Need help locating photos of the original gauges in this 1925 Studebaker Duplex Dash

1925 Standard Six ER Duplex Roadster Dashboard

Found several on Bing. This is the clearest.

That is a beautiful dash. Were these dashes faux painted to resemble the exotic wood shown? The metal trim on mine is curved and no sign of a wood veneer ever having been present.

That being said there are 5 gauges in that dash with large gauges on either side as opposed to the holes in mine. I have not seen a Studebaker dash with the horizontal half moon shape as shown in the centre. I am hoping to see a dash that is exactly the same as this one as I have found many old dashes just not the one I have

Here is another picture in a car without the wood trim. This is the only configuration for the gauges on a 25 Studebaker I have seen. You might post this in the Studebaker forum, below this forum, and see what responce you get there.

Peter P.What tells that it`s a 1925 Studebaker as you say.

[h=2]Leif in Sweden.[/h]

[h=2][/h]

Hello Leif,

I was told it was a 1925. It could possibly be a 1926 but it is a Studebaker Duplex Roadster Coupe and most likely a standard six. I am aware there were 5 different dash gauge configuration during the two year run. The holes in my dash must correspond with gauges of the same size. I have yet to see a photo of that dash gauge set up in a Studebaker.

In the photo of the dash there is the brass plate on the R/H side that says "Built by Studabaker" and the SN Date Plate that came off the frame "1953810 Studebaker corporation Walkerville Ontario Canada". Another forum member ran the SN and came up with a late 1925 date of manufacture

Seems to be a hard one to find on internet.I have tryed couple of houers without any luck.

Leif in Sweden.

Hi Peter, the problem might be the "made in Canada " aspect. I don't have any Stude experience but I have found there are lots of small [and not so small} differences between U.S. produced Buick's and McLaughlin Buick's. You might have to track down another Canadian produced car to see if it matches your dash. Your dash could possibly be Canadian production only.

Happy hunting-- Greg in Canada

Another idea, Studebaker was making Erskine cars about that time also. Could be an Erskine, and there are not many pictures of them that I have located.

Hi Leif, Yes, I know. I have spend more than a few evenings looking with no results too. Thats when I turned to this forum. Hoping someone has pics that match that dash

Hi Greg, Glad you mentioned that point. I would not have considered it but it makes sense. I decided to phone the Reynolds Museum in Wetaskiwin, Alberta since they have a huge collection of older (Canadian), cars and restorations done in-house. I had a very nice conversation with a lady in the restoration department. She took all the vehicle details and will pass them along to the research staff. I am hopeful that they may have some photos or documentation that the Studebaker Museum in the US does not have. Great tip Greg.

Peter, the correct dash for your car is the third of the five designs. My 27 Dictator has the fourth design. The third design is similar to the one Fleek posted, except the gauge panel is black instead of silver. The speedometer is on the left, clock on the right. Between them are either three (ammeter, oil pressure, gas gauge) or four (brake pressure added) smaller round gauges. Cars with two wheel brakes had wood spoked wheels and amp, oil and gas gauges. Cars with four wheel brakes had disc wheels and the added brake pressure gauge. In both cases they are behind a glass panel.

At that point in time Studebaker did not make any dash boards with the half moon shaped opening. Also, the one you have does not appear to have any provision for a glass front. It's only a guess, but I think what you have is an early auto accesory panel.

Terry

The "Studebaker" knowledge at Richard Quinn's website is extensive. I didn't see your dash there but he might be able to help you. He welcomes emailed questions about Studebakers: http://www.thestudebakerwheel.com/default.htm

Hi Peter

I made a mistake in my post above. Your car should have the second dash board design, not third. Going by serial numbers, the first design was current from Canadian serial #1951351 to 1953343 (speedometer on right) and 1953343 to 1953784 (speedometer on left). Second design current from 1953784 to 1953880. Your serial number is 1953810, so your car falls in this range. Note that only 96 Canadian assembled cars used this panel. There is no clock in this panel, but it still has the silver face. The third design has a black gauge panel, but the gauges are the same as the second design. It is current from 1953880 to 1954401. Fourth design (the one in my 27 Dictator) was current from 1954401 to 1956400. My serial number is 1956037. The fifth design would have been current after 1956400, but my parts book doesn't cover it. Designs 1 to 4 used round gauges only. Design 5 featured rectangular gauges.

Terry

Surrey, BC

Hi Terry,

Thank you for that info. Based on your research there were only 96 cars made with my panel. That goes a long way to explaining the dirty of photographs of the dash. It would be interesting to know how many of those 96 cars survived. What I am confused about still is the half moon shape gauge hole in the top centre of my dash. What went in there as it could not be a round gauge. Was there a glass face that would have attached as in the photo attached by Fleek?

Hi Peter,

Unfortunately, I'm afraid you have misread what I said. Studebaker did not make any cars with a half moon shaped gauge in the panel at that time. The first through fourth design panels used round gauges only. The panel in your car is not correct for a late model ER Standard 6. Nor does it appear to have any provision for a glass face covering all the gauges. The general shape of it just does not appear to be correct. I have no idea what it is from.

Terry

Hi Terry,

Terry, I saw your post. But, to be honest, I can see no way that the dash is not an original Canadian made Studebaker. It has the imbedded square brass plaque "Body by Studebaker" in the right hand side of the dash as shown in the photo. The dash does not appear to have been altered in any way and looks original to the manufacture date of the car. So, what I am asking is what was the half moon gauge in that dash made by Studebaker in Walkerville, Ontario Canada? Something happened that makes that dash different than all the photographs that are currently on the internet. I suspect that 1912Staver hit the nail on the head in that the problem is the "Made in Canada" issue. Might that dash have been a borrowing from another manufacturer in Canada at that time? The car is a Standard Six ER Duplex Roadster Coupe based on the photo correct?

