Hoosier Proud - 1949 Studebaker Land Cruiser

The first things that enter 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 large family sedan that represents the most impressive

re-engineering of the marque and its image in a lifetime.

The car was born in Indiana and spent its entire life there. When you work the age-versus-mileage equation, you realize quickly that it's been scarcely driven in its 66 years of existence. And it still rolls, ghostlike, through the countryside of northwestern Indiana today.

This, to use its full appellation, is a 1949 Studebaker Commander Regal Deluxe Land Cruiser. It was an august name at Studebaker, dating back to 1934, when the Land Cruiser first emerged from South Bend as a swoopy, Streamline Moderne large sedan. It was in the first rank of Studebaker's shocking restyling of 1947, which produced some of the first true American postwar car designs. And the model name was certainly apt. This was Studebaker's physically largest car, with honest room for six adults inside. A few more than 14,000 examples were produced for the 1949 model year, so they're not seen often today. We found this example competing in the Preservation class during the Studebaker International Meet. We knew we had to photograph this car. And the tale only got better as we kept researching it.

"The story starts out back in 2008. I was really looking for a 1950 bulletnose, because that's what I learned to drive on, my grandfather's car, a 1950 Champion, so it was one of those nostalgia things," says A.J. Paul, who lives in Granger, Indiana, not far from South Bend, and who now has the Land Cruiser in his custody. "I finally had a place to store it, so I went out looking for one. Then I read a classified ad in the South Bend Tribune, offering this 1949 for sale, all original, all that. So I figured I'd go down and take a look at it."

A.J.'s trip took him to the tiny suburb of Twelve Mile, so named for being exactly 12 miles from both Logansport and Peru, Indiana. As he recalls, "When I got there, I saw that it wasn't a barn find, but it was close to it. It was parked in a garage, all covered up, and they uncovered it, and I thought, 'Boy, I don't have a lot of mechanical ability, but all it needs is a little cleaning up, maybe some new tires,' and I could handle that. I rented a car hauler, and my son and I went down to pick it up, and the story went from there."

Not much was needed, as things turned out. The first thing A.J. did was to send the Studebaker's combination fuel and vacuum pump out to be rebuilt. "That made the engine run a lot better, and also, the windshield wipers were finally working again," A.J. tells us. Next up, he bought a rebuild kit for the single-barrel Stromberg carburetor and had his local mechanic in Granger do the work. Reproduction bias-ply whitewalls were also substituted; at least one of the tires on the Land Cruiser when he got it was factory original, with a bulging sidewall. He's also replaced the water pump with an NOS unit from Studebaker International, the huge parts warehouse in South Bend, which also yielded a tune-up kit.

As we've noted, Studebaker was coming off a huge reinvention of its car line for 1947, so subsequent changes tended to be evolutionary. Studebaker offered two lines for 1949: The Champion, riding on a 112-inch wheelbase, and the Commander, whose wheelbase stretched 119 inches. While the Land Cruiser was firmly a part of the Commander line, it was the only 1949 Studebaker bequeathed with a 123-inch wheelbase, very substantial for the era. The Commander lineup had factory code 16A, and although some erroneously considered the Y-body Land Cruiser as a standalone model, it's still designated as a 16A.

The Commanders got new grilles for 1949, but the most noteworthy updates were beneath the hood. For 1949, Studebaker took the venerable L-head straight-six engine and increased its stroke by 3⁄8 inch. That boosted its displacement from 226.2 cubic inches to 245.6, and also upped the Commander's output from 94hp to an even 100. The engine also got a stiffer crankshaft, bigger main bearings and a standard oil filter. The Land Cruiser also got a standard rear anti-roll bar, which led Tom McCahill to praise the car's handling in a Mechanix Illustrated road test. The Land Cruiser's long model nomenclature reflects the fact that it's a Regal Deluxe, which can be distinguished by its stamped stainless-steel rocker panels, something that the base Regal lacked. Eventually, Studebaker simplified things and called the upper range the Regal line. In any case, sales of Land Cruisers dropped an estimated 50 percent in 1949, but that figure is somewhat misleading, because Studebaker was so amped to get its restyled bulletnose models into the showrooms for 1950 that it ended 1949 production before the end of July, meaning the actual model year lasted only seven months.

