The primary Studebakers in-built North America were wagons made by German immigrant Peter Stutenbecker within the British Province of Maryland in 1740, and the primary Studebaker trucks were 1914 models. Studebaker became a mighty truck powerhouse during World War II, when near 200,000 Studebaker US6s were shipped to the Red Army to assist them crush the Axis. After the war, Studebaker continued constructing pickups; we saw a used-up 1962 Champ last winter, and now today’s Junkyard Gem is an example of the Champ’s predecessor, present in a Wyoming self-service yard recently.
The 1955-1960 Studebaker E-Series pickup wasn’t much modified from its late-Nineteen Forties 2R ancestors, but it surely did get a one-piece windshield and a secondary grille mounted within the hood.
Studebaker began putting its overhead-valve V8 into U.S.-market trucks for the 1954 model 12 months, and buyers of the 1958 3E could get a Studebaker 259-cubic-inch (4.2-liter) V8 rated at 170 horsepower and 250 pound-feet … but that is not the engine on this truck now. This appears to be an early member of the Buick small-block V8 family, probably swapped in to interchange a Studebaker flathead straight-six.
The rusty block indicates that it isn’t an aluminum 215, so my guess (going by the valve covers and four-barrel intake) is that it is a “Wildcat 355” 300-cubic-incher from the center Sixties, rated at 250 horsepower for the 1964 model 12 months.
The transmission is a column-shift three-speed manual. Aftermarket swap adapters for an enormous assortment of engine/transmission combos were available in the course of the Sixties and Nineteen Seventies, though this truck can have received a matched Buick Special drivetrain combination.
It had an electrically-actuated overdrive in some unspecified time in the future. Those Dymo embossed labels were extremely popular for automotive dashes a half-century ago.
Within the bed, we discover a flathead straight-six engine and other vintage components.
Studebaker made an extra-cheap version of this truck called the Scotsman, but this truck had the nicer grille (you’ll be able to see the mounting holes across the headlight openings) and was due to this fact higher up on the 3E food chain. Prices for the half-ton 3E for 1958 ranged from $1,595 to $1,936 (about $17,048 to $20,693 in 2023 dollars).
It’s too far gone to be price restoring, though it still has some useful parts to contribute to other trucks.
For the 1960 model 12 months, the E-Series chassis received a cab based on the front body of the Studebaker Lark sedan, giving Studebaker a not-so-dated-looking pickup to compete with Detroit’s sleeker offerings. The last 12 months for Studebaker pickups was 1964, after which Studebaker automotive production limped on for 2 more years in Canada (humiliatingly, with Chevrolet engines).
Why would you purchase every other truck?
This Article First Appeared At www.autoblog.com
