It even still had the original CE tailgate! I found some fenders for it at an SDC International Meet a couple of years later.

[jclary]

The Coupe Express is one of my "dream" vehicles. However, I think the back of the cab of the original is the weakest part of the design. (Strictly speaking of cosmetics and not the structure.)

The very plain back window seems to be an afterthought. If I were to build one by modifying a car, I would take the opportunity to use a little creative license and attempt something to give the back of the cab a little pizazz. I am unsure of what that would be, but I don't think it would take a lot to make it look a little better than just slapping a plain old rectangle window back there.

Unless you were attempting to pass it off as an original...a little deviation should be forgivable.

[t walgamuth]

Check with Mike Gaither in Jourdanton TX. He has such a project in progress but he is building an extended-cab 4 door pickup from a 40's Studebaker sedan. He is using a genuine Coupe Express pickup bed.

The CE beds are rare but some are out there. Mike found one at the annual South Bend Studebaker Swap Meet. Several years ago I was coming home from an SDC South Central Zone Meet in Denton TX and found one For Sale on the side of the road when I was driving through Graham TX. I couldn't believe it! It had been converted into a pickup bed trailer and had no fenders. I bought it at a bargain price (not saying how much). The PO was using it to carry water to his piggies and had cut an 18" x 18" hole in the floor for the water spout on a plastic tank he had mounted in the floor of the bed. It even still had the original CE tailgate! I found some fenders for it at an SDC International Meet a couple of years later.

The bed does not look to tough to replicate, though the sides curve, it looks pretty simple. I suspect a good sheetmetal guy could build one pretty easily. It looks to have sedan fenders. In looking at the stude pickup cab it looks as if the 39 doghouse might even bolt up.

[t walgamuth]

Of course I would not try to pass it off as original, but the original lines are pretty tough to improve on, though a bigger back window like on your truck would certainly work better when actually driving it, which I would plan to definately do. I would keep the look orignal as possible but use a much more modern running gear.

[mbstude]

A guy in Florida had a '39 CE built with a '49 C Cab truck rear window. It looked and fit great. I haven't seen the truck in a few years so I don't know if it was ever finished, and I don't have any pics.

[t walgamuth]

Do you happen to know his handle here, or email?

[jclary]

Of course I would not try to pass it off as original, but the original lines are pretty tough to improve on, though a bigger back window like on your truck would certainly work better when actually driving it, which I would plan to definately do. I would keep the look orignal as possible but use a much more modern running gear.

Funny, like the lowly cow, how we sometimes have the "grass is greener on the other side" complex. I have had this truck for nearly four decades and I am not as fond of the curved one piece windshield or the curved large back glass as some would think. There is much to be said for the practicality of flat glass. Compare the cost of replacing the two and you quickly understand.

If you have ever spent much time in the seat of a 1955 and newer C-cab on a hot day with the sun bearing down through the back glass onto your neck and shoulders...you understand that there is a drawback to the large window.

Getting back to your CE project...I probably wouldn't go for a much larger rear glass, but might take a look at something like a stylized "bat-wing" similar to those in the 36 and 37 Studebaker coupe's. Flat glass would be employed. Like most things, the concept is the easy part. Putting it into a sheet metal form is the challenge. Building a cab back panel from scratch does not seem to be that difficult in concept. However, the trick would be to build it properly "radiused" and attached to the rest of the vehicle in a manner that gives it a "flow of design" that does not look like it was cobbled together from mismatched parts.

The wooden "gauge buck" for C-cabs on display at the museum in South Bend is a very artful example of the fact that Studebaker took the "Fit" of their truck bodies very seriously.

Over the years, the most often heard comment of owners of other brands of similar era trucks is of how "solid and tight my truck seems to be." After experiencing the "flapping fenders" and "jumping door jambs" of their rides...I understand how stark the difference is.

My truck is not free of rattles nor is it quiet in comparison to modern rides. It is probably a bit cramped and underpowered compared to some other makes. However, for the era, it takes a back seat to none in structure.