Vehicle Description
1952 Studebaker Starlite
When you look at Studebaker's automotive history, you have to go
back to the late 1800s. The company was founded in 1852, when the
Studebaker brothers built their first two wagons for business
owners and for traveling throughout the country. The initial
Studebakers were covered wagons that helped build the American
West. By 1860, Studebaker was producing thousands of covered wagons
that most early settlers in America thoroughly enjoyed for
traveling. The Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company called
themselves "The World on Wheels" and made their first electric
automobile in 1902, followed by their first gas-powered model two
years later. By the 1920s, Studebaker was truly a top automotive
brand. For example, the popular 1920 Studebaker Big Six model was a
great looking automobile with a refined design. The 1930s and the
Great Depression proved to be a difficult time for Studebaker, and
the company had to declare bankruptcy in March 1933. Fortunately,
the company was able to reorganize and continue to manufacture
great looking automobiles. -Thx To Motorcities.org
For consignment, we usher in the 21st century with a beautifully
restored and slightly hot rodded 1952 Studebaker Starlite. Dressed
to the nines on the interior, beautiful paint, and a true monotone
finish with body colored trimmings all drenched in Pale Yellow.
This frame off restored example, owned by our consignor for the
past 25 years, is striking and is ready to rocket you into the
future of turning heads and winning trophies.
Exterior
Bathed in near perfect Pale Yellow, this paint accentuates the
futuristic lines of this skate, including the gunner turret curved
rear glass for rear panoramic views, this car announces you have
arrived before you finish parking it. Gone was the "Bullet Nose"
front end, and the now standard nose, shared with many models
across the lineup, has headlights sunken into their bezels and
flanking on either side of the near perfect body colored grille.
All badging has been shaved and the holes filled leaving a smooth
overall look, this car screams forward thinking design. Beautifully
fine, Loewy was truly at the top of his game when he dreamed up
this car's design. Black trimmings highlight the glass, including
the rear turret windows and the only hints of chrome left are the
door handles and small trunk mounted V8 emblem. American Racing
Torque Thrust wheels in wonderful black and polished aluminum are
wrapped by raised white letter Cooper Cobra radials on all 4
corners.
Interior
Slipping inside we are greeted with a shiny dash with 3 large and
in charge gauges staring at you from behind the upgraded Avanti
steering wheel. These gauges are deeply sunken into the body
matching full metal jacket dash and are set off perfectly but the
chrome and copper bezels. The chrome and copper trimming goes on
and on for the dash as it stretches across the front bench, which
is covered in very nice 2 tone gray and dark charcoal tweed. A rear
bench mimics the front seat, and nicely preserved light gray carpet
floods the floors underneath. The headliner is nice and tight and
stain free. Glass door windows glide up and down nicely, and inside
feels a bit futuristic overall.
Drivetrain
Under the bullet nose hood sits a 259 cubic inch V8 now bored out
to a consignor stated 287ci and has been fitted with 3.75" pistons
resulting in between 9 to 9.5:1 compression. An aluminum Spencer
intake manifold holds atop 4 2bbl carburetors with louvered chrome
air cleaner assemblies and a 3/4 grind camshaft has been installed.
An aluminum bellhousing mates this mill to a manual transmission in
3 speed form. Out back, a Dana 44 axle courtesy of a Jeep whisks
you down the interstate at cruising speed with ease.
Undercarriage
Rust free for the frame and flooring with only a minor spattering
of patina and road dirt noted amongst the field of black steel. 4
wheel drum brakes are on to stop you on a dime and independent coil
spring front suspension works hand in hand with leaf spring rear
suspension to make you feel as if you're floating into space with
this wonderful Stude, dude!
Driveability
This Stude starts right up and runs smooth as silk, albeit with a
slight rumble from cam and other engine work. It provides a comfy
ride with a total working and perfectly functioning example from
1952. A very well buttoned up example in great condition. Welcome
to the future from 1952!
A beautiful example of a car nearly everyone saw on the road in the
past that have now become rarities in the motoring world. This
futuristic car with a big capacity was popular in the day and got
good gas mileage to boot although at that time no one cared. Usage
of interesting tactile and visually appealing fabrics and surfaces
interior-wise, and an overall wonderful build makes for a turnkey
1952 Studebaker you could come in and buy, then step into the
collector car spotlight...I mean Starlite.
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 650 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia
on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is
www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914.
Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the
vehicle in person.
