1959 4E Series Pickup

My dad bought this pickup almost brand new. It has been in the family the whole time. I bought it from my half brother about 1978, but was in the military and never got to work on it. It has some bad rust spots especially around the back part of the cab. It is all original equipment. I do not ever see many 1959 model studebaker trucks on line. Could someone give me an estimate on how much this truck would be worth restored? I am trying to decide if it is worth working on or selling it for parts. Any advice/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Dale

[Roscomacaw]

First, what's "restored" mean to you? There HAVE BEEN nicely restored examples of 59 Stude pickups that have gone for as much as $15K - maybe more. However "rare" you percieve it to be has very little bearing on it's value - restored or not. There's only very minor detail differences between a 59 and a 54 and later Stude pickup. It's parts DO have value, but nowhere NEAR what the truck would be if restored. Since you sound like you don't have any real interest in it yourself - save for seeing what you can ultimately get out of it - you have to ask yourself how much you wanna invest in it to get it restored. Can you do all the body and paint work, all the mechanical work, the upholstery and so forth? If you can, what's an hour of your time worth and are you gonna recoupe all the hours you'll have invested in it when it's "restored"? Top Buck is gonna demand more than just some patches and shiny paint. Same with the mechanics and interior.

Miscreant adrift in
the BerStuda Triangle


1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe

[Roscomacaw]

First, what's "restored" mean to you? There HAVE BEEN nicely restored examples of 59 Stude pickups that have gone for as much as $15K - maybe more. However "rare" you percieve it to be has very little bearing on it's value - restored or not. There's only very minor detail differences between a 59 and a 54 and later Stude pickup. It's parts DO have value, but nowhere NEAR what the truck would be if restored. Since you sound like you don't have any real interest in it yourself - save for seeing what you can ultimately get out of it - you have to ask yourself how much you wanna invest in it to get it restored. Can you do all the body and paint work, all the mechanical work, the upholstery and so forth? If you can, what's an hour of your time worth and are you gonna recoupe all the hours you'll have invested in it when it's "restored"? Top Buck is gonna demand more than just some patches and shiny paint. Same with the mechanics and interior.

Miscreant adrift in
the BerStuda Triangle


1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe

[mbstude]

Welcome to the forum!

I can't help too much as far as value, but as an owner of a '59 4E1-112, I will say that they are excellent trucks. Given the history of yours, if it was me, I would restore it. Parts for them are plentiful, and quite reasonable compared to most other makes.

What is the number after the 4E? That will tell us a lot more about it. Does it have a V8 or straight 6 engine?

Here's mine. It's the Scotsman model.



Yours may be a Deluxe model, thus having a different style grille and many other trim changes than mine.





Matthew Burnette
'59 Scotsman
'63 Daytona
Hazlehurst, GA

Cruising the Proving Ground Test Track

[mbstude]

Welcome to the forum!

I can't help too much as far as value, but as an owner of a '59 4E1-112, I will say that they are excellent trucks. Given the history of yours, if it was me, I would restore it. Parts for them are plentiful, and quite reasonable compared to most other makes.

What is the number after the 4E? That will tell us a lot more about it. Does it have a V8 or straight 6 engine?

Here's mine. It's the Scotsman model.



Yours may be a Deluxe model, thus having a different style grille and many other trim changes than mine.





Matthew Burnette
'59 Scotsman
'63 Daytona
Hazlehurst, GA

Cruising the Proving Ground Test Track

[PackardV8]

Welcome, dale69,

The one absolute is a Studebaker costs more to restore than it will sell for when it is completed. JDP has years of experience buying and re-selling Studes, enough to have taught him to limit his investment to fixing a few mechanical things, clean it up, but never go to a full restoration on anything other than the rarest of the rare. Bottom line, there ain't no money in Studebakers.

Just speaking to Allan Songer yesterday and he confirms he has more in his wife's truck than it would sell for, but his wife loves driving it. If you don't love it, pass it along to a Studebaker fan who can determine if it is worth saving or is truly for parts only.

thnx, jv.


