> ‘ONE OF THOSE GOOD STUDEBAKERS’
The car:
1953 Studebaker Champion
The owner:
David Keeping, Newmarket
The story:
I grew up in Stouffville and there was a Studebaker dealership where I got to know people who owned the cars. They seemed very happy with them; I knew a chap who had a Studebaker Commander in the early ’60s who told me he had driven his for 235,000 miles (378,000 kilometres) and never had a wrench on the motor. At that time, that was amazing.
(Editor’s note: that owner may not have been alone; in its March 2015 issue, Hemmings Motor News nominated, as “America’s best V-8 engine,” the postwar Studebaker design; “not only strong, but unusually powerful for its displacement.”)
One day, I was in Bancroft Autobody when a Dodge came in with 500,000 kilometres on it. After chatting about it, I commented that Dodge was a little like Studebaker, in that when they came up with a good model it was really good.
My car is a Canadian classic, made in Hamilton (serial no. G-752227), where Studebaker began building cars in quantity after the Second World War. I was told it had belonged to a lady in Hamilton and that, for many years, it was stored in an underground garage, though there is a sticker on the windshield that says “Resident, 1964. Georgina Twp. Park.” Beyond that, the previous owner provided little history on it.
He had completed a lot of the hard mechanical work — the engine is a 169-cubic inch six — and I did the fun stuff. The chrome and interior door panels were refurbished as a joint venture between my son Gary and myself; the roof liner was put in by Gary and a really good friend. All the materials, including seating and carpet, are an exact rerun of original material.
How did I meet the car? The conversation in the auto body shop. The owner knew where one of “those good Studebakers” was for sale — and now you know the rest of my story. Show us your candy: Got a cool custom or vintage car? Send us a picture of you and your family with your beauty, and tell us your story. And we like photos — the more the better — of the interior, trim, wheels, emblems, what you admire. Email wheels@thestar.ca and use “Eye Candy” in the subject line.