Studebaker Commander buyer's guide

Overview

The Commander was Studebaker's senior six (and later V8) line through the post-war decade (1946–58): the 1947–49 "which way is it going" cars (the famous Starlight coupe with its wraparound rear glass), the bullet-nosed 1950–51 cars, the Loewy coupes' family line from 1953, and the final finned Commanders of 1957–58. The Commander sat above the Champion and below the President/Land Cruiser in the hierarchy, powered first by the big 226/245 flathead six (the "Commander engine" was the larger six), then by Studebaker's V8 from 1955 as the V8 Commander. These are affordable, characterful post-war cars whose engineering (overdrive economy, the Automatic Drive development, the hill-holder) rewards the driver who likes machinery with ideas.

Generations and year breaks

1946–1949 — the revolutionary post-war cars

• The first genuinely new post-war design from any American maker (1947): the Starlight coupe's four-piece wraparound rear window made the "coming or going" joke famous.
• The Land Cruiser was the line's long-wheelbase flagship variant; the Regal De Luxe trim tops the range.

1950–1952 — bullet nose

• The spinner-grille cars (1950–51) and their 1952 tidy-up; Studebaker's new overhead-valve V8 (the 232) joined the Commander line from 1951 as the State Commander's engine.

1953–1958 — the Loewy era and the V8 Commander

• The sleek 1953 coupes and sedans (the Loewy studio's family line), the 1955 President's return pushing the Commander to the middle, and the 1957–58 finned, Scotsman-adjacent final cars.
• From 1955 the Commander was the V8 line's entry (the 259), with the six-cylinder Champion beneath it.

Engines and options that matter

• The big six (226, then 245) — the classic Commander engine: smooth, torquey and famous for economy with the overdrive gearbox.
• The Studebaker V8 (232, then 259) — the overhead-valve engine from 1951 (Commander) and standard in the late cars.
• Overdrive (the Borg-Warner unit) is the option that defines the Commander's touring character; the Automatic Drive (1950, Studebaker's Borg-Warner-built automatic) is the early-automatic footnote.
• The Starlight coupe body (1947–52) is the collectible shape; the Loewy coupes (1953–56) are the design cars.

What to check before buying

• Rust: the post-war Studebaker patterns — the front wings' trailing seams, sills, floors and (Starlight coupes) the rear-glass surround and its seals.
• Engine identity: the engine number (front-left pad) and the car's year settle six versus V8 questions; the small V8s (232/259) share the family's architecture.
• Numbers: the serial plate (left front door jamb) decodes the car's year and series; Studebaker's production orders survive for much of the era via the museum archive.
• Overdrive function: the overdrive's lockout cable, governor and solenoid are a system — test it on the road at cruising speed.
• Parts: the Studebaker Drivers Club network supports the post-war cars well mechanically; Commander trim and Starlight glass are the hunts.