Mark Huston

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I have a 1929 Studebaker President with wire wheels. The wire wheels are the type with the wire welded to the rim and attached with a flared end in the center hub. Two of my six wheels have very loose wires at the hub and I can't use them so they are in the sidemounts and not relied on to drive the car on. One of the four better wheels, that I do use when driving the car, has had several of the wires break the weld at the rim. I have had the broken welds repaired, however, another wire has come detached from the rim. It is time to consider a professional rebuild of all six wire wheels. Does anyone have experience with having their wire wheels rebuilt? I have heard of Dayton Wire Wheels in Ohio. Don't know anything about them and unfortunately, they are over 2,000 miles from my location in California. I was hoping to find someone closer, if possible. The wheels on my Studebaker are impossible to find and cannot be replaced if lost by a shipping company. The wheels on my 1929 Studebaker President Brougham were only used by Studebaker on the 1929 President Brougham and the other Studebaker Presidents used a different type of wire wheel - exposed lug nuts and threaded nipples at the rim instead of welded. Which makes it impossible to find replacement wheels, hub caps, and lock rings. This is why I hesitate to just box them up irreplaceable wheels and hope to get them back again when I have had things lost by shipping companies before. The picture of one of my wire wheels was taken when I had them stripped and powder coated over 15 years ago. In the years since I have driven the car thousands of miles and the wheels are now failing. Time to revisit the wheels before I have a major wheel failure while driving. Does anyone have suggestions?

I have YOM plates on my 1929 Studebaker President. The bankrupt state of California charges extra for everything including YOM plates. I pay the extra registration fees because I prefer the look of the original plates to the new standard issue plates that are the only other alternative. California requires all vehicle plates to have registration Month/Year stickers. They benevolently provide metal tabs to add to the YOM plates that don’t have the spots already on them for the stickers. It really adds that modern touch to your antique auto.

I like this photo because it is one of the few of a when new 1929 Studebaker President Brougham. An added plus, is it shows the proud new owner, and the car is sporting double sided whitewalls. The only picture from when they were new I have found of a 1929 Studebaker President Brougham with whitewall tires.

I only hit the head of the cow just as it started to cross the road. I am sure the outcome would have been far worse if I hit more than just its head.

In August of 1977, I was working in Gulf service station. The owner of the station previously had purchased for his daughter a low mileage well maintained 1964 Plymouth Barracuda. One day I showed up at work and the 64 Barracuda was sitting in the corner of the gas station lot. I asked the boss if we needed to do some work on his daughters car. He said no, she inherited a relatives 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air four door hardtop and no longer wanted the Barracuda. I then asked to buy the Barracuda and ended up getting it for $400.00. The Barracuda had the slant 6 engine with a four speed manual transmission on the floor. I was going to college at the time and some of classes were at night. At that time, in 1977, the college was out of town sounded by farms and cow pastures. Today it is surrounded by strip malls and track houses. One month after buying the 64 Barracuda, September 1977, I was coming home from a night class about a mile from the college and suddenly the Barracuda's hood flew up into the windshield and car was spinning in the middle of the country road. I had no idea what happened but remember as I was hanging onto the steering wheel in shock the car was spinning around in a circle seeing a 1970s custom van trying to stop before hitting me. After the car came to a stop the guy in the van ran up to see if I was ok and told me that I had hit a cow (turned out to be a Black Angus) that had started to cross the road. I never saw the cow because it was black on a dark road at night. The van driver stated he saw the cow fly across the road to the other side from where I hit it. Sure enough, we found the cow laying dead well off the road on the other side from where I hit it. I ended up having the Barracuda towed to the station where I worked from the accident scene. No one locally claimed the cow and it was unbranded. The next day the boss was not happy with me wrecking the car he bought for his daughter after I had only had it for one month. A kid younger than me came into the station a few days later asking about the wrecked Barracuda and wanted to buy it. I sold it to him for a couple hundred bucks (still lost money on the deal) and he towed it away. He didn't fix the front end, just tied the hood down and got it running again with a replacement radiator. The next time I saw the car in the gas station the big rear window was blown out with holes in the rear of the car body. I asked the kid what happened to the back end of the car. He stated he was at a party and guy got mad at him for coming onto his girl. As he was making a run for it the guy started shooting at him as he fled in the Barracuda. Put holes in it and busted the rear window. A sad end to a nice 64 Barracuda.

