Vehicle Description
1949 Studebaker Champion Regal Deluxe Sedan
The first things that enters your mind are the old bromides that
supposedly describe the experience: "blast from the past," "time
warp," "turning back the clock". And yet the car is the strongest
statement of all. This is a Studebaker, and not just any
Studebaker. It's a Champion which is a little brother to the larger
Commander. It's light weight and has plenty of features that were
innovative and standard for the day.
For consignment, a 1949 version of the Champion Regal Deluxe sedan.
This restored in 2017 4 door sedan has a 6 cylinder and a 3-speed
manual transmission. It has no real rust, a very nice interior and
some options that were added on for the initial purchase to include
climatized heating, overdrive transmission, a hill holder clutch
and turn signals. Nifty.
Exterior
Pontoon styling with its fenders and sleek rear trunk deck which
are the first features you'll notice on this car. You'll also see a
wrap-around rear greenhouse glass split rear window. Nicely
preserved chrome throughout, shaped B pillar door latches, a nice
bulbous hood, egg crate grille, futuristic hood ornament and a
slight coattail for the trunk lid is in its design. The paint is
Concord Blue and has an overall patina and dulled surface with no
rust being noted on this steel. Nice chrome trim for the rockers is
noted and even a chrome stone guard trimming on the edge of the
provided protruding rear fender lead. A cloisonne badge adorns the
center of the hood and on either side are the Studebaker and
Champion badges in grandmother's handwriting. Black wall tires and
simple dog dish chromed wheel coverings on all 4 corners and we are
all buttoned top and ready to cruise the highways and save some
precious fuel with this lightweight sedan. Lovely.
Interior
Swinging the door reveals some of the innovative special use of
neat fabrics and materials Studebaker was known for. This does not
disappoint as we lead off with the door panels in brown alligator
textured uppers and a chrome delineation between what is a light
frame square textured cream broadcloth lower. It's subtle but
effective and these also includes a small armrest and chromed
actuators and cranks. Slipping inside I perch myself on more of the
cream broadcloth with that subtle check pattern for the inserts and
smooth bolsters. Here the delineation is made with blue piping and
blue added on seat belts. A ribbed chromed lower tub trimming is on
the bottom finishing off nicely this front bench. A swing of the
suicide rear doors that share the B pillar with the front doors and
another cream checked broadcloth covered bench awaits my rear's
arrival with plenty of room. This rear bench has nice long armrests
on the doors and these are covered in the alligator dark brown.
Deep pile brown carpeting floods the floors front and rear, and a
mohair headliner and pillar liner floats above having no stains or
rips. Upfront, the chrome encased dash has plenty of knobs and
pulls in a horizontal ribbed trimming on the dash lower. Above is
another chromed panel with a trio of backlit black face gauges. In
the center is a factory radio and just below this hanging off the
bottom of the dash is the "climatizer" heating control. The dash
top and front of the passenger are full metal jacket steel painted
brown and its peppered with more chrome trimming for extra visual
eye candy. A brown bakelite steering wheel with a chromed central
horn ring and a rocket nose center in clear plastic with the
Studebaker lazy S embedded into it. I'm very impressed that the
Studebaker designers did not let me down in this interior.
Smashing.
Drivetrain
A flip of the hood and we see an unrestored engine bay in the body
matching blue. Within its simple confines sits a 169.6ci L-head 6
cylinder mill. It has a 3-speed manual transmission with overdrive
and hill hold on back and a 1-barrel oil bath air cleaner covered
carburetor feeding it fossils and air. Way back the final drive is
weighing in at 4.10.
Undercarriage
Underneath we see some patina undercoating in black and mostly
simple structural steel floor pans and framing. The insides of the
rockers is not rusted, and slight oil blowback is noted in the rear
axle and lower oil pan oil the engine. Independent coil springs are
in front and on back the standard leaf springs. Drum brakes are
installed all around. A stock exhaust is noted with no rust.
Drive-Ability
I love these classic Studes, and this one was a quick starter,
smooth idler and good overall runner. It shifted easily and the
overdrive allows you to easily cruise at highway speeds. The radio
was not working but all else was doing so swimmingly.
A nice example from 1949 with slight patina for the dull exterior,
nice chrome and a like new interior, all gussied up and restored. A
fine runner and some modern conveniences are installed. This car is
a keeper!
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 850 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.
