Rock River Valley Chapter of the Studebaker Drivers Club
Our Charter, Keeping the Studebaker Marque Alive
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Welcome to the Rock River Valley Studebaker Drivers Club Website
Last Updated:
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January 5th, 2021 |
Corrected some information about Brackin's 1941 Studebaker President. |
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Updated "Featured Cars of the First Quarter, 2021" |
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Late 2020 |
The Champion History Page for 1939 to 1958 is finished. The 1947 to 1958 Commander history is being worked on presently with the 1947 to 1949 section already completed and published. |
Click on the Globe left to go to the Sub-Site "Articles", if you are interested in automotive trivia and history, else don't bother.
January, February, March STUDEBAKER FEATURED CAR OF THE MONTH
This 1941 Studebaker President
Delux-tone Land Cruiser Sedan was recently purchased by Marty and Sue
Brackin. We know it's a Delux-tone because of the five chrome
molding strips seen on both of the front and rear fenders. Customs
trimmed Presidents lacked these fender moldings.
Side bar:
There was actually an accessory,
AC-1138 which contained a set of 20 fender trim moldings that could
be purchased and added to any 1941 model, including all Champion and
Commanders, so technically the presence of this trim does not
completely identify Delux-tone.
The car has several items which were
added accessories, the two outside front bumper guards, the winguards (AC-1044) on the ends of the front bumpers, the hood ornament
(AC-1153), the top fender ornaments, the front fender side ornaments
(AC-1154), narrow wheel trim rings (AC-723), and white wall tires. Hood ornaments, top fender and side fender ornaments were only
available after mid-year and were standard items on the new Skyway
models.
There were a total of 6,944 Presidents
manufactured, but there is no breakdown of production by model that I
have access to, or for that matter even exists. Maybe the Fred
Fox Turning Wheels feature article in the April of 1993 issue. The car is powered by the 250.4 cubic inch straight eight making 117
HP with the return of the 6.5 to 1 compression ratio, and driven by a
three speed manual transmission with overdrive. The President was
seated on a 125 inch wheelbase making it a fabulous road car.
In 1941 Studebaker manufactured three
lines, Champion, Commander, and President in 30 models. Presidents
initially came in two models, 4dr Cruising Sedan and 4dr Land Cruiser, in two
trim levels Custom and Delux-tone. At mid-year, the final and top
trim level would be released, Skyway. At that time there would also
be a new model, the Coupe Sedan, which would feature an industry
first curved single piece windshield.
January, February, March BLACK SHEEP FEATURED CAR OF THE MONTH
Jerry
and Roseann purchased the Lincoln on November 4th 2013,
after a nice test drive, for $6,000. At the time, the car only had
25,000 miles on the odometer and was in nearly perfect condition in
every way. As they would shortly going to Texas for the winter, the
current owner would store the car until spring, so actual possession
was sometime in April of 2014. The car was delivered to Germain
Lincoln-Mercury in Naples FL on January 01, 1994 and will have it's
27th birthday shortly. Johnsons are the cars second owner.
The
car has been fairly trouble free, needing only a new radiator and
alternator, until just recently. However, this past fall the Air
Suspension was retro-fitted with a coil over strut conversion, the
rear shocks were replaced, one inner tie-rod replaced, and a rear
axle seal installed.
While
not extremely rare, only 28,164 Mark VIIII's were made. This car is
painted White Opalescent and has the Opel Gray interior and still to
this day has the original Mark VIII front and rear floor mats. The
Mark VIII is capable of getting to 60 MPH in 6.6 seconds and will
make 97 MPH in the quarter mile, in 14.7 seconds. Still, it will make
nearly 24 miles per gallon, cruising at a sustained 70 MPH.
Here
are some additional facts:
The
1993/1994 Mark VIII is five inches longer and nearly four inches
wider than the Mark VII. The wheelbase is 113.0 inches, 4 inches
longer than the Mark VII's. This makes for greater interior space
and ride quality. Even though its larger, the Mark VIII is lighter
than the Mark VII at just over 3,750 pounds. Mark VIII's features
unibody construction with a high-strength roof, heavy-gauge steel
door beams to protect against side impacts, front and rear crumple
zones, dual front-side airbags and four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes.
Suspension
& Drive Train:
The Mark VIII features short-long arm four-wheel independent
suspension, with front and rear stabilizer bars and a standard
computer-controlled air suspension system (The
latter, automatically lowered the ride height by about one inch after
maintaining a speed of at least 55 mph for longer than 45 seconds.) Power is supplied by an all-new, all-aluminum, 4.6 L DOHC 32-valve
V8, making 280 hp at 5500 rpm and 285 lb⋅ft of torque at 4500 rpm. Behind the engine is the 4R70W 4-speed automatic transmission with
overdrive. The rear axle ratio is 3.08:1. Also featured are chrome
dual exhaust tips and 16-inch cast aluminum wheels.
Standard
Equipment: A140-mph speedometer, electronic message center,
automatic climate control, cruise control, leather seats, six-way
power seats w/two-position memory, power door locks, heated power
mirrors, power windows, keyless entry with remote, automatic
headlamps, an AM/FM stereo-cassette radio and an automatic power
antenna.
Optional
Equipment: Electronic traction assist, electrochromic automatic
dimming mirrors, and JBL audio system.
Gasser Wars magazine did the linked
story below in one of their issues this summer. They have given us
permission to share the article with you as long as we give them
credit. The article was written by Phil Morris. It is an article
about Gordy Buetsch's dragsters and his life long love of the sport. Click on the link below "Gasser Wars" and enjoy the article in a seperate window.
Enjoy!!!!!!!!
The next link will take you to the Gasser Wars Magazine
The club meets the first Monday of every month, unless that date is a holiday, then the meeting is on the next Monday.
Date of Next Meeting:
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Meeting Dates for 2019 - 2020 |
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January 4th, 2021 (Cancelled) |
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February 1st, 2021 (Cancelled) |
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March 1st, 2021 (Cancelled) |
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April 12th, 2021 (?) |
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May 3rd, 2021 |
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June 7th, 2021 |
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July 5th, 2021 |
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August 2nd, 2021 |
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September 13th, 2021 |
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October 4th, 2021 |
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November 1st, 2021 |
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December 6th, 2021 |
Location: Location TBD when meeting resume, Rockford IL
Time: Dinner at 5:30 P.M. Meeting starts at 7:00 P.M
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This web site is owned by The Rock River Chapter of the Studebaker Drivers Club, All contents © 2021, Rock River Valley Chapter of the Studebaker Drivers Club, and may not be reproduced without permission.
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