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1932 Commander Convertible Sedan For Sale on FB marketplace


stude24

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I must admit,  Studebaker, of this vintage, made some BEAUTIFUL cars.  I hope someone with patience, time and a desire to see things through, buys this elegant old lady and restores her.  A few years ago, it could have been me.  (My garage is full now).

Al

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Years ago I would have been all over this car.  After speaking with the owner and two people that have already seen it, I know better.  With the restoration time and money you would always be upside down on this one.  Been there done that.  But I hope someone with more money than brains restores it. 

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The problem today is there are lots of rare cars to be restored and few guys wanting to tackle them so many will languish until they become the top of the heap and get plucked if ever.    Lots of even older restored cars coming on the market that are very rare and need to be restored again so guys pick those as they aren't in as bad of shape. 

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I guess my position would have to be, if it was restored once, and used for touring, then it becomes part of that class of cars we refer to as drivers. Frankly there aren't many cars being restored today. Perfect or not cars are, most often, maintained as the car that they have become. That's why I said that it has to be labor of love, by someone young enough to do a good deal of the work himself.

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There are actually alot of cars that have badly failing restorations that really need to be done again.  The 31 Auburn Convertible sedan we are talking about in another thread would be a good example.  Lots and lots of cars have been laid up for decades and need a heavy mechanical refreshing,  and in many cases heavy cosmetic freshening as storage is often less than premium,  but they are still in much better shape and a better starting point than the Stude mentioned.  It would be great if it was saved but I just don't see many if any people with the means  and or skills to take a car like this on and produce a decent end result.   Yes it could be saved,  but if someone just half asses it,  they almost stand a better chance of the next guy that would really want to restore it,  passing on it because they screwed so much up.   That's probably alos the reason alot of cars aren't getting restored.   The standards to restore cars to ,  especially high end or more special cars like this are so high that it's very hard to restore a car to that level without alot of shop help.  Also remember more and more places don't want us painting our cars anymore and environmentalists have caused the cost of plating to skyrocket. 

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On ‎10‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 7:06 PM, auburnseeker said:

The standards to restore cars to ,  especially high end or more special cars like this are so high that it's very hard to restore a car to that level without alot of shop help.

On the show field, most attendees would expect to see a car like that restored to a concours standard.   Isn't that what they are paying to see, once they get inside the gates?

 

Yes, there are a number of things I farm out, one of which would be the final painting, as I don't have the proper facilities with a properly vented downdraft spraybooth for these two-part paints which is required to achieve that perfectly flawless finish everyone desires.

 

Craig

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On ‎10‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 10:11 AM, studerex said:

Years ago I would have been all over this car.  After speaking with the owner and two people that have already seen it, I know better.  With the restoration time and money you would always be upside down on this one.  Been there done that.  But I hope someone with more money than brains restores it. 

We got too many money-minded "brainiacs" running most of America's biggest corporations where the bottom line and maximum return on investment for the shareholders rule over substandard products, customer service and how they treat their employees.  Look what has happened to some of our long time businesses that we all grew up with who refused to change with the times and never invested anything in improving the product and remaining innovative.  Goodbye Sears, Kodak, Polaroid, et al.  I hope we all don't start look at vintage cars the same way!!    

 

Craig

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There are some things as well like plating that just have to be done right and few if any have access to that equipment that are home restorers.  Unfortunately the cost of that alone would probably be over 20 grand on this car judging by the amount of rust on the plating.  You can't paint it body color,  it will look wrong and although they are getting better,  silver paint still does not look like chrome. 

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29 minutes ago, auburnseeker said:

There are some things as well like plating that just have to be done right and few if any have access to that equipment that are home restorers.  Unfortunately the cost of that alone would probably be over 20 grand on this car judging by the amount of rust on the plating.  You can't paint it body color,  it will look wrong and although they are getting better,  silver paint still does not look like chrome. 

If its a late 1942, I bet you can paint it contrasting body color or silver and it will be 'right'.  ;)   (Think 'blackout')

 

But otherwise, the old adage nearly always applies; you get what you pay for, especially when one uses reputable firms for their rebuilds on items they can't do, or the proper facilities, to do for themselves.

 

Craig

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Next to the '32 President, a Commander Regal convertible sedan strikes me as just about the most desirable Studebaker one could restore.   No doubt whoever takes it on will be under water financially but there are higher purposes to restoring and preserving the surviving rarest cars from those years.  Hope this one finds a willing and capable next conservator.  Remember, when these are gone, extinction is permanent.  

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Might also mean that just none have had photos posted on the net of them.  It's strange some cars hang around on the net for a long time and others disappear quite quick. I don't know if it's related to hits,  but I have looked for some fairly rare cars that were posted less than a year before and they are nowhere to be found,  yet some cars like a 33 Auburn I was interested in purchasing a dealer had for sale now over 5 years ago when it sold,  still comes up in image searches. 

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The 1932 Studebaker convertible sedans were offered on all four models, President 8, Commander 8, Dictator 8 and the Studebaker Six. The cars looked identical except for the wheelbases that are shown along with other details in image #2 below. Note the Dictator and Six were on the same chassis. There are two other '32 Commander convertible sedans extant. One is restored and is in Ohio (see image #1), the other is being restored in Norway. Has anyone confirmed that the for sale car is actually a Commander?

32 comm conv sedan tiffin copy.jpg

32 models letter1 copy.jpg

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10 hours ago, auburnseeker said:

So how much is the green one?  Looks like someone put a new exhaust on it at some point. 

And the interior.

 

Perhaps not in the correct materials, but the front seat and door card appears to be new.

 

Craig

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St

4 hours ago, alsancle said:

The green car is neat,  but is it a commander?   The hood looks smaller.   To paraphrase from Caddy Shack:  Judge Smeals "How do you measure one car against another?  Ty Webb:  "By the length of their hoods".

 

 

In a Studebaker, it was the rear doors as well, and starting in 1951, it was the only way between the four door sedan models until 1961.

 

Jaguar, BMW, and Audi also offered different rear door lengths which resulted in cars of different length.

 

Craig

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