This may be the wrong sub forum for my question, but I have a question related to what's available. Admittedly I mostly know early Camaros and other GM classics. For instance, on a '68 Camaro you can still get original reproduction seat upholstery, seat formers, carpet, and just about everything. I bet if you were rich enough you could just about build an entire 68 Camaro from brand new reproduction parts. But on this 1956 Studebaker Commander 4 door sedan with bench seats, can you buy reproduction seat upholstery, seat former padding, carpet, and interior door covers, or any of that like you can on a Camaro, Firebird, Corvette, or the like? Or if you needed upholstery would you have to settle for finding a good upholstery man to custom make it, which would take forever, and cost the national debt, even if you could find good upholstery guys any more?
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Hate to say it, but it is lot more of the latter of what you said than the former. Yes, you can pretty much build a whole new '68 Camaro from new repro parts. And no, you can't do the same with any Studebaker ever made. Especially interiors. However, there is original interior stuff still out there is you are willing to look long and hard enough and it likely won't cost a complete fortune to get it, if can actually find it. Now getting the color you want, that might be a different story. But they do make paints for that too. I have no idea how hard it might be to find '56 Commander interior stuff. But I am sure others more familiar with those can advise on that. If you are super lucky, maybe somebody who actually has some might see this. And FWIW, there is a sale/wanted section you can post a want ad on to help increase your odds somewhat if you want. And yes, finding anyone that works on old cars these days doing anything good takes a while and costs arms/legs/organs if draining your bank account isn't sufficient. -
Your best chance of finding the 1956 Seat material you want is SMS Auto Fabrics in Canby, OR.
BUT, you have to be a very patient person who can wait weeks to months to get an answer, and 6 Months to a year to get it.
And of course you still WILL have to find the illusive "good upholstery Man" you mentioned.
Good carpets that drop-in fit are no problem, New original Door Panels are a Never.
Last edited by StudeRich; 10-22-2025, 10:34 PM.StudeRich
Second Generation Stude Driver,
Proud '54 Starliner Owner
SDC Member Since 1967Comment
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SMS does reproduction door panels. However, it took them 4 years to get them made for me. I just received them for my 63 Skytop. After first waiting for Rene and Southeast Studebaker, It’s a good thing I started the project as a young man!Comment
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I can concur that SMS is probably your best bet. I have a 1957 Packard Clipper Wagon and SMS supplied everything including upholstery material, headliner and carpet. To be clear, the most important component was my one man upholstery shop in Needles, California who took the extra steps to fix some of the idiosyncracies in what SMS supplied. He also recreated a better version of the original horrific dash padding and stiching (now baseball style) as well as custom manufacturing the door panels utilizing heavy plastic instead of the cardboard backing . Oh and it took most of a year for procurement from what I recall. It is now looking stellar. And remember, patience is a virtue.
BillComment
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Thank you for these answers. At 69, maybe this isn't the car for me. Good thing I suppose, that its still all original and nothing is really torn or terribly dirty. Maybe I ought to sell the car. I'm too old to take on a "forever" automobile restoration. BTDT. Most of these one-man uphostery guys and the like are true craftsman, in one sense. But it's easy to fall into a trap where your car is sitting outdoors on his land way out in the country for 2 years while he works on it once in a while when he feels like it. Turns into a soap opera.Comment
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You probably already know this, but Studebaker time does not match real world time. It is at least a 3:1 ratio in my experience. A day or a week is more like a month in Studebaker time - at least. I've been working on a motor rebuild for 10 years now, lol, still not done.
To be honest, if your car is still mostly original and not too dirty as you say, I would just fix and clean it up as best as can and just enjoy it that way, not try to restore and redo it. Now if things are just worn out and kind of grungy and just not that enjoyable to be as is, that is a different story. But as they say, they are only original once. And don't make the solution to a perceived problem worse than the problem itself, which might not even actually be a problem.
Pretty much anyone can restore a '68 Camaro, especially if you are just good at writing the checks. And plenty of people do that, just look at pretty much any car show. Does the world really need yet another '68-'69 Camaro? It actually takes a decent amount of effort and time to get it done with a Studebaker. But at least it is not just more of the same old stuff we've seen with Camaros and Mustangs, etc forever. And it doesn't have to be expensive working on a Studebaker if you know what you are doing and have patience. But it almost is never all that fast. It is just really hard to fight Studebaker time and win. It's a lot easier to go with it, go with the flow, however it pans out.
I'd encourage you to keep the car, but don't push it too hard and get in over your head and hope it can get done fast, definitely not fast and cheap. Best of luck with it!Last edited by M-Webb; 10-23-2025, 10:30 AM.Comment
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The front bench seat still has the original upholstery n the seat back, but somebody had re-upolstered the seat part with plain vinyl. And apparently the springs had been sprung on the drivers' side and whoever did the work just put something hard and flat under the upholstery on top of the bad springs. I HATE it. I really don't care if the upholstery material isn't a perfect OEM showroom match. This car is mostly all original except for the paint job. After 70 years, there's no way it could be a "show car", and that's fine with me. I guess I could be made happy just with some new kick panels and carpet and just let an upholstery guy buy whatever material is a reasonably decent match to what's in there. Keep it simple. At $12,500, I think I ended up with a pretty nice car, considering. At this point in life, to have it turn into a years-long affair ain't happening. Thanks, guys.Comment
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There is another option. If your '56 Commander is a "driver" car that you enjoy; there is no pressing need to keep the interior all original. I have, and enjoy driving, a '60 Lark 4-door that I upholstered using Mexican blankets (an old-school hot rodder trick). It's not hard at all to make the car look spiffy inside, and also 100% "custom". Another option: take measurements of your car and seats, and go prowl the Pick-and-Pulls for some Brand X seats that can be made to fit.
An accurate reproduction of original 1950's upholstery is going to be expensive, regardless of how you do it.Gord Richmond, within Weasel range of the Alberta BadlandsComment
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Not all cars need to be restored to be enjoyed. The hobby has come a long way since the 90's when seemingly everything had to be restored. During the 80's and 90's, there were restored cars, custom cars and cars that were restorable, but were just waiting their turn to be restored. Original cars were generally not considered to be important. Few collectors seemed to care much for original cars or the story of their survived. Today many of us really appreciate an original car. I personally am a sucker for a good story.
I'm an old car collector (both me and my old cars are old). Our collection include restored, refurbish and original cars. We enjoy all for what they are. what I am trying to say is that we enjoy our original cars as much as we do our restored cars. I encourage you to get you car mechanically sound, clean it up and share it with the car world. I think that you will be surprised by the response it gets.Comment
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I had to relate and laugh at this post, considering the last post to the Green Mist "Hulk Smash" was 01-25-2021, stalled on that project waiting for items to finish it. 5 years younger then with ambition drive.. Oddly, I have a green mist interior just not a finished solid body to put on a complete frame. I do have other cars I'm contemplating starting, but I know the interior will have to be fully custom and look OEM, but not OEM for other reasons unknow.Originally posted by abkco View PostComment
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A true thing of beauty-great job.
BillComment
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The last I knew of ernie Logan was still doing interiors for studebakers in eua Clare wisconsin. His business number is 715 832 7302. His email is LogaEnter@gmail.com. He will send you a catalog for 1.oo dollar.Comment
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Ernie does a great job in fabricating the hardboard panels. I don't believe he has expanded into upholstery.78 Avanti RQB 2792
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