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Custom 1937 Studebaker Pickup Rides So Low It Might Trip and Fall

Studebaker is one of the great dead names of the auto industry. Founded in 1852, the company was forced for financial reasons to yield in 1954, by merging with Packard, and later go out of business in 1967. But some of the cars it made are still around today, albeit as extremely different builds than what they used to be.
Custom 1937 Studebaker Pickup 12 photos
Photo: Mecum
Custom 1937 Studebaker PickupCustom 1937 Studebaker PickupCustom 1937 Studebaker PickupCustom 1937 Studebaker PickupCustom 1937 Studebaker PickupCustom 1937 Studebaker PickupCustom 1937 Studebaker PickupCustom 1937 Studebaker PickupCustom 1937 Studebaker PickupCustom 1937 Studebaker PickupCustom 1937 Studebaker Pickup
Back in the day when it still believed it’s going to make it, that is before the start of the second world war, one of the products lines coming out assembly lines in Indiana was the Coupe Express, a pickup truck based on a passenger car called Dictator. The nameplate lasted from 1937 right up to when the war started in Europe in 1939, and was discontinued.

Just like the E Series pickups of post-war America, the Express became a custom garage favorite as well. B few conversions based on these decades-old machines are as extreme as the one pictured in the gallery above.

Aptly called 1937 Studebaker Custom Pickup, the car sold last week during the Mecum auction in Kissimmee, Florida. All the money, around $100,000, were donated to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

So, what was that attracted so much attention to this car, aside for the noble purpose?

As its former owners say, this truck is one of a kind, so much so that no one could locate a “comparably customized 1937 Studebaker.”

The biggest change pertains, of course, to the body of the car, which is incredibly aggressive-looking and low-riding, so much so that it seems to defy the laws of physics.

Powered by a 383ci twin-turbo engine sourced from Chevrolet, the truck’s total power is rated at 850 hp, sent to the wheels via a GM automatic transmission.

The truck is just as different underneath as it is on the outside. Not a single bolt escaped untouched, and modifications were made to the chassis, and mechanical and electrical hardware.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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