studebaker ( or packard ) ca 1930 grandfather's car

Before the 2nd world war my grandfather was driver etc for a rich Dutch nobleman, Baron van Heeckeren van Kell.

In his heritage we found this picture, and we are wondering what kind of car it is.

It was placed at http://www.svvs.org/help16.shtml

and identification should be a studebaker ca 1929.

Other search showed that it seems rather similiar to the 1930 Studebaker Commander.

Positive facts : 10 rod wheels , the layout of the backdoor and the shape of the back-wheel-thing. ( dont know the word )

Also the general looking is very familiar, except for the non-tilted windscreen.

Possibly only available in the touring-model ?

At another website it is told that it was not uncommon in those days to have another (special design) carosserie placed on the more expensive cars.

Then it should be difficult to find all the details ( e.g. the opening direction of the doors )

For the size of the car : my grandfather was about 1.65 - 1.70 meter high .

Any help is welcome

roelo

The car in this picture does have some features are very similar to the 1929 Studebaker. The 1929 Studebaker Commanders did have 10 spoke wood wheels, the fender, bumpers, hood are in line with a Studebaker. I am not 100% certain it is a Studebaker because of the heavy line that is above the door handles. The car might have a custom body which would account for the belt line appearing to stand out in this picture. I have attached a picture of 1929 Studebaker Commander touring that is currently in India. Compare the body features with your picture. Notice the difference in the belt line and the proximity between the location of the door handles and the belt line. There is a definite difference here that I can’t explain. Also, on Studebakers the door hinges are not visible, in your picture you can clearly see the hinges protruding from between the doors and the body. Look at the picture of the Commander in India and you see a smooth body with no evidence of the hinges. So, is this a custom body Studebaker, or another make of car?

I am fairly sure that this is actually a 1929 GE Dictator not a Commander - the Commander has more louvres in the hood. I think the Indian car may be a Dictator too. The Indian car is possibly the Regal model being on wires whereas the car in the old pic is probably the standard version. As any student of Studebaker history of this era knows there were many changes in these models during production.

The picture I posted of the touring in India is a Regal GJ Commander (this identification was provided by the owner based on the cowl ID tag). I will agree that Studebaker did making running changes during production as a marketing policy to assure the buyer that no matter what time of the year they purchased a new Studebaker it was best product available at the time with no improvements being held back for the next model year.

I still believe that the car in question in the original posting does not have a Studebaker factory body. Studebaker touring car bodies after 1914 did not have exposed door hinges. The car in this picture has many features similar to a Studebaker (hood, fenders, and bumpers) but it may have had a custom body installed. If you have ever been in a Studebaker touring of this era they are very basic – which would make it understandable that a person of means in Europe during the 1920s would choose to have a fancy custom body installed in place of a plain factory touring body. My brother has a 1929 President touring and the only thing it has to offer is a seat in the back with the guarantee that you will get plenty of fresh air during your ride.

Hi Mark,

We at the SVVS ( http://www.svvs.org/help16.shtml ) struggled over this one for a while for the reasons of the body. My tendency (was) would be to agree with you that during this period coachwork bodies were relatively the norm, so a Dutch body would probably have been put on the chassis, especially by a Baron who would not normally like to be seen in a 'factory' car. We could not find a matching body probably because a Baron would not want one to be matched !!

Regards

Vintman (UK)

www.svvs.org

Hi Vintman,

I agree with your assessment of this unusual Studebaker. What I find interesting is that the Baron opted for a wood wheel car. However, I know of one instance of a buyer in 1929 (the original owner of a ’29 President owned by my brother) choosing a wood wheel President over the more deluxe wire wheel model because he felt that wood wheels were less time consuming to keep clean. In this case I am sure the Baron left the wheel cleaning to his chauffer.

I have never actually seen a GJ in the metal. I presume that as it uses what I guess is a long stroke version of the GE engine that it also has the same length hood? The only visual difference then would be the smaller wheels (19" vs 20") and the longer chassis (120" vs 113"). I have a GE Dictator from this era but it is a wire wheel sedan - it is quite tall and boxy compared to the tourer. It is interesting to note that the Indian car appears to hang out further at the back - maybe it is a 7 passenger model?

yes the Indian car is a 7 passenger tourer,but the two centre passengers sit facing each other and the doors double up as seat backs. its a GJ Commander Six, bought new by my great grandfather, and still owned by us. the car has also been used by mahatma Gandhi, and most recently, in October 2011 it was part of the drivers parade in the Indian Formula1 Grand Prix, with Bruno Senna in the back seat.