A.J.'s Land Cruiser was one of the last built that year; its production order declaring that it went down the assembly line on July 7. It was shipped to Logansport and Will's Motor Sales, where dealer Elmer Will used it as a demonstrator for its first thousand miles before selling it to Lawrence Blacksten. Blacksten's stepson, Karl E. Smith, bought the Land Cruiser in 1968, by which time it had amassed just 15,000 miles. Lawrence was fanatical about maintaining the car, replacing its Quaker State 10W-30 every 2,000 miles, always garaging and covering it, and never driving it in winter. It never suffered accident damage, and other than a few paint chips--no rust--it's as clean as new today. The upholstery and carpeting are both original. How much did it get driven? Twelve Mile's Lions Club presents a riding lawnmower race each July 4th, and Karl routinely drove the Land Cruiser in the race's parade every year. And not much more than that.

The same's true for A.J. He tries to drive the Land Cruiser once a month--only in the summer--but with just 36,988 actual miles, preserving the originality is a priority. He still uses 30-weight oil, and with 6.5 compression, the Studebaker flathead percolates nicely with unleaded regular. You slide behind the huge steering wheel and press down on the clutch; the starter button is beneath it, a standard Studebaker practice at the time. The L-head straight-six burbles into life, and has enough torque to get the Land Cruiser moving on level ground just by easing off the clutch. If the ground's undulating, you can use the Hill Holder, which prevents the car from rolling backwards, even if you release the brakes. As A.J. describes it, "You take your foot off the brake, and the car will stay on the hill; then you lift off the clutch and away you go."

A.J. figures he upshifts out of first gear at 10 to 15 MPH. Second will get you up to about 30. At that point, you can either engage the optional overdrive in second gear, or change gears to third and let the overdrive engage then. He says, "You just ease up on the accelerator and listen for the little clunk, and then it's in overdrive." That didn't work when A.J. got the car, so he took it to a local transmission shop that works on Studebakers, where the mechanic replaced a solenoid. A.J.'s never had the Land Cruiser out on Interstate 90, the Indiana Toll Road, but he has taken it onto two-lane divided highways in the South Bend area where it cruises comfortably at 55 to 60 MPH. It'll reach 65 in overdrive, but A.J. admits that, given the age of the car and the bias-ply tires, going that fast makes him antsy. "It just purrs right along at 55 to 60," he tells us.

There's a moderate amount of free play in the steering, as you might expect, but A.J. says the Land Cruiser nonetheless tracks straight on the highway. In a curve, the manual steering works with the anti-roll bar to keep the car relatively flat, although tighter corners make a lot of input from the helm essential. "It's like any other car from the Fifties or Sixties: If it doesn't have power steering, you've got to put some effort into it," A.J. says.

Here's something interesting: According to A.J. the Land Cruiser stops well enough in normal around-town driving, but he still uses an old-school, outside-the-window hand signal to warn following traffic that he's coming to a halt. "The reason I do it is because the taillamps are small, and not as bright or visible as today's are, so I'm always aware if there's someone following closely behind me in case I have to stop quickly." A.J. continues, "For the same reason, I try to time the traffic lights so I don't have to come to a sudden stop. But the brakes are good, and the emergency brake still works well, too."

Someone at Studebaker was smart when they chose the Land Cruiser model name. The passenger cabin is simply cavernous, especially when you're talking about the rear seat. You sit high behind the wheel, but the bench seat has a height adjustment. "I remember my grandmother driving the 1950, which was set up about the same, and I recall that she had to look through the steering wheel," A.J. reminisces. With the standard center rear armrest folded out of the way, the Land Cruiser will easily accommodate six people without making them feel like canned herring.

