Studebaker's Stunning Sceptre

[Packard5687]

Too bad this beautiful Brooks Stevens design never saw production:

https://56packardman.com/2018/12/18/gear-head-tuesday-studebakers-stunning-but-still-born-sceptre/

[Mike Sal]

If I ever hit the big lottery, there will be a clone of this at my house. May have to do something a little different about that Norelco razor nose though.....

I wonder what other brand body would be close enough to use as a buck....some Chrysler product???
Mike Sal

[StudeRich]

That was mostly about the FULL WIDTH Sylvania Super Headlight Mike.

[sals54]

My favorite car design of the entire decade. Oh how I wish...

[sals54]

If I ever hit the big lottery, there will be a clone of this at my house. May have to do something a little different about that Norelco razor nose though.....

I wonder what other brand body would be close enough to use as a buck....some Chrysler product???
Mike Sal

Yeah. Ditto. I think the greenhouse area would be the deciding factor in choosing a donor car. Let's start a search for something close. It would be an awesome build.

[Studedude]

I wonder what other brand body would be close enough to use as a buck....some Chrysler product???
Mike Sal

'60 Galaxy/Edsel?

[Mike Sal]

I dunno....'60 fords are pretty wide. Would scaling up the Septre spoil it or make it better???

[Mike Sal]

It's a shame we couldn't get Franklin mint or some other model maker to make a run of these....

[Warren Webb]

Craig has posted a picture with the standard (of the day) headlamp treatment. The rear view of the Sceptre looks a lot like the current Dodge Challenger, at least in my opinion. Such a great example of potential that Studebaker had, more so than the Avanti 4 door prototypes. The only thing I see in this car is the dash. The instrument cluster looks like it was thrown in to finish it & go cheap.

[8E45E]

There were a few airbrushed photos of the Sceptre in other body styles besides one with standard dual sealed beam headlamps: http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.c...ptre-Wagonaire

Craig

[sals54]

I dunno....'60 fords are pretty wide. Would scaling up the Septre spoil it or make it better???

I dunno... take a look again at the Sceptre. That greenhouse goes door to door. Unlike the other 50s and 60s cars, there's no "shelf" on the door by the side glass. The door falls straight away down to the ground. A large Ford just might be the ticket. What do you think?

[garyash]

If you want the real Sceptre look, I think you need to build an entire Sceptre body from scratch, the way it was done in the first place by some guys in an Italian coachbuilder's shop. Anything less would probably wind up looking weird. There are enough photos of the car to get a body buck made, plus taking dimensions from the car at the Studebaker National Museum. For $1000-$2000 or so, you can even get a company to do a complete 3D laser scan of the car - I think that's how the Franklin Mint and others get the models made. Then, get one of the really good coach building shops to make the body. It would probably take a year or two and $100,000 or more to do it, plus the chassis and engine. Would you drive it on the street then?

See this Hemmings article: https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2016/0...ve-studebaker/

Wray Schelin at Proshaper.com is building Virgil Exner's 1947 Studebaker concept car starting with only one sketch. A buck made out of 1/4" steel rod defines the shapes and the panels are formed by hand using a mallet on a stump and sand bag, finished up on an English wheel, about like the Italian guys did in 1963. Panels for the Sceptre would be much easier to form.

[Mike Sal]

Like I said earlier....I'm only one lucky lottery ticket short.....

[Mike Sal]

Like I said earlier....I'm only one lucky lottery ticket short.....

The 60 ford still has flat side glass....the end of the windshield & the wing window on the door would be a compromise....

And I agree about the dash....seems like they blew all the budget on the body & just cobbled up something from the Jetsons for the interior.

[sals54]

If you want the real Sceptre look, I think you need to build an entire Sceptre body from scratch, the way it was done in the first place by some guys in an Italian coachbuilder's shop. Anything less would probably wind up looking weird. There are enough photos of the car to get a body buck made, plus taking dimensions from the car at the Studebaker National Museum. For $1000-$2000 or so, you can even get a company to do a complete 3D laser scan of the car - I think that's how the Franklin Mint and others get the models made. Then, get one of the really good coach building shops to make the body. It would probably take a year or two and $100,000 or more to do it, plus the chassis and engine. Would you drive it on the street then?

See this Hemmings article: https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2016/0...ve-studebaker/

Wray Schelin at Proshaper.com is building Virgil Exner's 1947 Studebaker concept car starting with only one sketch. A buck made out of 1/4" steel rod defines the shapes and the panels are formed by hand using a mallet on a stump and sand bag, finished up on an English wheel, about like the Italian guys did in 1963. Panels for the Sceptre would be much easier to form.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]77625[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]77626[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]77627[/ATTACH]

Sure thing... I'll get started on it right away.
But even the build above is a compromise. Artists renderings never look like the mock ups. They are exaggerations to illustrate a concept.
A Sceptre clone, or imitation just might be enough of a copy to satisfy ones general desire for an impossible dream. No one is going to build a one-off Sceptre to exacting standards for the sheer joy of it. Besides, I don't think it could be done for anywhere near 1 or 2 hundred thousand in today's money. These custom shops charge 100K to customize an existing car, let alone build one from scratch.