Speed Seeking Studebakers #5 – The Rest of the Pack

Speed Week 2011 is quickly approaching! And you know what that means…Salt Fever! It’s reminded me that I still have many Speed Seeking Studebakers to add to the series I started after last year’s Speed Week. In fact, there’s 11 more racing Studebakers I have to bring ya. Rounding out a total of 14 Studebaker racers on the Salt Flats I caught last year (and I’m sure I missed a few!)

If you missed #1-4, begin here - All Speed Seeking Studebakers.

To start with is this wicked 1953 Studebaker Coupe owned by Bob Drury and Old Stud Racing running in the A/cF ALT category with top speeds of 225 mph.

Also a ’53 is this more highly modified body, #974. With an extreme chop and a hood scoop to match the roof height it’s an extreme looking Studebaker salt flats racer!

In 2008 this Stude set the class record at 249.945 mph.

Another highly modified and chopped coupe is this #749.

They’re not ALL ’53 Coupes. There’s always a good showing of Avanti’s also..of course! Speaking of Avanti’s, keep an eye out for a story about “The Bucket List” Avanti. Very cool because it races with a fully-Studebaker power house!

Look at the salt this Speedy Stude # 352 is kicking up! Built by the San Diego Roadster Club this yellow wonder runs in the B/F CC class.

This Hemi-powered Coupe comes all the way from Canada. It’s not the only Coupe coming from the great white north, check out Gord’s Blue Beauty featured in Speed Seeking Studebakers #4.

Looking closely, the sticker on the lower right hand side of this window is not seen very often at Speed Week. It’s noting a 200 mph Speed Limit for this Silver Studebaker Coupe #1138. I believe the reason for this was recent modifications they were testing out.

This sight isn’t seen too often either. It’s not a ’53 Coupe or an Avanti. This racer is a 1941 2-door!

Yet another record holding Stude getting ready to leave the line. It’s record stands just over 240 mph. Not to tempt you…but this beauty is for sale!

Not to be missed, is another record holder, Studebaker Coupe #7431. Running in the E/C BG ALT category it’s top speed broke the record in 2008 at 219.909 mph.

As you can see, the Studebaker’s are not only relics of the past. They are alive and well…beautiful and fast as ever.

I’ll be at Bonneville again in just a couple of weeks for Speed Week 2011. How many Studebaker’s will I see this year?

To see more in the Speed Seeking Studebaker series, check out some spectator’s Stude’s in Speed Seeking Studebaker’s #3 or record holders in Speed Seeking Studebakers #1 or #2.  Blue Beauty’s owner, Gord, is a member here at MyRideisMe.com. Here’s his Studebaker garage. Then there’s always my own, GreaseGirl’s Studebaker Garage.

Happy Trails until I’m back from Speed Week!

It’s Fast! Custom Studebaker Coupe Fastback

Custom 1953 Studebaker Coupe Altered Into A Fastback

Studebaker folks are unfailingly interesting. So when I met John Saltsman at the 2011 Grand National Roadster Show this past January standing by his amazing Atomitron, a highly customized 1949 Studebaker pickup, I wasn’t too surprised to hear that he had other Studebaker stories to share. However, when he produced the few pictures in existence of the 1953 Studebaker Coupe he modified as a teenager, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing!

The first unbelievable thing about this custom… It was built by John while he was still in high school! The year was 1970 and Fastback Mustang’s were all the rage. He liked ‘em, but couldn’t afford one. What he lacked in cash he made up for with a wealth of car building knowledge in his family. Looking at the lines of the  ’53 Coupe he figured it could be built into a fastback all his own.

The main modification was creating the fastback. To do this, he took the trunk out of a 1949 Cadillac and covered the whole trunk section and back window with it, integrating it into the rear roof of the Studebaker.

Along with a few other modifications such as custom front hood vents, he knew it needed a cool paint job.

Stealing the lace from his Mom’s nice dining room table, he gave it the custom look by adding a laced stripe down the middle and side panel lace inserts.

The Studebaker’s whereabouts now are a bit of a mystery. After John drove it during high school, he moved out to Southern California leaving the car behind. Around 1973 his Mom sold the Custom Studebaker for $300 after “neighbors complained.”

