1948 Studebaker Commander Land Cruiser

1948 Studebaker Commander Land Cruiser Description

Mostly original and a decent driving car--despite all the things that do not work or work properly as listed above. The car has been repainted, and it is possibly original color on the doors/jambs: it is a very, very close match with just a light metallic finish on the body but not on the door jambs. (Stude did offer two metallic colors in '48according to a color chip chart I've seen). Tires are radials and car handles well with them. As far as I can tell, the interior is all original with the arm rests having been redone, and a new carpet set comes with the car.
I bought this a few years ago and used it as my summer driver. The only thing I have had to replace is the battery (not counting the brakes). Actually, the brakes worked fine. One day while driving the car I suddenly had no brakes, but I wasnear my house at the time on a back country road and was able to simply slow down and cruise home in reduced gear to my house without incident. I assume the master cylinder failed (or could just be a leak), and I filled the cylinder but could not get any pedal, push any fluid or even get any bubbles. I have a new cylinder but as yet have not made the repair. As I had/have other cars it just never became a priority. I start and drive the car around the yard every-so-often, but that is as far as I've gotten to date. Hand brake works. Pretty sure the car has hill-holder, but if it does it was not working. There is a mechanism attached just forward of the master cylinder. Although I've owned other Stude's, most were automatics and I don't recall any of them having hill-holder.
The person who owned the car before me, a much younger fella, brought the car back to life. It was his first collector car. The car is very solid and I do not know if any body work was done. It is rather nice underneath. He had it painted (pretty nice job), had the mechanicals gone through, new tires and exhaust and got it inspected. He had the armrests redone, had bought a new carpet set and was continuing to work on the car when job circumstances resulted in his losing garage space. This was all done a few years ago. (Now I feel bad for putting the car up for sale! But it is time for me to cut down on how much stuff I have.)
Above I mentioned things that do not work. Aside from the brakes as mentioned, a few things are needed for it to pass inspection properly. The wipers are very slow and the vacuum motor should be rebuilt. The horn works if I loosen the horn ring, almost to the point of removing it, but they do not work if I tighten the horn ring. So, I assume the contact may need to be replaced or possibly repaired. I haven't bothered to check the back-up light--I never needed it anyway. The radio does not play. Over Drive does work quite well, but a few times it kicked out on its own. I just let up on the gas and it engaged again. The clock does work--or at least it did last time I checked it. It has an on-off switch, which is the all-black knob to the left of the steering column. Naturally, I leave it turned off. And, now that I think of it, the gas gauge worked just fine when I bought the car. I was only putting in a few gallons at a time to check for any tank leaks, then I finally filled the tank and after that the gauge did not move very much. I suspect the float must have a small hole or something that by filling the tank made it heavy so that it no longer registers much more than an 1/8th. I use straight 30w non-detergent oil, and the engine smokes a little when I start it--but then that is only a few times a year. It seems to clear up after a bit. Oil pressure jumps to 70lbs at start-up, and settles to 40lbs after the engine is warmed up. Generator and temp gauges appear to be accurate and I've had no problems with either system. (The car was running and warmed up when I took the photo of the instruments.). All the glass is good and some pieces show signs of age around the edges, such as with the wind vents. At times I've had the car sitting outside (only have so much garage space--again, too much stuff) and have not noticed any signs of leakage from rain. What stains there are in the interior where there when I bought the car.
I really like this car, but as I said, it is time to cut down and thin the herd. All theusual stuff about no warranty, shipping at your expense, etc., etc., etc. Feel free to come see the car, or have someone look at it for you. If you buy the carand come to pick it up in person, but are not satisfied or change your mind, then we'll cancel the deal and no hard feelings. Of course, the deposit of $250.00, payable viaPayPal, is non-refundable. The balance can be in cash, or certified bank check but check must clear before car is released. If you buy the car and arrange for transport by a third party, then please, honor yourcommitment.
Photos were taken last year, but there is no change other than that the car is a littledirtier at this time. Thanks for looking.
Note: For those of you with a keen eye, yes, those are not the original rocker panel trim. I think they are off a Hawk GT. Also, the side-view mirror is probably an aftermarket mirror, as is most likely the antenna.