1953 Studebaker TV commercial.mov 

Very tasteful tail fins.

I was always told the last 2 years of Studebaker had Chevy engines in them

Just the V8's. The 6 cyl. were Stude.

Yes let's get Studebaker back on the road get all these foreign junk cars off the American Road start taxing the hell out of them so we can get them off the road but Studebaker and American Motors back on

Studes were in general competently put-togther by the company's vaunted "father-son teams", however this Euro-style design was so popular that it stressed Stude's production capacity to the max. The result was that all but the earliest VINs often show up today with signs of shoddy assembly (e.g., missing or abnormal welds, irregular body seams, etc.). Dealers lamented that the factory had initially sent them so many of the dumpy sedans, vs. coupes -- which is where this styling really shone and which everyone wanted. By the time the production mix was adjusted, the bloom was off the rose for model year demand.

Actually, the 4 door has grown on me... at least the 53/54.

I’m pretty sure the star emblem went on for almost a year, I’ve spoken to a few people in the Studebaker Drivers club and they seem to say the Star emblem is more common on 53’s than not. Personally, I prefer the Star to the later “V” logo, I’m glad the champion Starlight Coupe I’m looking to buy has the 3 star 😁

@@FennixGamingYT Depends. The relatively few 1953s that were assembled at Vernon (LA) utilized the tri-stars, even on the hood and trunk, through the entire model year. But after the cease-and-desist order from MB was acknowledged by HQs in South Bend -- which was early -- the other factories used them only until their then-current supply of the stars ran out. Tri-stars also orig. appeared at a couple points in the interior (rear seat ashtray door; radio-delete plate), and those lasted much longer in production -- presumably b/c they were not as immed. noticeable as the ones outside.

@@roberthaworth8991 Well the car I'm looking to buy (and currently attempting to get running) has the Tri Star in all of those locations except it doesn't have the radio delete plate, it has the AM radio lol. Guess it's a pretty early one then!

Two of the world's oldest makers of motor cars seems a natural alliance. Stude engines were excellent too.