We’re slipping into a bit of a pickup mode today, and when I spotted this M-Series Studebaker at the Cohort posted by Eric Clem, I couldn’t resist. I’ve always thought these were rather exceptional little trucks, on a number of levels, starting with the styling by Raymond Loewy. The M-Series trucks arrived in 1940, just one year after the compact Champion, which rather saved Studebaker’s bacon after a disastrous 1938. The M-Series trucks—except for the larger 1.5 ton and up versions—also used the Champions drive train, including its very sweet-running 164 cubic inch flathead six. These were in essence compact trucks, but worked just as hard as the bigger ones.
I’m assuming it’s a ’47, based on the Oregon plate. The M-Series was replace in 1949 by the also rather advanced R-Series.
One of the best faces ever, and quite advanced for 1940. The little six in these may have been down on torque some from the bigger ones used in competing trucks, but it revved higher, and made almost as much horsepower. And it was very efficient, to boot.
This one exhibits just the right amount of patina for today’s in look (which has been mine for decades), but hey; I’m used to being ahead of the cool curve 🙂 I used to admire the patina on the Mennonite farmer’s old Advanced Chevy trucks and such back in the 60s. I’m guessing the chrome trim on the wheels is off-center for a similar cool reason.
One very sweet little truck.
“164 cubic inch flathead four.” – I think you mean flathead 6. Yes, that turned out to be quite a rugged little engine that was later enlarged to 169.5 cid after the war, and which was still powering the Lark VI in 1960, a year after Chrysler finally abandoned the flathead.
I have never really studied these, and had assumed that the bigger 226 cid Commander 6 was offered as well. Turns out it was not, except in the really heavy duty versions. I can never decide whether I prefer the M series or the newer ones. I guess that’s a good thing.
This is one vehicle that might be as common in Indiana as it is in Oregon. I am consistently amazed at the high proportion of trucks whenever I do a CL search in my area for Studes. These things (along with the newer R series) are still found in (or behind) barns all around here.
Must be a heartland and/or west coast thing – I can’t recall ever seeing one on the road, and they’re rare sights period. I did see one of this truck’s “big brothers” in a museum over the weekend, but Studes on the Street seem to be Limited to Larks.
It has just the right look and stance. A work of art!
Um; yes. I referred to it as a six later, which is of course what it was. There was one of these in our neighborhood in Santa Monica, and I just loved the sound of that engine with whatever that guy was running for a muffler on it. Raspy yet smooth; like a nice vintage European six. IIRC these engines developed their power at around 4000-4200 rpm, which was significantly higher than the typical sixes of the times.
I saw an entry on howstuffworks.com indicating that John Bond (later the R/T editor) had been one of the engineers at Studebaker at one time. He claimed that it was one of the very few engines of that era that could stand hours at a time on the dyno at 5,000 rpm. I do know that these engines have a very good rep among Stude people, as they power pretty much every Champion and most Larks until 1960.
There is evidently a lot of bearing area and a very rigid crankshaft. It was both lightweight and durable, two things that don’t always go together in engine design. Too bad that the OHV conversion they tried on these in 1961-64 did not live up to the rest of the engine.
What’s parked across the street looks pretty sweet, hope there are pictures of it as well!!
Of course… How could I resist?
Like this I think.
We had a 47 Studebaker pickup on the farm when I was a kid. It was the toughest truck I’ve ever seen. It out lasted the 4 Fords we had, 5 Dodges one of my uncles had, and a passel of Chevys another uncle had. It Studebaker was still in business and still making trucks the tailgate of my truck would say Studebaker instead of Ford.
we had a 47 stude pickup. cannot begin to tell you all the work and the things we hauled. Never failed to start in the coldest temps in Pa. Even after sitting in the cold for long periods. Once we went to use it and it wouldn’t move at first because the tires were frozen in the mud where we parked it.Lots of people would try to use it and didn’t know where the starter was. Cannot agree with you more about this truck. Ours had a heavy duty pipe rack grill and rear bumper guards. It was a faded gray collor. I still remember the floor shift and how positive it was and easy to shift. Heavy metal, never rusted out.The good old days with good people
Okay, here’s my Studebaker truck story:
My dad had a ’62 (or so) Studebaker with a little 4-53 Detroit that had been a tractor at some point. He brought it home, pulled the fifth wheel, put a little flatbed on it, and drove it for many years.
The fun part–for us boys–was when we discovered that all it took was a quick touch of the jumper cable from the battery to the starter solenoid and you were off and running. No key required. Plus air horns!
The attached Google image is a dead ringer.
Growing up these were all over the place. Someone please remind me why we need to have trucks that require a ladder to reach the bed. Reminds me a lot of my brother’s 40 international harvester.
Wow, that is one CREEPY looking truck.
It looks like the pickup truck version of the maniac killer’s vehicle, on that horror movie, Jeepers Creepers… shitty paint job and all.
You are in my driveway again. My first Studebaker was a 47 M series 1/2 ton or Coupe Express. Worked all summer of 84 to buy it. Tough trucks for sure, my halfer with 2000 lbs of concrete just started to bring the factory overload springs into play. The little 6 was not known for oiling the bottom end as well as it oiled the street. Definitely not teenager proof, but I do miss it now.
Here’s a few screenshots from ‘Thunder Bay’ (1953). Stude truck, James Stewart, Dan Duryea and Gilbert Roland.
The truck features in the opening scene.
A screen shot of the closing scene over the hood of the M-Series Studebaker would be more dramatic, with the Studebaker name across the bottom of the screen.
Here’s the other one.
Nice! Dont think Ive ever seen one of these. Whoever put it together has it dialed in nicely.
I owned a green one of these – a 1947 – for a short time. I bought it for $100 (this is an indication of how long ago it was) figuring I could resell it and make a buck or two; it had new-looking tires and was decent all around except for the seat covering composed of probably two rolls of duct tape. Unfortunately although it ran fine and didn’t sound like it was on its last legs the oil pressure gauge would seldom move off the peg. Whether or not this was an actual problem I never found out, reasoning that gauge readings like that aren’t very helpful in selling a vehicle. I ended up trading it to my gas-station guy for some work on another car.
Those trucks had one interesting feature – the section of the instrument panel that contained the gauges was a single piece, with the backs of the gauges directly accessible from under the hood. It was a nice setup for trouble-shooting if needed, but I had other Stude pickup owners tell me that often underhood fumes would leak into the cab.
My favorite thing about these trucks is how they used the exact same front and rear fenders. Only Studebaker could pull that off!
Cool truck.
Anyone know the owner?? This truck was previously built from a field find by my long time friend who passed away last year. Just randomly googled it to see what the odds are of me tracking it down..there she is!