For Sale: 1958 Studebaker Scotsman 2dr sedan - $3,500 - Reno, NV - Not Mine

[58L-Y8]

For Sale: 1958 Studebaker Scotsman 2dr sedan - $3,500 - Reno, NV

58 Studebaker Scotsman - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle... (craigslist.org)

2 door sedan with good body and glass. This is an unusual model and is written up in Hemmings Motor News. Rolling stock with a flat head 6 and manual transmission. Please google the Scotsman so you know what it is about.  odometer: 30000

Contact:  Mark  call or text:  (510) 7-five-0-nine-5-five-8

Copy and paste in your email:   5cb758c6d17d3b6f87e211c926374f51@sale.craigslist.org
I have no personal interest or stake in the eventual sale of this 1958 Studebaker Scotsman 2dr sedan.

[JamesR]

Quote

Please google the Scotsman so you know what it is about.

 

I googled Scotsman and this is what I got:

 

Science Fiction Sketch - Monty Python's Flying Circus - S01E07 - YouTube

[Guest]

I think it is beautiful in it's simplicity!

From Wikipedia: "The name was based on the reputation of Scottish frugality"

I can't wait to share this with my wife, owing to her Scottish background.  

[58L-Y8]

Advantages of restoring a Studebaker Scotsman: No high chrome-plating bills, no expensive interior upholstery bills, cheap, basic flathead six rebuild parts.  With this car, a high-desert, extremely arid region survivor, Studebaker sheet metal without rust damage or ruin, or very little of it.  Downside is no 1950's flamboyant styling and flash.   The significance of the Scotsmans is they sold 46.3% of all 1958 Studebaker sedans and wagons, kept enough cash flow coming into the company to support the development of the compact Lark.  

[JACK M]

Probably priced low because of the missing title.

[suchan]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_stock

Seems like the seller should've taken his/her own advice and checked Wiki first. I'm guessing what was intended is that the car rolls but doesn't run.

Reno has seriously low humidity, so if the car was parked under cover all those years, good to go rust-wise, but I doubt the seller backed it into the sagebrush just for the photo shoot. It's a sure thing the interior is cooked.

If the motor isn't seized, maybe just getting it running and driving as is makes sense. Anything beyond that, and you're quickly underwater.

[Guest]

Y,know, in more cash-flow friendly times, I would have been tempted to take a run up to Reno and grab this one.  As 58L-Y8 pointed out the restoration costs would actually be quite minimal in comparison with other cars of this era.   I do all my own work (except paint) and one of my best friends owns a body shop, so that's never a problem for me.

Speaking of which, the color change on this one without removing the rear plate is hilarious and falls right in line with the whole "Scottish frugality" thing.  

[58L-Y8]

Many states did not title cars until 1973, interested parties should check to see what the DMV required in 1958.  Cooked interior is guaranteed in the high heat and arid conditions there.  Door panels were coated cardboard, seat covered with cheap cloth and vinyl.  An Earl Scheib paint job would be perfect...and NO White-walls!!!

[Hudsy Wudsy]

I remember how incredibly cheap they were. It you owned one, you got made fun of often.

[Hudsy Wudsy]

Honestly, I'll add that they were so cheap that they seemed, at the time, to signal a desperation on the part of Studebaker Corp.

[Guest]

Signal?

Don't you mean SCREAM!  

 

I just showed my wife.   She loves it.

[58L-Y8]

9 minutes ago, Hudsy Wudsy said:

Honestly, I'll add that they were so cheap that they seemed, at the time, to signal a desperation on the part of Studebaker Corp.

Desperation:  It was a truly dire situation too, Studebaker-Packard Corporation was in a month-to-month survival struggle throughout 1958.  To understand how much that was so, read Champion of the Lark, Harold Churchill and the Presidency of Studebaker-Packard, 1956-1961 by Robert R. Ebert.  

[John_S_in_Penna]

One of the car-club members in my home town

had (or has) a white Scotsman in excellent condition.

Since few people would restore one, I believe

his is original, unrestored, quite a remarkable survivor.

 

Even in outstanding condition, it looks very plain.

I think the best Scotsman in the world would sell

for under $10,000, so this rough $3500 example

doesn't seem like too much of a bargain to me.

 

It's interesting to see, however, and thanks, Mr. 58L,

for sharing it.

 

Edited February 11, 2021 by John_S_in_Penna (see edit history)

[58L-Y8]

John

Is that a white two door Scotsman by any chance?  One used to appear annually at an AACA show in Olean, New York twenty years ago.  Quite the oddity even then.  When I find these oddities, I have to bring them to the general attention.  Frankly, after becoming bored by the limited, same old, same old selection of muscle cars, pony cars, overdone street rods and dolled-up new cars masquerading as 'collector' cars, seeing a Scotsman at a show would be a delight!