1941 Champion Coupe

[willys54]

Hello SDC,
I recently joined the Site with hopes of finding out more about my recent barn find. It's a complete '41 Champion Coupe with original California title (pink slip). Last registered in '63 and still wearing the black & yellow California licence plate. Very straight & rust free. Seller aquired it at public auction in California 30+ years ago from the estate of a deceased collector and tucked it away in his bone-dry Oklahoma barn. At some point the major body parts were removed, sandblasted and put in primer with intent of making it into a hot rod so the metal is extremely well preserved. Original interior is still intact which surprised me since rodents/insects usally feast off it. During the Sellers move from California to Oklahoma the OEM drive train was intentionally left behind since he planned to re-engine with a SBC. Upon turning 70+ years old the Seller realized he would never complete the car and sold it to me. I can find limited information on Champion Sedans but info on the '41 Coupe is scarce so I'm turning to the SDC experts for any knowledge of rarity, #produced, model year part interchangeability etc. Would also like your opinion of the monetary value in current & restored state.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide

[studegary]

Welcome to the SDC Forum!

I can not help you much with prewar, but others here can. I only have production figures by body type for 1946 - 1966. If you get the "Turning Wheels" with the Fred K. Fox feature article on 1941s, it will probably have all of the information that you desire.

[willys54]

Thank you Sir. I will look for this issue.

[sals54]

While I don't have that sort of info either, hang in there. Someone here will chime in with info you need. But if you decide to sell... keep me in mind. My son is looking for one of those.

[rockne10]

Do join the Studebaker Drivers Club. It will greatly facilitate the resurrection of this coupe.

http://studebakerdriversclub.com/memberbenefits.asp

Being a pre-war model you may also want to consider the Antique Studebaker Club.

http://www.theantiquestudebakerclub.com/

[jclary]

I'm a little confused about what you have. Since you said the "drive train" was removed, how much of it? Is it a "roller," with four wheels on the ground? Is there a rear differential? If all that is missing is the engine, bellhousing, transmission, and drive shaft, it shouldn't be too much trouble to acquire those components to make it whole again.

[Studebaker Wheel]

I have owned eight 1941 Champions 4 have been coupes. Currently have two (see images 3-4). Total production on the '41 Champion in all body styles about 85,000 of which about 19,000 were coupes (they were not a low production and many have survived). They came with or without a back seat and in various combinations and trim levels (see image 2). This can be determined by the body plate number off the firewall starting with 3G. Two major articles written about these cars. One I wrote fort he April 2011 issue of Collectible Automobile (available on ebay) and the second by Fred Fox in the April 1998 issue of Turning Wheels. I have just about every piece of literature issued by Studebaker some of it shown in image #1 below. As for value no way to determine that by your brief description.

[rockne10]

I have owned eight 1941 Champions 4 have been coupes.

Richard, you failed to inform him you have a spare box to make his a coupe-express!

[rockinhawk]

Where in Georgia are you? I am down south. I have a few parts laying around but nothing that old. The oldest Studebaker I have is a 47 Pic-up, but maybe able to help you with some Champion parts.

[willys54]

Thanks sals54, rockne10, jclary, Studebaker Wheel & rockinghawk.
I hope I'm on the correct site given the fact it is prewar and I will attempt to respond to everyone's input. I live in North Georgia. With that being said the coupe is rolling/steering on it's OEM frame, axles, rims & suspension. The cabin has never been removed from the chassis and the OEM interior is still intact to include seats, headliner, door panels etc. The front clip, rear fenders & deck lid were removed for surface preparation. Every piece of the Coupe is there to include all exterior trim pieces. The grille sections are so nice/straight I could'nt beleive they survived this long without a rock or two going through them. The only thing absent is the OEM engine & trans since they were removed/discarded in favor of a modern engine swap.

Too "Studebaker Wheels" credit the Coupe does indeed have a back seat and for this reason I beleive it was marketed as a "Custom Coupe" as opposed to the single seat "Business Coupe". I posted a pic of a '41 I recently saw at a vintage drag race in Tennessee and I immediately fell in love with it. The owner/driver told me it was in his family for 60+ years and I thought the odds of ever finding one were slim to none. I will post pics of the Coupe as soon as I return from picking it up in Oklahoma on Nov.12th. The thought of selling it has not crossed my mind. Thanks again for your inputs and I will follow up on your recommendations.

[lumpy]

I love the early Stude gassers! They were quite a bit lighter than the chevy's and fords. Junior Thompson and Doug Cook both ran them in the early years. If I could find a decent one around here that's what I would do with it

[willys54]

Hey lumpy,
I found this pic of a '41 Stude Colson & Wood raced in the '60's. I like the '41 Stude Gasser look also since they resemble the most popular gasser of all time.....the '41 Willy's.

[lumpy]

Yes Iv'e seen that shot before , always thought the vw front axle was a little odd BTW we run a 41 willys pick up out here in CA just got back from bakersfield hot rod reunion where we ran consistent 10.30s @ 130mph all weekend and it's street driven daily in the summer

[sals54]

Yes Iv'e seen that shot before , always thought the vw front axle was a little odd BTW we run a 41 willys pick up out here in CA just got back from bakersfield hot rod reunion where we ran consistent 10.30s @ 130mph all weekend and it's street driven daily in the summer

I think that might be an early Ford front axle, not VW. Could be wrong, but I know the bolt patterns look similar sometimes when the picture is grainy.

[Studebaker Wheel]

I think that might be an early Ford front axle, not VW. Could be wrong, but I know the bolt patterns look similar sometimes when the picture is grainy.

No. can tell you that the front axle came from a Volkswagen Karman Gia. I watched the Colson-Wood '41 dozens of times at Cordova and the U.S. Nationals at Indy. At the time I was driving an all original '41 Champion Coupe as daily transportation. Colson-Wood held the B/G class record for a while. At the Indy Nationals in '64 it was forced to run in B/Altered. I believe they found that the engine set back exceeded the 10% of the w.b. as stated in the rule book. Took numerous pictures of the car. Including two below along with page one of a feature on the car from the Nov. '63 issue of Speed Mechanics. By the way the car when raced still had its original black paint. Had been a nice low mileage original. It has survived.