Could the half moon hole have been for some other type of control? Or for a light to light the gauges like on earlier Studebaker panels. Just a thought. Looks like an interesting car but a big project.

Hi Peter

This is a bit of a mystery! Your car is definitely a Standard 6 Model ER Duplex Roadster. No argument about the dash board, either. However, the gauge panel is not an integral part of the dash. Unless someone welded the gauge panel in, it should be removable. I'm curious as to whether there any identifying marks on the back of the gauges.

Terry

Hi Studeboy,

Thats an interesting thought. I have not seen what the dash light holes would have looked like in other Studebakers. I have none of the original gauges so even the possible assembly or shape is a mystery. I would be interested in seeing other panels that had dash lights to light the gauges but had been opened to show the inner workings.

Could the half moon hole have been for some other type of control? Or for a light to light the gauges like on earlier Studebaker panels. Just a thought. Looks like an interesting car but a big project.

Hi Terry,

The raised area of the panel with the gauge holes is 12 1/2" wide by 5 1/2" tall. It is a very thin punch out and it is original to the dash panel. I am a welder and that part was not added in after the fact. I will be attaching a few more photos to show the dash are behind and from below etc. The space was tight and ackward to shoot. It does show the gauge cluster area as being an integral part though. I have never seen the gauges that were in the car originally. It came to me with almost nothing interior wise.

Interestingly it is painted from behind so I am wondering if it had lighting from the rear for the gauges? The gauge holes have edges that only go 3/4 of the way around and are flat at the top. I assume either to let light shine on the gauges or as a seating mechanism? The plywood behind the dash is still in place. I could not see any part numbers anywhere

Terry

This is a bit of a mystery! Your car is definitely a Standard 6 Model ER Duplex Roadster. No argument about the dash board, either. However, the gauge panel is not an integral part of the dash. Unless someone welded the gauge panel in, it should be removable. I'm curious as to whether there any identifying marks on the back of the gauges.

Terry

This is getting intriguing. Is there a tag on the passengers side of the firewall under the hood? If there is, it should have ER (model) R (body type Duplex Roadster) and underneath that an assembly line sequence number. If there was anything which was different about a car it (sometimes) would be indicated here.

Terry

Hi Terry, No dash plate unfortunately. I am also having problems posting the pics otherwise I would attach better photos of the rear of the dashboard and the holes for gauges. I did receive this picture recently. Thought it was of interest.

Hi Peter

Darn! I was hoping that plate would be there. There is a chance it might be somewhere else on the firewall under there hood, but I'm presuming you checked that. The gauges were lit from behind by a single bulb. There are no axles in the pictures you posted. Do you have them? Wood spokes or disc wheels?

Terry

Hi Terry,

No plate. I can see where it had been mounted on the front of the dash but it is long gone. The car did not come with axles nor wheels either. I did not get much new info from the Canadian Museum in Alberta that holds a huge collection of antique cars. While super helpful people there I had hoped that they would have further info on the Canadian made Studebakers but sadly they did not have much either. This is a real mystery. Is it possible that Studebaker in Canada had some cooperation with Erskine early on as the dash panels are similar in that gauges were set into the dash panels??

I saw this on Wikipedia just now:

Plant 7 was at Walkerville, Canada, where complete cars were assembled from South Bend, Detroit, and locally-made components for the Canadian and British Empire (right-hand-drive) trade. By locating it there, Studebaker could advertise the cars as "British-built" and qualify for reduced tariffs.

So, based on that I am assuming that the dash had some locally made touches to it but just which local supplier is the big question?

Hi Peter,

The trouble with that thought is that the Erskine car didn't exist in 1925. The first Erskines were marketed in 1927 and the name was discontinued in 1930. They were built by Studebaker and named after A R Erskine, Studebaker's president 1915-33. The biggest mystery is still the half moon shaped gauge. Even if you include Erskine, none of them had a gauge like that.

Terry

Hi Terry,

Yes, I know but I had not seen any other mfg with a dash like mine. The only other car mfg that had something even close to my dash was same era Dodge-Brothers. It is frustrating that there is no information out there. I have not seen many dash panels with the half moon cutouts either.. Thank you though for all your help

Pete

Hi Peter,

The trouble with that thought is that the Erskine car didn't exist in 1925. The first Erskines were marketed in 1927 and the name was discontinued in 1930. They were built by Studebaker and named after A R Erskine, Studebaker's president 1915-33. The biggest mystery is still the half moon shaped gauge. Even if you include Erskine, none of them had a gauge like that.

Terry

Mystery Solved. Richard Quinn, from the Studebaker Drivers Club Forum, kindly posted a few attachments that showed my dash and gauges that would have been in some versions of the Standard Six ER cars. This is known as the second version, or "Embossed" dash. The other dash versions, 1, 3 & 4 had the encased, dash cluster bezel as seen in many photos currently on the net.

Using the info above, is it possible to find those gauges today using their part numbers today??

Hi Peter,

I have a 25 ER Duplex - & looks like my dash is bit different than yours- my photo

file size is too large to send via this forum - but send me your email & i'll send photos that way

timcw@Carolina.rr.com