In a tale that is becoming more commonplace by the day, I was recently told I would be working from home for at least three weeks. As a man who watches little news and is almost as apolitical as a man of reasonable intellect can be, I can only imagine the furor taking place in the vast landscape that is the internet. Although I am certainly feeling the vague uneasiness about how easily the “Spinner of the Years” can alter lives, my love of history has me thinking of parallels. This 1942 Studebaker Champion is an extreme example of one.
Almost exactly a year ago, my wife and I drove the seven-hour round trip to South Bend, Indiana, to see this car, a 1933 Pierce-Arrow Silver Arrow. Five were built, three remain, and I had only seen one once in my life, back at the turn of the millennium. “Knowing how way leads on to way,” I had to visit the Studebaker National Museum to pay homage to one of my favorite show cars from any manufacturer. The Silver Arrow is stunning, majestic. But there was another car in the basement whose austerity seems more appropriate for a world only a year hence.
This 1942 Champion is a rare “blackout” model. As December 1941 rolled into January, the government decreed that automakers limit their use of chromium and aluminum, as those materials (and rubber) were needed for the war effort. Buick started using cast iron pistons in some of its engines, and all automakers painted the trim of their cars, creating these aesthetically plain but historically wonderful blackout cars.
By February, the government had ordered all automakers to cease production of cars for the duration of the war, and Studebaker itself produced its last prewar car on January 31st, 1942. This Champion was built on January 29th. We now know that it would be a long three and a half years of privation for American citizens, who lived with rationing in addition to the dread of a worldwide war and loved ones in imminent danger.
Over the last week, American automakers stopped production lines, and are now offering to build respirators to help treat victims of the coronavirus. While we can only hope that we are not in for a catastrophe of the kind lived by our ancestors, and building respirators is a far cry from the heady days of the “Arsenal of Democracy,” it is hollow comfort that America has seen hard days before.
Studebaker produced over 29,000 Champions for the 1942 model year, and few of those were blackout models. This number was down from almost 85,000 Champions in 1941.
The 1942 Champion itself was mildly updated for 1942, with a new front end to differentiate it from its 1941 counterpart. In 1941, America was certainly aware of the possibility that it would be thrust into war, but it became a nightmarish reality over the course of one day. When the 1941 models were introduced, few could foresee the position in which the country would find itself one year hence.
That is all I can think about at I choose my photographs from one year ago. A pandemic is not, at least in the traditional sense of the term, a war among nations, but the sense of uneasiness that all of us are now feeling is real. Today, I can simply hope that we can look back on the last few weeks with relief, and that 80 years from now, there isn’t a three-model-year span missing from automotive history books.
Wow, so many thoughts. Early 1942 is an interesting parallel. Another that comes to my mind is I wonder if this is what it felt like as 1929 turned to 1930 – everything had changed.
But enough philosophizing – there are Studebakers to discuss! I have seen this one, and I have to admit that I could not find the enthusiasm for it that you have. I have always found the blackout cars to be drab things to forget rather than rare things to be celebrated, so I appreciate the perspective.
Two weird notes about this car – compared to the advertised car which has the chrome trim on the body set up for the contrasting color stripe seen in 1941-42, this one has a single trim strip in line with the door handle – an entirely different placement from either of the strips on the car in the ad, so completely different placement of the holes for the fasteners. Odd.
Second, I remain wowed by the way Studebaker advertising and brochure pictures (that odd combination of photography and artwork) always featured these bright, chrome yellow cars in a paint color worthy of any 1970 muscle car. In fact, the only yellow they ever offered in those years (that was not on a truck) was the pastel butter mint yellow (which they called “tulip cream” that everyone else offered in those years.
Interesting about yellow… The ’41 Champion that I see around town occasionally is a light tan, probably the same “cream”. It’s been nicely restored, so I doubt the original color was light. Very few light-colored cars from the ’40s kept their paint. In the ’50s and ’60s only the dark blue and black ones were still around. I think GM finally found a stable formulation for light paint sometime around ’51.
Similar restrictions were put on U.S. automakers during the Korean War, with various 1952 models featuring “Korean Chrome”, a dull, nickel-free chrome alternative that rusted away in a few years.
For several years during WW2, Canada stopped making its ‘nickels’ out of nickel, using tombac (a high-copper brass) instead. They also switched them from round to 12-sided so they would be less likely to be confused with pennies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_(Canadian_coin)#/media/File:Canada_$0.05_1942.jpg
U.S. automakers faced similar restrictions during the Korean War with 1952 models featuring nickel-free “Korean Chrome”, a dull substitute that rusted away in a few years.
Interesting to use the term “prewar” for a 1942 car. What is pre-war?
WW2 started two years before so it could be discussed they should be called war-era cars.
But 1942 cars are made before the factory closure because of the war, so in that sense they rightly can be called pre-war.
Ah well I guess that is a discussion for language nerds.
I remember the Silver Arrow from my childhood when I saw pictures of it. Always looked spectacular to me, would love to see it in real life someday.
In America, the term “prewar” is used to describe cars produced before the government shut down automotive production for WWII. This took place in February 1942; therefore, the term isn’t meant to imply that there wasn’t a war already going on in Europe, only that America hadn’t yet gotten personally involved.
Postwar cars, of course, are 1946 models and beyond.
The V styling on that yellow Champion was used only in 1941. The 1942 models used a single piece of trim down the side, as on the blackout 1942 Champion.
And Studebaker had quite a large choice of colours in 1941 – 22 single tones and 25 two tones.. Two tones could be had with a contrasting colour in the V or in the V and the roof of the car.
Always had a major soft spot for the original Champ. An excellent response to the size inflation that was already well under way. The first shot at a mass-market “compact”, which back then meant anyhting smaller than the Big Three sedans. And very well done; the Champ engine is a honey, and its performance, handling and economy were terrific.
