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Volvo: Safety Beyond the Star RatingsCool Car Find: Studebaker Champ
The Studebaker Champ mixed recycled parts and innovative design for a unique pickup worth collectors’ attention.
Studebaker’s New Pickup Champ
1962 Studebaker Champ – carsforsale.com | Shop Studebaker Champ on Carsforsale.com
Today, we are seeing the resurgence of the light truck. Hits like the Ford Maverick and the Hyundai Santa Cruz prove that American’s will indeed buy trucks smaller than your typical bungalow. For a resurgence to occur, there must have been a prior time when affordability and practicality were neatly fused. Light trucks go back to the early days of the automobile with the likes of the Ford Model TT (the Ford Model T truck). Back in the early 1960s, Ford had their Ranchero and Chevy their El Camino. And Studebaker? The South Bend independent automaker had their Champ.
More of a Lark than Champion
The Studebaker Corporation had been struggling financially for over a decade. Its merger with Packard in 1956 failed to improve the situation and so, by 1960, the company was desperate for innovations that might turn things around. One solution was a reimagining of their E-Series of pickups. The E-Series was offered in ½, ¾, 1, 1.5, and 2-ton variations starting in 1955 and proceeded their 2R and M Series trucks.
Despite the name, the Studebaker Champ does not owe much of anything to the similarly named Studebaker Champion, the company’s full- and later mid-sized car produced from 1939 through 1958. Instead, the cash-strapped carmaker made the new Champ a classic parts-bin special pickup, taking its underpinnings from the E-Series and its body from the unlikely candidate of the Studebaker Lark. The idea was to stoke interest in the new truck with a more attractive look, and the Lark had been a surprise hit for Studebaker thanks in large part to its singular front end design.
A Parts Bin Champ, Indeed
The popular Lark imparted more than a good looks with the donation of its front-end design, the Champ also benefitted from a nice, spartan interior with features like a padded dash and AM radio. And then there were other legacy items like the Studebaker 2R’s ‘50s-style pontoon rear fenders which looked rather out of date for 1960.
In its first year, the Studebaker Champ offered two straight-six engine, a 170 cu in and Studebaker’s 245 cu in “Big Six.” Two V8 engines, a 259 or a 289, were also options offered with either two- or four-barrel carbs. The Champ could also be had with several different transmissions that included a “three on the tree” three-speed manual, a three-speed with overdrive, a Borg-Warner “Flight-O-Matic” automatic transmission, or a four-speed manual. Studebaker also offered the choice of a six-and-a-half-foot or an eight-foot bed.
For 1961, the Champ ditched the old “Big Six” (its heyday had been back in the 1930s) and gave the 170 new over-head valves. The pontoon fenders were deleted the same year and replaced with a rear box. But as the Champ was an economical vehicle, the lowest starting price in its class, the “new” bed was made with tooling bought from Dodge with the result looking as cobbled together as it in fact was.
While most of the Champ was built from other cars, it does have one distinction all its own, a sliding rear window. While today we take the feature for granted, the sliding rear pickup window was new design in 1960.
The 1964 model year would be the Champs last as Studebaker closed their South Bend, Indiana plant in December of 1963.
This Cool Car Find
1962 Studebaker Champ – carsforsale.com | Shop Studebaker Champ on Carsforsale.com
Our specific example comes in excellent condition inside and out, top to bottom. The 170 cu in straight-six sits under the hood and runs power through a three-speed manual with overdrive. The turquoise paint amplifies an already head-turning truck. Because of its brief run and low sales numbers, the Studebaker Champ is a unique truck sure to spark conversation at your local Cars and Coffee. Listed for just $26,900 and just over 53,000 original miles, it is a steal of a classic pickup.