At one point John went looking for his old custom and found that an avid Studebaker collector in Phoenix had bought it. What did the collector think it was? A rare Studebaker prototype car! Since the collector wouldn’t sell it back – at least John can have the satisfaction of knowing that his high school customization work was mistaken as a factory design!

This is just one of the wild and crazy car stories you get while attending car shows! Who else has a customized Studebaker Coupe story to share or has ever had their Mom sell off a car??? One of my other favorites is Gord Dreidger’s Salt Flat Racing Blue Beauty.

Wild AND Mild – Custom Studebaker Pickup

Custom Studebaker Pickup from 2011 Grand National Roadster Show

I promised I had a few customized Studebakers up my sleeve that I found at the 2011 Grand National Roadster Show….so here’s #2 (Check out this Studebaker Ute if ya missed #1!)

Who’s ever seen a Studebaker pickup like this one!? Believe it or not, this 1949 Studebaker Pickup has been in the works for about 25 years. When the current owner, John Saltsman, got the truck it had already been chopped about 6″ by “Merc John.”

With a small block Chevy drivetrain (just like my Studebaker coupe,) John used it as his daily driver on long commutes for at least 8 years. As John drove it, his vision for what he wanted it to become grew. He had a “wild and mild” proportioned-custom in his mind.

As its been completed, this Custom 1949 Studebaker Pickup has a laundry list of custom items from customizing legends! It started with the 6″ chop of course. To that was added a 15 1/2 ” channel. And as “one thing led to another,” this pickup was transformed with:

• a 59 Chevy trunk lid,
• 55 Cadillac bumpers,
• taillights by Gene Winfield,
• custom Barris headlights (an extra pair leftover from another custom Studebaker, The Modern Grecian),
• and paint by Larry Watson/Keith Dean.

With such a list of custom features, it wasn’t a surprise to see it in the “Customs: Then and Now” hall at the 2011 Grand National Roadster Show. As it ends up, John’s ’49 Studebaker was sitting right next to another custom Studebaker truck that looked awfully similar! As it ends up, the two have no relation. The purple Studebaker truck was customized sometime in the 1950s-60s. John couldn’t be happier with his Atomitron and will still be seen driving it around town.

If you think this truck is unique… just wait ’til I show you the pictures of the 1953 Studebaker coupe that this truck’s owner, John Saltsman, customized in his teens!!!

What do you think? Would you have built it the same or differently? MyRideisMe.com is interactive! Share what’s in your garage.

Custom Studebaker Hauls More Than a Kart

Custom Studebaker Ute at GNRS

It isn’t every day you see a custom Studebaker coupe. Really, I think what people say to themselves before changing any metal of the Studebaker coupe body is…”The coupe is a perfect car – why change it?” I certainly don’t have plans of truly customizing my own ’55 Studebaker. Metal flaking the roof, moon discs, and some pinstriping is as far as it’ll go I think. But I do love customs – so every time I encounter a custom Studebaker coupe I get pretty excited!

This year at Grand National Roadster Show I encountered not just one – but three custom Studebakers! I’ll be unveiling each one (and hopefully one or two more) in the coming weeks. To start with… the Studebaker Ute, a.k.a. Kart Hauler.

I first encountered this custom Studebaker Ute at the 2009 Grand National Roadster Show – and now once again at GNRS 2011. In 2009 it was in the hall of cars previously shown at GNRS, commemorating the show’s 60th anniversary. This 1953 Studebaker coupe was customized in the late fifties into this wagon-style Ute for the 1959 Oakland Roadster Show. It was then renovated to its original glory by then-owner Dick Steinkemp in time for the 2009 GNRS.

Who would’ve imagined that the Studebaker Coupe would so nicely turn into an ute?! As you can see, it’s the front frame of the coupe with the rear-section of the top chopped-off and the rear window moved forward. This creates a 2-seater. Interestingly enough, its rear window is the original rear window flipped upside-down and angled differently.

The entire car, including the original go-kart that went along with it, have been finished and renovated with such skill. The car really is beautiful sporting an original Studebaker color – 1953 Chippewa Green.

One thing I think is so neat about this custom, is that it actually looks so good and “normal” that it appears as if it could’ve come out of the Studebaker factory just like this!