PackardV8

[PackardV8]

Welcome, dale69,

The one absolute is a Studebaker costs more to restore than it will sell for when it is completed. JDP has years of experience buying and re-selling Studes, enough to have taught him to limit his investment to fixing a few mechanical things, clean it up, but never go to a full restoration on anything other than the rarest of the rare. Bottom line, there ain't no money in Studebakers.

Just speaking to Allan Songer yesterday and he confirms he has more in his wife's truck than it would sell for, but his wife loves driving it. If you don't love it, pass it along to a Studebaker fan who can determine if it is worth saving or is truly for parts only.

thnx, jv.


PackardV8

[Allan Songer]

Yep.

And thanks for the headliner advice. The job took 4 hours and it looks really good! For a few pieces of cardboard, that is!

[Allan Songer]

Yep.

And thanks for the headliner advice. The job took 4 hours and it looks really good! For a few pieces of cardboard, that is!

[Dick Steinkamp]

Cab corners and other patch panels are available from Classic Enterprises.

Even if you can do most of the work yourself, you are going to be upside down in the truck financially if you restore it. Same is true of just about any other old car or truck. If you just want to patch it up and make a fun driver out of it, you would probably come out OK financially if you chose to sell it at a later date.

If it means something to you because it has been in the family since new, then by all means restore it. You'll not find another with family history.

If you part it out, it probably isn't going to be worth much. The body and trim parts are where the money is (and not a whole bunch at that). If you had a rust free body, box, doors, etc., there would be several hundred dollars there. If those parts are rusty, then you'd have trouble giving them away. The mechanical parts are relatively plentiful and inexpensive.

[Dick Steinkamp]

Cab corners and other patch panels are available from Classic Enterprises.

Even if you can do most of the work yourself, you are going to be upside down in the truck financially if you restore it. Same is true of just about any other old car or truck. If you just want to patch it up and make a fun driver out of it, you would probably come out OK financially if you chose to sell it at a later date.

If it means something to you because it has been in the family since new, then by all means restore it. You'll not find another with family history.

If you part it out, it probably isn't going to be worth much. The body and trim parts are where the money is (and not a whole bunch at that). If you had a rust free body, box, doors, etc., there would be several hundred dollars there. If those parts are rusty, then you'd have trouble giving them away. The mechanical parts are relatively plentiful and inexpensive.

[Mark57]

I would certainly be interested in seeing some pictures... If you do decide to keep and fix it, joining the SDC (which you can do on this website)[^] will be very helpful to you as well as getting lots of good advice from the folks here.[8D] If you are up for the challenge, you will have the opportunity to drive a real "head turner".[] Good Luck!

<h5>Mark
'57 Transtar </h5>

[Mark57]

I would certainly be interested in seeing some pictures... If you do decide to keep and fix it, joining the SDC (which you can do on this website)[^] will be very helpful to you as well as getting lots of good advice from the folks here.[8D] If you are up for the challenge, you will have the opportunity to drive a real "head turner".[] Good Luck!

<h5>Mark
'57 Transtar </h5>

[DilloCrafter]

quote:Originally posted by Allan Songer

Yep.

And thanks for the headliner advice. The job took 4 hours and it looks really good! For a few pieces of cardboard, that is!

Good to hear it, Allan. Now, you can take a turn walking me through installing mine.

[img=left]http://rocketdillo.com/studebaker/misc/images/Avacar-hcsdc.gif[/img=left]DilloCrafter

1955 1/2 Ton Pickup
The Red-Headed Amazon
Deep in the heart of Texas

[DilloCrafter]

quote:Originally posted by Allan Songer

Yep.

And thanks for the headliner advice. The job took 4 hours and it looks really good! For a few pieces of cardboard, that is!

Good to hear it, Allan. Now, you can take a turn walking me through installing mine.

[img=left]http://rocketdillo.com/studebaker/misc/images/Avacar-hcsdc.gif[/img=left]DilloCrafter

1955 1/2 Ton Pickup
The Red-Headed Amazon
Deep in the heart of Texas