1927 to 1937 Dictator – Rock River Valley Chapter SDC

The Dictator series started in 1927 when Studebaker, for reasons unknown, determined to rename it’s entire line-up of car. The Model ES Big Six President (later models would become the “President” line) is released, the Model EW Big Six Commander (later models would become the “Commander” line) is released, and the EU Standard Six is renamed to “Dictator”. While the Dictator name had a positive connotation in 1927, who would of thought that by 1937 there would be a guy named “Hitler” to end the use of this Studebaker name.

The Studebaker Dictator was in production during one of the most prolific changes the automobile

industry would ever see. When we look at the photo on the left, of a 1927 very utilitarian box, to the swoopy looks of the 1937 coupe photo on the right, it is very evident the level of change automobile styling is going through. With the creation of the 1927 LaSalle, Harley Earl would go on the create the first styling studio, the General Motors Art & Color Section. The race was on and Studebaker would do a very good job of keeping up, retaining Loewy and Associates for design consultation in 1936 and using Helen Dryden to do the interior designs for the 1936 Studebakers.

Dictator Specifications:

Model Year	Model	No. of Cyl’s	Bore/Stroke	Cu. In.	Max. HP	Wheel Base	Serial Numbers	Engine Numbers	Model Production	SCAC Model Production
The first nine columns are from STCS (Studebaker the Complete Story). Model Production is calculated from the serial number allocation (when available), however there is no guarantee that every serial number was actually produced. Model Production numbers for 1929 and 1930 are taken from the Turning Wheels feature article written by Fred Fox (November 2007). We not know the source of SCAC Model Production (Standard Catalog of American Cars), but in most cases the numbers somewhat match the serial number allocation.
1927	EU	6	3 3/8 x 4 ½	241.6	50	113	1,345,101 – 1,410,000	EU-1 TO 65,800	64,900	65,333
1928	GE	6	3 3/8 x 4 ½	241.6	67	113	1,410,001 – 1,416,322	GE-1 TO 49,700	6,322	48,339
							1,956,301 – 1,956,391 CA		91
							1,416,323 – 1,437,600 SB		21,278
							1,956,392 – 1,957,000 CA		609
1928	GE	6	3 3/8 x 4 ½	241.6	67	113	1,437,601 – 1,457,478 SB		19,878
1928	GE	6	3 3/8 x 4 ½	241.6	67	113	1,957,001 – 1,957,231 CA		231 Total 1928 48,409
1930	GL	6	3 3/8 x 4 1/8	221.4	68	115	1,460,001 – 1,477,300	GL-1 TO 18,200	17,300	17,561
1930	FC	8	3 1/16 x 3 ¾	221	70	115	2,120,001 – up	FC-1 -up		16,359
1931	61	8	3 1/16 x 3 ¾	221	81	114	9,000,001 – 9,015,000	A-101 – up	15,000	14,144
1932	62	8	3 1/16 x 3 ¾	221	85	117	9,015,001 – 9,021,000	A-16,101 – up	6,000	6,021
1934	A	6	3 ¼ x 4 1/8	205.3	88	114	5,145,001 – up	D-101 and DS-1 up		45,841
1935	1A	6	3 ¼ x 4 1/8	205.3	88	114	5,500,001 – 5,512,000	D-27,501 up	12,000	35,292
1935	2A	6	3 ¼ x 4 1/8	205.3	88	114	5,212,001 – 5,235,000	D-27,501 up	33,000	35,292
1936	3A	6	3 ¼ x 4 3/8	217.8	90	116	5,512,001 – 5,536,000 SB	D-63,001 up	34,000	26,634
							5,850,001 – 5,852,800 LA		2,800
							5,960,801 – 5,961,300 CA		500
1936	4A	6	3 ¼ x 4 3/8	217.8	90	116	5,235,001 – 5,255,000 SB		20,000	22,029
							5,800,001 – 5,802,500 LA		2,500
							5,955,801 – 5,956,100 CA		300
1937	5A	6	3 ¼ x 4 3/8	217.8	90	116	5,536,001 – up SB	D-112,601 up		50,001
1937	5A	6	3 ¼ x 4 3/8	217.8	90	116	5,852,801 – up LA			50,001
1937	6A	6	3 ¼ x 4 3/8	217.8	90	116	5,255,001 – up SB			39,001
1937	6A	6	3 ¼ x 4 3/8	217.8	90	116	5,802,501 – up LA			39,001

The sources used for this chart are:

Studebaker the Complete Story (STCS) by William A. Cannon and Fred K. Fox.
Online – The Classic Car Database” (TCCD).
The Standard Catalog of American Cars (SACA).
Turning Wheel articles written by feature writer Fred Fox.