Back in October 2023, we saw YouTube’s “Vice Grip Garage” pull a 1948 Studebaker Champion from the weeds. It was sitting there for about two years, but the Champion had previously sat in a garage since 1976. When our host dragged the car out of the field, it had been retired for a whopping 47 years.
Fortunately, the Studebaker was still in one piece after two years of exposure to the elements, and the old 170-cubic-inch (2.8-liter) straight-six engine agreed to run. With the two-door now running and driving, Derek decided to revive the exterior by giving the rig its first wash in nearly 50 years.
And once all that dust and grime was removed from the body with a pressure washer, he polished the green paint to a mirror shine. Well, “mirror shine” might not be the best word to describe it since some areas need more than an elbow grease rub, but most panels turned out great. As in, the Champion looks like an unmolested survivor.
But it’s worth mentioning that the dark green paint is not factory original. While it may look like the kind of green many automakers used right after World War II, this Studebaker was actually repainted sometime in the early 1970s, right before it was parked for good. Of course, the 45 years it spent in the garage helped keep the paint relatively fresh.
To further improve the car’s looks, our host also repainted the wheels and replaced the tires. And while the Champion didn’t look bad to begin with, it’s now a lovely classic worth displaying at any car show.
Granted, the Studebaker is still many upgrades away from becoming road-worthy. It needs a new tank and brakes, but it’s already a stunning project compared to most barn-found Studebakers from the era.
Sadly enough, many of these third-generation Champions are no longer around. Most of them were abandoned in junkyards and locked up in barns over the years and became unsalvageable rust buckets. The fact that Studebaker went bankrupt in 1967 didn’t help either. With no support from the company in the service department, many owners found it too difficult to perform maintenance on their own.
Studebaker introduced the Champion in 1939 as a replacement for the Dictator. The nameplate soldiered on for five generations through 1958. Originally a full-size car, the Champion became a midsize model in 1952.
The car you see here is part of the third generation that arrived in 1947 as the first new American design after World War II. The 1950-1951 version of this Champion is the most iconic, thanks to its “bullet nose” styling.
How rare is the 1948 Champion? Well, Studebaker built nearly 88,000 units, so it’s not exactly scarce. However, late 1940s vehicles have a low survival rate, and chances are fewer than 10,000 examples of all body styles are still out there.
