1951 Studebaker Commander Land Cruiser

[@kimjungun4038]

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES. THIS CAR WAS MY SECOND AS A YOUNG TEENAGER, I REMEMBER A DAY WHEN YOU SAW PLENTY OF THESE ON THE ROADS. I CALLED THEM ROCKETSHIP CARS, BECAUSE OF THE NOSE CONE. GREAT OLD CAR. I BOUGHT TWO OTHER LATER MODEL STUDEBAKERS IN MY LIFE. YOU DID A FINE JOB RESTORING THIS OLD CAR.

[@martentrudeau6948]

Very nice beautiful Studebaker Commander.

[@knitterscheidt]

wow! an overhead V8 in '51, that's before the big 3...really just a beautiful car

[@kensherwood4866]

Lovely example of a distinctive and I feel attractive car. It reminds me so much of my 1960 Rover P4 100, suicide doors, simplicity, quality of construction. I understand the British engineers designing the Rover looked at post war Studebakers for inspiration when designing the first post war new Rover in the late 1940's. Thanks for posting your video

[@donnastark906]

My parents bought a Rover when we lived in Hawaii in 1965!

[@garlandsonsel6920]

My 1 st car was a 51 commander, paid 4200 AND LOVED IT. Only drawback was 6 volt ignition. You could fix it with a pair of pliers and some bubble gum.

[@buddyanddaisy123]

Studebaker made very interesting cars-I think a revival of this style would be great. People are tired of look-alike cars-the rear ends of a BMW, Toyota, Chevrolet, Hyundy all look the same.

[@donnastark906]

I agree 100%

[@torythefanman]

That is a Beautiful Car! nicely kept. Studebaker has always been my favorite car brand of the 50's. iv always loved the Bullet nose grill on them. also i love the Suicide doors! overall an awesome buy on that!

[@EmersonCollie]

That and the bullet nose always reminded me of most fans if you think about it.

[@michaelniemann6110]

Just viewed your video. Thanks for sharing. I learned to drive in a black Studebaker Commander almost exactly like this one. Ours was a three speed with overdrive. I loved that car.

[@310McQueen]

It appears to have been built deliberately to be serviced and repaired by its owner. It would be great to have a car like that today.

[@5610winston]

Major Studebaker innovation, often overlooked: cars equipped with Automatic Drive were the first in the industry to have the double-wide brake pedal.

[@Valor_73737]

Studebaker had another innovation not used by other companies! The Hill Holder! Cars so equipped, manual or automatic transmission, could stop on an uphill grade, driver could then remove his or her foot from the brake pedal and the car would NOT roll backwards! Especially nice with a manual transmission! Not acrobatics with the right foot between the brake pedal and the gas pedal. Brakes would release as clutch was engaged!

[@07yenisd]

Remarkable. Love the suicide doors! Classy look! Thanx for posting.

[@55commander]

I wish my 51 2 door Commander sedan was this nice, then again I would have to wash and keep it clean.

[@TheRealKnightFuryPremiere]

A very unique automobile.

[@EskieWolf]

Nice car! And I agree with you about bringing back the simple engines.

[@EmersonCollie]

Yep, simple and basic. Just the way I like it. I believe a food run is in order for my next video of it.

[@torythefanman]

Sometimes the simple designs do it better. less stuff to go wrong with it.

[@EmersonCollie]

***** Exactly!

[@davidjohnson4343]

One of the annoying problems I had with the '51 commander was carburetor vapor lock in the mountains.

[@JeffDeWitt]

An electric fuel pump helps a lot with that. The junk that passes for gasoline these days boils at a low temperature.

[@StudebakerDrvrsClub]

Very nice Land Cruiser. Thanks for the vid.

[@Robbi496]

Raymond Loewy outdid himself on this styling job!

[@EmersonCollie]

I agree, Sorry for the late response.

[@5610winston]

Loewy was a great promoter and a competent salesman and he recognized talent, but the '47 Studebakers were largely the work of Virgil Exner; the '50 and '51 models were facelifts of the '47-'49 generation largely based on a Loewy sketch from around 1942.

[@5610winston]

1:30 note the brake pedal. Studebaker was the first maker in the industry to use a double-wide pedal in cars with Automatic Drive. Studebaker's air-cooled three-speed planetary automatic with the locking torque converter was the most advanced automatic in the world at that time.

[@JeffTheFarmer365]

Bought one of these cars brand new, wrote it off the same day.

[@JeffTheFarmer365]

@LAFOLLETTER Wrote it off as in had to swerve to avoid getting into a head on collision with a vehicle that was in the wrong lane going the wrong direction. In doing so the guy still managed to sideswipe the drivers side which pushed my car into a vehicle on the passenger side. Was wrecked on both sides pretty much front to back. That one had 6 cylinder if i remember correctly. Still have it but its buried out in my field

[@elmakarov]

Imagine if someone bought the Studebaker brand name and brought cars like these back today. With that sleek 'modern yet retro' look that a lot of companies are going with nowadays, I bet someone could make a lot of money. Put a quiet engine in it and work a little bit on the aerodynamics to make it more efficient. It'd be an easy sell. Cars like this a re so freakin' cool.