Ultimately, most desirable to A.J. is that it's a Studebaker, his hometown car. "I've always had a soft spot for them," he says. "It's an eye-catcher, and I like original cars. This car had only been owned by one family since new, so I want to keep it original."

Owner's View

I like this Land Cruiser because of the nostalgic value of having something very close to what I drove as a 15-year-old kid. I love heading down the road and getting the nods and thumbs up from other drivers. It's fun having the neighbors over to look at it, and the kids like to be near it. It's just a fun car, and to have it all original is that much better. I actually considered painting it, but thought about it, and decided not to do it. And living in this area, it's great to have a Studebaker.

1949 STUDEBAKER LAND CRUISER

SPECIFICATIONS

PRICE

Base price: $2,328

Price as optioned: N/A

Options: Overdrive, Climatizer heater, whitewall tires, chrome wheel discs, AM radio

ENGINE

Type: L-head straight-six, cast-iron block and cylinder head

Displacement: 245.6 cubic inches

Bore x Stroke: 3.312 x 4.750 inches

Compression ratio: 6.5:1

Horsepower @ RPM: 100 @ 3,400

Torque @ RPM: 200-lb.ft. @ 1,600

Valvetrain: Solid lifters

Main bearings: Four

Fuel system: Stromberg BXOV single-barrel carburetor

Lubrication system: Pressure

Electrical system: 6-volt, positive ground

Exhaust system: Single exhaust

TRANSMISSION

Type: Three-speed manual with Borg-Warner electric overdrive

Ratios: 1st: 1.55:1

2nd: 2.57:1

3rd: 1.00:1

Overdrive: 0.70:1

Reverse: 3.48:1

DIFFERENTIAL

Type: Hypoid, semi-floating axles

Ratio: 4.09:1

STEERING

Type: Cam-and-lever, manual, variable ratio

Ratios: 24:1 to 33.8:1

Turns, lock to lock: 5.5

Turning circle: 41 feet

BRAKES

Type: Hydraulic expanding drum, manual, self-adjusting

Front/rear: 11-inch drums

CHASSIS & BODY

Construction: Steel body on ladder-type frame

Body style: Four-door, six-passenger sedan

Layout: Front engine, rear-wheel drive

SUSPENSION

Front: Independent with single transverse spring with king pins and Houde vane and lever-arm adjustable shocks

Rear: Live axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs, Houde vane and lever-arm adjustable shocks, anti-roll bar

WHEELS & TIRES

Wheels: Pressed-steel discs

Front/rear: 5 x 15 inches

Tires: Bias-ply

Front/rea:r 6.50 x 15 inches

WEIGHTS & MEASURES

Wheelbase: 123 inches

Overall length: 208.4 inches

Overall width: 69.8 inches

Overall height: 61.3 inches

Front track: 55.12 inches

Rear track: 53.54 inches

Shipping weight: 3,325 pounds

CAPACITIES

Crankcase: 6 quarts

Cooling system: 13 quarts (without heater) 14.5 quarts (with heater)

Fuel tank: 18 gallons

CALCULATED DATA

BHP per cu.in.: 0.407

Weight per BHP: 33.25 pounds

Weight per cu.in.: 13.53 pounds

PROS & CONS

+ It's completely original

+ Capable highway manners

+ Very obviously a Studebaker

- A little difficult to steer

- Trim parts are hard to find

- Not reassuring at high speeds

WHAT TO PAY

Low: $6,000

Average: $15,000

High: $25,000

CLUB CORNER

STUDEBAKER DRIVERS CLUB

c/o Cornerstone Registration

P.O. Box 1715

Maple Grove, Minnesota 55311-6715

www.studebakerdriversclub.com

Membership: 11,800

Dues: $24, USA/$32, Canada