I bought the Champ in July '11 with plans for an interior, paint job, clean up under the hood and quick engine tune up with a November target to have it ready for Silver's January Phoenix auction... Just another fix and flip.
It had a couple more issues than I had planned for... ok, quite a few more and it was August '12 before it was back on the road. I immediately put 3,000 miles ,including at least 6 parades, on it with a 4'x8' Presidential campaign sign in the bed. Among the literally thousands of pictures taken of it during that phase some made it to The Denver Post, Fox News, national talk show host tweets, many re-posts to Facebook and places only the all mighty knows about. There were hundreds of occasions driving down I-25 when drivers paced beside me while they or their passenger used their cell phone camera.... I lost count of the number of "we like your truck mister's" at stop lights. Eventually, I hung a counter from the rear view mirror and the registered well over 800 horn honks!
I assumed the attention was all political and undoubtedly much of it was... But, now that the election is over the Champ continues to generate Chiropractor visits with sudden head twists and near collisions as it is almost as much a driver distraction as my friend's Bat Mobile or the Oscar Meyer rolling plastic hot dog.
Aside from the attention, I've come to enjoy driving the Champ and find the Dakota, MG and Caravan just sit while I take the Champ for most errands. Plans have changed so that I now lean toward dumping the Dakota and MG instead of feeding Geico to have them sit in the drive.
I lost count of the fix and flips I'd done on Cherokee's, MG's or other vehicles. They were all a bit of paint, carpet, a tune up, fenders and bumpers.... minimal stuff like the Champ was supposed to be. The Champ turned out to be an education in welding, body work, Upholstery, glass installation and paint application that de-mistified those arts. Don't get me wrong... I'm not now a pro at any one of these crafts but the experience removed any reprehension about diving into the current bare skin restoration of the Speedster.
I offer a Big Thank You to each of you for the tidbits of Studebaker wisdom/education you've provided.
It had a couple more issues than I had planned for... ok, quite a few more and it was August '12 before it was back on the road. I immediately put 3,000 miles ,including at least 6 parades, on it with a 4'x8' Presidential campaign sign in the bed. Among the literally thousands of pictures taken of it during that phase some made it to The Denver Post, Fox News, national talk show host tweets, many re-posts to Facebook and places only the all mighty knows about. There were hundreds of occasions driving down I-25 when drivers paced beside me while they or their passenger used their cell phone camera.... I lost count of the number of "we like your truck mister's" at stop lights. Eventually, I hung a counter from the rear view mirror and the registered well over 800 horn honks!
I assumed the attention was all political and undoubtedly much of it was... But, now that the election is over the Champ continues to generate Chiropractor visits with sudden head twists and near collisions as it is almost as much a driver distraction as my friend's Bat Mobile or the Oscar Meyer rolling plastic hot dog.
Aside from the attention, I've come to enjoy driving the Champ and find the Dakota, MG and Caravan just sit while I take the Champ for most errands. Plans have changed so that I now lean toward dumping the Dakota and MG instead of feeding Geico to have them sit in the drive.
I lost count of the fix and flips I'd done on Cherokee's, MG's or other vehicles. They were all a bit of paint, carpet, a tune up, fenders and bumpers.... minimal stuff like the Champ was supposed to be. The Champ turned out to be an education in welding, body work, Upholstery, glass installation and paint application that de-mistified those arts. Don't get me wrong... I'm not now a pro at any one of these crafts but the experience removed any reprehension about diving into the current bare skin restoration of the Speedster.
I offer a Big Thank You to each of you for the tidbits of Studebaker wisdom/education you've provided.
Attached Files
Comment