CarBrandLogos archive · Studebaker · 1939

StudebakerChampion

The light, cheap six that pulled Studebaker out of trouble and then out of the war.

The story

A defining chapter in Studebaker history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Studebaker Champion, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Studebaker emerged from receivership in the mid-1930s needing a car that could compete on price with Ford and Chevrolet, and it could not afford to fight them on size. The Champion, launched for 1939, was engineered from the start to be light: careful attention to weight in every component, a modest side-valve six, and a body sized for the money rather than for prestige.

1953Studebaker Champion Starlight Coupe · dave_7 · CC BY 2.0

Design and engineering

The result was cheap to buy and unusually economical to run, which mattered enormously to Depression-era buyers and mattered again when wartime rationing arrived. It sold strongly and gave Studebaker the volume it needed to survive as an independent among giants.

1952 Studebaker Champion Sedan · Sicnag · CC BY 2.0

1951 Studebaker Champion Starlight coupe

In production

Its second act was more visible. Studebaker got a genuinely new car to market in 1947, ahead of the Big Three, and it was the Champion that carried the styling: a low, wide body developed by Raymond Loewy's team with Bob Bourke doing much of the work, including the Starlight coupe with its wraparound rear window that produced years of jokes about not knowing which way it was going. It looked like nothing else on an American road in 1947.

1951 Studebaker Champion Starlight coupe · sv1ambo · CC BY 2.0

Legacy

The Champion kept winning the Mobilgas Economy Run and kept Studebaker's reputation for frugality alive, and the engine survived long enough to serve in the Lark. Production ended in 1958.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1939–1942

Body

2-door sedan

Technical specification

The Champion, in detail.

Production: 1939–1942, 1946-1958
Class: Full-size car (1939–1952); Mid-size car (1952–1958)
Body style: 2-door sedan ; 4-door sedan; 2-door coupe; 4-door station wagon; 2-door station wagon; 2-door convertible
Layout: FR layout
Assembly: Studebaker Automotive Plant, South Bend, Indiana, United States; Studebaker Automotive Plant, Vernon, California, United States
Manufacturer: Studebaker