[@EmersonCollie]

That's what they did with the Studebaker Avanti.

[@elmakarov]

When was that? Like what year? and who did it?

[@dttomsen971]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avanti_(car)

[@5610winston]

The investors who built the Avanti II had also bought the production facilities, so they also had the original fiberglass molds and built their own frames and chassis. When the time came for a complete redesign, they brought in Tom Kellogg, who had been a member of the original Avanti team.

[@richardwhitfill7573]

this is the car we had when I was a kid in the fifties except it was a two-door

[@laserleftfootttt7683]

me too, it was the first car my parents had when my dad came back from korea.

[@bbishoppcm]

And once again, congratulations on your win. This car is beautiful!

[@EmersonCollie]

I agree, Thanks.

[@jameshutch985]

+Emerson Collie I am strongly considering getting a 51 Commander but I was wondering the availability of parts. do you suggest any sites or possibly have any yourself? Specifically looking for interior parts

[@fortime5143]

I love that horn

[@neildickson5394]

The most advanced looking car on the road in 50-51.

[@5610winston]

And the pan had flashed and sputtered by 1952.

[@StealthyWolfDaddyWerewolf]

I like the suicide doors. Amazing the interior and everything is still in really good shape. I agree about the old technology to the new technology. Everything after the 80s got bad and everything after 99 is horrible with electrical and mechanical issues. That car reminds me of Mark II Lincoln.

[@1stMarine]

Beautiful

[@rickster348]

- I had a '50, '51, and a '52., (A long, long time ago).

[@GnonplussedGnome]

My parents has a 50 Champion

[@jefferyb304]

I think I'll add a Studebaker vehicle to my list of things I'd like to have. My neighbor has had multiple new and old rides over the past few years. Right now, he has what I assume is a 1950's model. I know for sure it's a Mercury.

[@EmersonCollie]

Those 1950 Mercury's were very popular in the early 50's. Still is today with car collectors.

[@Valor_73737]

The Commander and Land Cruiser were two different models. Land Cruiser had that wing vent on the rear door windows. The Commander did not! Incidentally, 1951 was the first year Studebaker offered a V-8 engine! 232 CID, standard engine for both the Commander and Land Cruiser models. Same basic engine eventually morphed into a 304 with a supercharger before the end of the company.

[@bladder1010]

Beautiful. Back before cars were designed by corporate lawyers and cake decorators.

[@taxi0512]

Fantastic Study!

[@CarlosHenrique-hi8kk]

Maravilhoso! Muita saudade!

[@themobseat]

Thanks, great video!

[@hectormcarmonadiaz9184]

What a nice car,love it,

[@themaritimegirl]

Interesting name for a car - sounds like something you'd find on a Jeep instead.

[@EmersonCollie]

Or Toyota. There is a Toyota Land Cruiser. I believe Studebaker originally had both of those names. Durring the early 50's The Jeep was the Willys-Overland CJ-3A. The first Japanese car to be imported in the united states was a Toyopet Crown in 1957. Which was later known as Toyota.

[@marioncobaretti2280]

I totaly love this car

[@rafistudies8295]

I want one

[@sharonatl]

the minimumlist car

[@frankgiaquinto1571]

1951 was the first year for the Studebaker V8, and the last year for the bullet nose grille. Too bad they couldn't survive past 1966.

[@theoriginaljimmykicker]

So, I guess I now own one of these. My father passed away a week or so ago, and we have one of these. Been stored in the basement since 1974. Nothing wrong when parked. It was a family car and he grew tired of people vandalizing it on the street. It's been there ever since. Any tips on getting it running? I know these have a 6 volt battery.

[@EmersonCollie]

Sorry to hear that about your father. As for getting it running, it uses the same distributor cap and rotor as GM engines. You can still get that, the wires and spark plugs at an auto parts store. Keep in mind that the car has a positive ground. The generator is a Delco Remy so it's not hard to get it running again. The starter is a Delco Remy too.

[@theoriginaljimmykicker]

@@EmersonCollie Thank you for the quick and informative response! I thought I remember my dad saying the car had a positive ground, but I had actually forgotten that! Good save! Thanks for the condolences on my dad too. He was a good man. It occurred to me that this car has been in my family for like 70 years! It would be crazy to not at least get the old girl running. Any tips on the auto trans before attempting a start?

[@theoriginaljimmykicker]

I brought the car home a couple of weeks ago. Collecting parts for it now. It is truly in fantastic shape. I'm looking forward to getting this thing going really soon.

[@michealrichard5706]

nice car

[@michaelanderson8514]

my first car at 15 paid $50 never ran had to junk it very sad

[@lucyluwickerbeast851]

very nice ^^

[@AdrenalineJunkies6969]

They made automatic transmissions in the 50s?

[@jefftreseder4358]

+yamaha rider02 Oh yea... Chrysler had Fluid-Drive, Buick had Dynaflow, other Gm's had the Hydra-Matic. The Hydra-Matic, introduced in late 1939, was the world’s first really successful fully automatic transmission.

