Swedish Studebaker story

[53k]

This evening we were at a friend's house. One of the attendees was an older woman in the church who was born in Sweden. Somehow the conversation came around to bicycles. She mentioned that her family rode bicycles during the war (WWII) because their car was up on wooden blocks with no tires- Army had taken them. And they couldn't buy gas anyhow. Just on a hunch I asked her what the car was. Her reply- a 1937 Studebaker. She said they were very popular in Sweden because they were lower priced and sturdy. She said farmers especially liked them because they could haul plenty of bags of potatoes in them.
She went on to mention that when she came to the US (married an American Army officer), their first car was a 1949 Studebaker four-door that they bought used in 1950.



Paul Johnson, Wild and Wonderful West Virginia. '64 Daytona Wagonaire, '64 Daytona convertible, '53 Commander Starliner, Museum R-4 engine, '62 Gravely Model L, '72 Gravely Model 430

[Chantony]

What an interesting story.It's always great to hear stories from people that were around when the cars were new.
This one's similar to the Falcon G.T's that were sold in South Africa as Fairmont G.T's.Farmers bought them for towing caravans as they had the power to do it comfortably.They never suffered from the hype of the local cars and were more affordable to collectors.
The Studebakers did well in Africa too and many owners were despondent when Studebaker stopped.Some decided to hang on to their Studes as long as possible because they couldn't find a comparable replacement.

A.C.Moisley