And as it still runs a Studebaker engine! This custom Studebaker very well could have come from the factory! If I ever have the urge to customize my Stude – I know who I’ll be taking some notes from!

What do you think -how many customized Studebakers have you seen? What other car-oddities would you envision for customizing?

1953 Studebaker Coupe – Speed Seeking Studebakers #4

The moment my Studebaker and I drove out on to the salt this year during 2010 Speed Week, what was the first thing I did? Look for other Studebakers of course! And what was the first one I found but Gord Driedger’s Blue Beauty.

This 1953 Studebaker Coupe looks like she was born on the salt! In fact, this was her first time there – as well as Gord’s! People end up on the salt from every corner of the earth it seems, and with all sorts of fascinating stories about how they got there. For Gord, his timely meeting with Blue Beauty happened while on vacation… in Napa of all places. Sitting on the patio, basking in the California sun, enjoying Napa wine, when suddenly Gord and his Wife’s peace was disturbed by the loud sound of a racing engine.

With salt flat racing on his bucket list, Gord went a-searchin’. The search led him to a neighboring garage. Not to the Studebaker, but to the guy who would put him in touch with #653.

As it turns out, Blue Beauty was built by Ron Zampa who planned on racing it himself.  He’d been planning for a while too… the engine  (built by Chris Zootis Performance Center in Healdsburg, CA) was dropped into the Studebaker in 1994. And what an engine! This beauty is powered by a 296 c.i. Ford Flathead! Unfortunately, Ron passed before he could see through his dream to race. After Ron’s death the Studebaker was purchased by a fellow with plans to turn it into a street rod. (*gasp!) Not to worry, she was too perfect… he couldn’t change her and she just sat there in his garage.

So when Gord followed the noise and told the guy he’d love to have a car for Bonneville racing – he was taken to see the guy who was just waiting for the right person to come along that would want to race Blue Beauty. As fate had it… Gord bought the ’53 Coupe that vacation and brought it all the way home to Alberta, Canada. From there he had some help from his Alberta friends…Ted Allan of Allan Rod and Custom helped get the car ready in just a few short months. He also got a little engine tuning from Dale Adams Automotive Specialists and of course a lot of help and support from his friend and crew chief, Dick Sparrow.

For most part, the only changes Gord had to make to the car before racing were safety modifications. And since Gord was a rookie, he had to go through his licensing passes. As he tells it,

On my first rookie and shakedown run that afternoon I went through the 3 mile at 129.505 to obtain my D License. What a thrill that ride was! I was so nervous and concerned about not spinning. The car (or the driver) seemed to drift over to the left side of the course and I didn’t want to over react on the steering so I just eased off the throttle and gently brought it back after almost taking out the 1 mile marker. My heart was beating faster than the ol flathead!

The second and subsequent runs were a little more controlled and it got easier as the week went on. We had a bit of an overheating issue which we overcame with some adjustments. Ended up making 10 runs that week with the fastest being 149.864 – just 0.136mph from getting my C license, on a 156.701 record that was set by Webster racing in 1998.

So close! So to get ready for next year Gord plans on adding an air dam, roof rails, and perhaps switching out the Holly carb for Hilborn injection. I can’t wait to see Gord and Blue Beauty out on the salt next year… and as I hear it, his wife and three daughters have caught salt fever too! After you break that record Gord… who’s gonna drive next!? I think he can do it… what about you?

Start here for All Speed Seeking Studebakers

Gord would like to thank his: wife, Kim; daughters, Brittney, Kaylee, and Spencer; crew chief Dick Sparrow for all the late nights spent in my garage getting the car ready to race; Bob Nance and the Napa Valley Cuisers for helping me obtain the car and helping us race; Ron Zampa for building the car; Chris Zootis Performance Center Inc. for building such a fine flathead motor; Ted Allan of Allan Rod and Custom and N49 Land Speed Racing Club in Calgary Alberta Canada for helping me get the car ready for speedweek 2010, in just a few short months; and Dale Adams Automotive Specialists in Calgary, Alberta for impeccable tuning of the flathead.

Want to meet some Studebaker people? Gord’s a member here at MyRideisMe.com. Here’s his Studebaker garage. Then there’s always GreaseGirl’s Studebaker Garage.

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