[@AdrenalineJunkies6969]

+Jeff Treseder I hate automatics to begin with

[@5610winston]

Studebaker beat the industry to market with a three-speed fully automatic transmission, "Automatic Drive", which included a lock-up clutch in the torque converter. Also, the Automatic Drive transmission was air-cooled.

[@davidjohnson4343]

the 51 stude standard had overdrive and a hill holder so you could take your foot off the brake on a hill.

[@5610winston]

Actually, overdrive was an option available on all models, priced around $90 (1951 dollars, probably about$1000 2016 dollars). The hill holder was standard on all models except for the severely de-contented Champion Custom (roughly equivalent to the later Scotsman models of '57-'58). I had a '51 Commander Starlight with overdrive when I was in high school (cough) years ago. Also, early production '51 Studebaker V8's had notoriously soft camshafts, a service bulletin that apparently never reached my car's previous owner.

[@raylocke282]

Studebaker Commander had a small 232 V8 in 1950.Olds had the 301 in 49 and Chevy had 265 in 55.Mopar had baby hemi in ?

[@EmersonCollie]

The Studebaker Commander had the 232 V8 option in 1951. Not 1950.

[@chaspipin5654]

Didn't the 1950 Studebaker copy some looks and features from the 1948 Tucker.

[@5610winston]

There may have been some convergence, but Raymond Loewy had sketched the bullet-nose theme as early as 1942, just in time for the suspension of production of all civilian automobile production. Rear-hinged back doors were not uncommon in sedans of the period, and Studebaker did experiment with rear-mounted engine designs in preparation for the 1947 models. The entire 1947 line was radically new in the context of the time, and Studebaker management was not thrilled with the direction the design was going. My understanding is that Studebaker management paid Raymond Loewy Associates designer Virgil Exner to design a more conservative grille (and body from the cowl back) for the Champion and Commander (including Land Cruiser) models, and these were the designs that went into production. Loewy was, understandably, furious, and fired Exner, who kicked around the industry and achieved some modest success with his designs for the late fifties Chrysler products. Loewy, nonetheless, claimed sole credit for the '47-model Studes which were introduced in early spring of 1946 after a short run of '46 Champions which had been lightly facelifted '42 models. Anyhow, came time to redesign the Studebaker line, Loewy dusted off the P-38 bullet-nose and Studebaker, having seen the success of the bullet-nose '49 Ford, adopted it. Stories are told of dealers who nosed the cars into banks of potted plants to disguise the grilles until sales exploded. The bullet nose proved to be a flash in the pan, though, and by the middle of the 1951 model year, everybody who wants a bullet-nose Studebaker had one. The 1952-models were planned to be something spectacular in celebration of Studebaker's centennial year, but the new design proposals went from mediocre to dreadful, leaving little choice but to punt with a face-lift without the bullet. The real fireworks of the Studebaker centennial year proved to be the '53 models, based on a low-slung, sexy coupe profile designed by a young designer named Bob Bourke of Raymond Loewy's firm, and (you guessed it) Loewy again claimed credit.

[@raylocke282]

260 v8 Overhead valve.Ford still had flatheads Chevy had the stovebolt six.

[@tank123103]

Did they make these with overdrive?

[@EmersonCollie]

Not the automatics but the three on the tree manual transmissions were. Once you wind the third gear up, you let off the gas and a solenoid will engage it. Some you can pull can pull to engage manually.

[@tank123103]

@@EmersonCollie was that for every model or kind of an add on you could pay for?

[@EmersonCollie]

@@tank123103 No, that's how their manuals were originally set up from the factory.

[@tank123103]

@@EmersonCollie ah interesting alright I'll assume this guy meant his was broken, thanks ^~^

[@EmersonCollie]

@@tank123103 More than likely it is broken. Keep in mind, 1951 was 72 years ago. Could be the wiring, or the solenoid itself. And no problem.

[@dondesnoo1771]

Had a convertible we put 259engine as originals bearings ng.on those weak .had 53also engine ng.put289.

[@EmersonCollie]

Weak bearings? Hard for me to believe that. Mine is 68 years old and it runs just fine.

[@EddieGarcia-v8i]

Is it for sell

[@EmersonCollie]

No.

[@vuralgvn1063]

The mask

[@EmersonCollie]

That's right. If you look closely at the scene in the movie. Jim Carrey and the Valet parker used a 1951 model to drive around in. The one that fell apart on the bridge was a 1950 model.

[@mrlowriders1757]

I have a spare motor contact me

[@bjarnistefansson9714]

Í

[@davidbhinckley]

Computer bullshit? Maybe instead of recording this on your phone you could break out your 1950 8mm movie camera.

[@frabciscobarajas6920]

caps are made in Taiwan pics of sh

[@EmersonCollie]

+Frabcisco Barajas Their not made in Taiwan. Just that box is, and that's not the original box for those hub caps. Just a box big enough to put those hub caps in.

[@frabciscobarajas6920]

Emerson Collie beautiful car, American made, thanks