1942 President Model 8C

The 1941 car line was carried over to the 1942 season with little change.  The front, as always is were the changes were mostly made, with a more massive grill and heavier wrap-around bumpers.  The real news for 1942 was the “Turbo-Matic” transmission, using a fluid coupling in conjunction with an automatic clutch and three-speed transmission.  Low gear was not normally used, second gear would be for city driving and high gear for normal driving.  Over-drive was provided for second and high.  There was no clutch petal.  However, do to production delays and World War II, this semi-automatic, although extensively advertised, never got into production.  Full automatics, developed after the war, make the design obsolete.  Only 3,500 President’s are made, none with “Turbo-Matic”.

 

The model line-up is the same with Sedan Coupe, Cruising Sedan, and Land Cruiser in three trim levels, Custom, Delux-Style, and Skyway.

When data was available from Turning Wheels (TW) or Studebaker the Complete Story (STCS), it is used. Else, The Classic Car Database (TCCD) & The Standard Catalog of American Cars (SCAC) is used. →Information between the arrows is from “This is a Studebaker Year – Vol. 3 W.A. Cannon← What we can be fairly sure of is that the same body styles, depending on the source, were sometimes listed in different terms. SB=South Bend, LA=Los Angles, and CAN=Canada
As we have not access to a Fox Feature Article for 1940 Presidents, the price information comes from TTCD & SCAC
Body Style Body
Code		 Doors Pass  Price TCCD/SACA
Custom Coupe Sedan F2 2 4 $1,242.00
Delux-Style Coupe Sedan F7 2 4 $1,287.00
Custom Cruising Sedan W1 4 6 $1,262.00
Delux-Style Cruising Sedan W5 4 6 $1,307.00
Skyway Cruising Sedan W7 4 6 $1,342.00
Custom Land Cruiser B1 4 6 $1,297.00
Delux-Style Land Cruiser B3 4 6  $1,342.00
Skyway Land Cruiser B7 4 6 $1,377.00

→The 1942 8C Series President started production in August 1941.  It finished production in February of 1942.  We don’t know how many serial numbers Studebaker assigned to the 8C series.  Engine Serial Numbers start at B-52,101 and we don’t know exactly where they ended as the eight engine is not produced after the war ended.  Most of the data in the chart is from “This is a Studebaker Year – Vol. 3”.←  Cannon puts President production at 3,500 cars.  Both TCCD & SCAC reported 3,500.  The prices for series 8C cars come from TCCD & SCAC were both agreed.  While Cannon lists eight Model/Trim Levels, TCCD listed the same plus a Skyway Coupe Sedan at $1,322.00.