In 1975, my first daily driver car, that I was able to buy, was a 1964 Plymouth sedan with close to 200 thousand miles on it. Slant six with three on the column. The engine required one or two quarts of oil with every tank of gas. I paid $50 dollars for the car and had to put in a new battery, tires, tune up, and oil change before I could start driving it. I drove the Plymouth for a little over a year when I ran it off the road flipping it and rolling it into a cow pasture. I took out the battery, replaced the tires for junk ones, and then sold the car to a junk yard for $50. My first driver and my first accident.

The 1928 FA chassis serial numbers (with a FB engine) US factory production started with 6,008,601 to 6,013,000. Canadian production with the FB engine had a serial number range starting with 6,950,351 to 6,950,900.

Nice 1931 President Four Seasons Roadster. The correct term for this model you referenced in the Facebook post. Someone is confusing the 1933 President Speedway models with 1931 President Four Seasons Roadster. Another way of mixing the truth with hype.

Here is a front end shot of the 1928 President FB roadster and my 1928 FA President when we toured together on a stop in the woods of Oregon.

I previously owned a 1928 FA President 1st series. The 1928 FA President was built on the 131 inch wheelbase chassis. Here are pictures of that car for comparison to your 131 inch chassis roadster.

Your measurement of the wheelbase, if correct, of 131 inches, would make your car chassis a 1928. Also, the fact that you have a President FB engine also points to a 1928. The FB engine was introduced mid year 1928 when the shorter wheelbase FB President chassis was introduced. Starting with the mid year 1928 President models the FB engine was used and there were two President available the 131 and 121 inch chasses. Only on the 121 inch chassis could you get the roadster body style. Here are pictures of an old friends 1928 FB roadster. Yes, it is the same car in two different paint jobs. The all black was the first time he restored the car and then later repainted it red and back. You will notice the difference in the belt line and overall body lines compared to your car. Also, in 1928 all FB roadsters did not have side mount spares - just rear mounted spare tire. It was not until the introduction of the FE/FH Presidents in 1929 that the roadster had side mount spare tires.

The engine is Studebaker green along with the standard compression head. If the engine has an optional higher compression head only the head is painted the color to identify it as a non standard compression head. So you could have a Studebaker green engine with Sky Blue head.

I guess not being a fan of European “supercars” has saved me a ton of money to blow on real cars.

Thank you for the heads up. I will get the hotel reservations taken care of right away. I plan on staying at the same hotel that we used the last time.

I am looking forward to attending the Modoc tour this year. I have not received my invitation to the 2020 Modoc tour, yet. It must still be in the mail. In my enthusiasm for touring again over the weekend I purchased an enclosed car trailer. This will be the first time I have ever owned a car trailer to attend a tour.

Congratulations! It is always uplifting to hear a fellow collector achieve one of their dreams. The sad truth is that we always find a way of replacing one dream for a new one. Perhaps, your next dream/pursuit will be a Duesenburg. After all, we never stop dreaming.

Today, was my first day that I have been allowed to drive after my brain surgery. In honor of the occasion, I took the Studebaker out for a drive for the first time since July 4th, 2019. It was great to be behind the wheel of the Studebaker President once again. She behaved beautifully and it was a great day.

Here we are, my wife and I, in September 2015 on the Modoc Tour in the town of Likely, CA with our 1929 Studebaker President Brougham.

Here I am leaning on the fender of my 1929 Studebaker Commander when it broke down on a tour in the mid 1980s. The break down was the result of a failed fuel pump.

My brother’s 1929 Studebaker FH President Cabriolet with his son celebrating the Fourth of July 2019.

Here is my brother, driving his 1929 Studebaker President seven passenger touring, on a Studebaker meet we attended in the mid 1990s. When this picture was taken he had six kids (his kids, my kids, and some random kids attending the meet) and two adults in his seven passenger. From the looks of the kids having fun they don't seem to have been crowded in the back of the Studebaker.

Here are some pictures I took of one of the remaining 1933 President Speedway Model 92'sThese pictures were taken in 2013. Beautiful car. I would have loved the opportunity to drive one of the greatest Studebaker Presidents built.

Great looking Studebaker! I am sure you have a blast with it everytime you take it out. What model is it?

A 1933 Studebaker on the streets in the 1957. It is reported to have survived.