The pre-war Champion was viewed as an 8/10 full-sized car, the Willys as a 7/10 by many. The Champion became a greatly in-demand car when the gas rationing was in force, especially those with overdrive. Studebaker created a tough little car that built a solid customer base for their postwar cars. The Champion accounted for 39.8% of 1939 total sales; 55% of 1940; 63% of 1941 and 58% of 1942.
And now that we can buy cars trimmed out however we like, everything is chromeless with black wheels, trim, and cladding…
Studebaker had barely changed their brochure art style by 1955:
A road test of a right hand drive 1939 Studebaker Commander, from the 16 Dec 1938 issue of Autocar (UK).
Image didn’t upload – I put them in Cohort (2 pages).
Robadr, this was terrific to read — I’m reposting both pages here so that others can more easily find it:
I’ve always thought that the ’39 Commander either copied Lincoln’s grille or vice-versa. Either way, thanks for the upload; I have books filled with reprints of original road tests, and I’ve always enjoyed “Autocar’s” take on things.
Yes, a lot of similarity there. The 38 Lincoln Zephyr really moved the grille down low, so the direction was there for all to see the year before the 39 Studebaker. But Raymond Loewy and Virgil Exner were styling Studes at the time, so there is no doubt that they were on top of the trend. I find the 39-40 big Studebakers to be really attractive cars.
In response to JP:
One thing is for sure…Studebaker often got the styling right!
Second page:
I did have to look up a definition for the word squab after reading this. Used in this sentence on page 2, describing the seats:
“At the back the squab is extended high up so that a passenger can rest his head, which the suspension allows.”
In my unabridged dictionary, definition #3 of squab is “a thickly stuffed, soft cushion.” So there… learned something new today.
Thanks Eric – don’t know why it wouldn’t upload for me…
And only one letter removed from “squib”, a word used into my time (’70’s-on) for someone who wants to, or does, get out doing things.
Added for educational purposes. Well, that and the fact that “squab” has always reminded me of “squib”.
I DID sit in a lot of unsupportive seats in ’50’s-’70’s cars back then, I suppose.
We should note that the Commander was a totally different car than the Champion, which was a clean sheet design and considerably smaller. The Commander and President were the “standard” Studebakers that, like the senior Packards, did not see the other side of WWII. The only thing about them that survived was the big old 226 cid six cylinder engine that powered the higher-end cars before the 1951 V8 came along, and that remained available in trucks until the early 60s.
A senior citizen friend (who is gone now) helped to build my present home as a teenager in 1941. They became friends with the first owner and spoke of their drunken house warming party on Saturday, December 6th,1941. The next day, the world changed. Within a year, his brother and 2 other friends were lost (one was MIA) . This a walk in the park compared to that.
Hey, it’s the Roaring 20s all over again! History doesn’t repeat itself, but it sure does rhyme, doesn’t it?
Deadly disease running wild over the whole world? Check. The Spanish Flu came in three waves from January 1918 to December 1920. I sincerely hope C-19 only comes in one. Please.
On the cusp of economic hard times? Check (FYU, the Great Depression was hitting farmers earlier than 1929 with the fall in wheat prices (From 1919 to 1920, corn tumbled from $1.30 per bushel to forty-seven cents, a drop of more than 63 percent. Wheat prices fell to $1.65 per bushel. The price of hogs dropped to $12.90 per hundred pounds) after the end of the Great War (Were ALL cataclysmic events named Great back then?) and the effects of the Spanish Flu. They were continually in debt because of the need to purchase expensive equipment like threshers and tractors. A mule and plow didn’t cut it anymore. Hundreds of thousands of businesses closing for the duration of the Covid epidemic with the billions of dollars in wages lost? I hope it is merely a recession.
Bars closed? Check. Social distancing necessitates this in 2020 instead of the short lived experiment known as Prohibition. At least we can still drink nationally. I’m taking advantage of this time to try different wines!
Two Curbside Classic questions come to mind:
1) Several automakers, some still revered to this day like Stutz and Pierce-Arrow, closed their doors forever. Who is on the cutting block this time? Who isn’t?
2) Do you see a decline in CUV and SUV sales and a greater demand for inexpensive cars. Did Ford and Chrysler screw themselves over by axing the Dart, Focus and Fiesta?
The Detroit 3 shot themselves in the foot decades ago by building Cavaliers, Focuses, and Neons that could not hold a candle to the Civic. Besides, those Fords you mention have an awfully unreliable automatic transmission.
Since my overpriced car insurance is due next month, I’m thinking about getting a pay per mile plan, only need a few miles a month to be covered for now. Has to have obd2, so would only be able to use my truck, Jetta is too old. Could just start it every couple of weeks for now and let it run for 20 minutes or so.
Another reason so few of the ‘blackout’ 1942 models exist is between being driven to death during the war, once peace arrived and the car was traded, updating to 1946 appearance was a common practice. As 1946 grille and trim became available, used car operators would ‘freshen-up’ a car with paint and chrome to look like a current model.
A thoughtful and most thought-provoking piece. I nearly missed it because I assumed the car pictured was a restomod or thereabouts!
I’m a bit with JPC in the thinking the black-out jobs a bit dreary, but suspect my thinking is coloured by the idea that a ’40’s car could never have had restomod-type blacking-out. It’s instead a proper historical artefact, and sobering in the context of these times.
A very nice looker, this Champ. Sort-of modest without being a thing of punishment.
A question, does the car have front quarterlights (vent windows/windwings) that are somehow without a seal to the winding door-window glass? Does it close behind them without a seal, like some French ’30’s exotic coupe? It’s a noticeably clean look on a ’40’s car, but have I got this all wrong?