Trying to identify my new baby

[Bmallett]

I recently acquired a little 1950 Studebaker Champion from a guy we know. The issues I'm having are trying to trace down all of the information about the car. He knows that his grandfather bought the car new and from which dealership, etc.. The car was passed down to his father, and then to him. He knew I was a car guy that would appreciate her and show her the love she needed, and I bought her from him.

The weird thing is that the title, in his dad's name has the VIN as 756433.



However, the door plate on the car has G667433.



He has no idea as to why the numbers would be off. Does anyone in here have any insight? Also, what can I do in order to find out all of the factory options, colors, etc. the car had? There really isn't anywhere I've found to learn anything similar to VIN decoding with the serial numbers.

The transmission is a Borg-Warner Model DG-150 with a SN: S-CH-5282.

The engine block has 526989 and C 12 20.



The plate on the passenger firewall says: 9G-W5 46311 and Auto Trans

[Mark L]

Many years ago, vehicles were identified by the engine serial number, not the chassis serial number. The engine block number you found is a casting number or part number for that particular part of the engine. The engine serial number will be stamped into a flat machined part of the engine.

The is a link to the following webpage from the Resources section of our home page: http://www.studebakerdriversclub.com/tech_6data.asp

If you scroll down, it shows that the first engine serial number in 1950 for a South Bend produced 6-cylinder engine was 521,001, and the first serial number produced in 1951 was 778,001. Your number 756433 falls between them, closer to the end.

Someone else will need to chime in and tell you where specifically to look for your serial number. Sorry, I myself don't know, but if I can find it, I'll edit this reply.

If you order a copy of the car's production order from the Studebaker National Museum, it will have all the serial numbers as it was built, trim level, paint color, options from the factory, key codes, etc..

[Bmallett]

I tried to order one, but the site would refresh instead of purchase every time I tried. I sent them an email but haven't heard anything from them yet.

[Bmallett]

I just went out to check the stamped numbers. The drivers side had, on the top half in the front on the tab, either 6I6222 or 616222.

The bottom half had a number stamped on the body of it of 524807-4.

The passenger side had no numbers except on the headers. They had 525332-8.

[Tom Bredehoft]

Leaning over the front fender on the driver's side of the car, locate a machined pad just below the head on the top left of the engine block. this is the site where the engine serial No. is stamped. Studebaker used a capital I instead of a numeral 1, this seems to confuse some folks. Once you're aware of it.....

It the number on your engine is 6I6222, That too fits in the year of production. The title number was for the engine in the car when it was manufactured, Your 6I6222 block is probably a replacement. In 66 years its no wonder it was replaced. My '53 I bought in 1959 had a replaced engine when I bought it.

[kurtruk]

The door plate is the car ID number. Examine carefully to see that it hasn't been changed. The tag on the firewall is the body tag. 9G tells you it is a 1950 Champion. W5 tells what body-style and trim level it is. The bottom number is not a production sequence number, just the number of the body tub as it was welded up. Occasionally useful when the parts book says, "used after body #....". The AUTO TRANS tag is what we call a streamer. Some cars had them, some didn't. Neat to see, but looks like yours has been clipped or hiding under that bracket.

[Bmallett]

Just hiding under the bracket. So was it pretty common to see engines replaced like that? I've had 40's - 50's cars before and haven't seen that as common place.

[Skip Lackie]

With the lubricants available back in the day, it was not unusual to wear out an engine at around 75,000 miles, triggering the need for a replacement. Studebaker serialized both the engine and the vehicle itself. The latter number is/was commonly used as the VIN (in today's terminology), but some states used the engine number to register vehicles. If an engine was replaced with a factory replacement engine, the dealer was supposed to stamp the old engine number on the new engine -- but backyard mechanics putting in a junkyard engine would not have done so. Before the advent of the various safety and emissions standards, most states did not care much about things like VIN numbers -- but the current laws have made state DMVs fanatical about checking for stolen and/or counterfeit vehicles. You may or may not have trouble getting it registered -- it will depend on whether the state requires the verification of the vehicle ID. Not all states are very diligent about doing that on antique vehicles.

[Bmallett]

Thanks Skip. It's an out of state title transfer so they will verify. (That's the only time they do that here) If it has to be rebuilt, I'm not worried though. That's the good thing about knowing the previous owner.

[kurtruk]

Wait 'till you find out about the secret serial numbers Studebaker used. (do a search)

[Dwain G.]

Find engine serial number here:

[Bmallett]

Dwain, that's where I pulled it from.

6I6222

[Skip Lackie]

As I said, depending on how tough Okla is about checking the ID of old cars, you may have trouble getting it registered. The old title apparently uses the serial number of the original engine as the VIN -- but that engine is long gone. As noted above, the PO should contain both the number of the old engine and the serial number on the door jamb. That might be enough to get the VIN on the new title changed to the door jamb number.

[55 56 PREZ 4D]

Wait 'till you find out about the secret serial numbers Studebaker used. (do a search)

I think Studebaker started installing the "secret" serial number on the frame in 1953.

[Mikado282]

"has the VIN as 756433, the door plate on the car has G667433."

Looks like there was some misread and transposed numbers. I bought a 2006 Ford Taurus that had a letter and number mixed up and transposed on the title. I figured out the correct number by going to a Ford VIN decoder and decoding the VIN. I realize this is somewhat different situation but State Motors Vehicles Departments are not infallible.