1948 Studebaker Champion DeLuxe Sedan
Sold For €6.160Inclusive of applicable buyer's fee.
RM | Sotheby's - MONACO 2016 - The Quattroruote Collection
Documents: Italian Libretto
- Purchased by the Mazzocchi Family in 1950
- Original and unrestored
- Exceedingly rare to find in Europe
85 bhp, 169.6 cu. in. OHV inline six-cylinder engine, three-speed manual transmission with reverse, independent front suspension, solid rear axle with longitudinal leaf spring suspension, and servo-assisted four-wheel drum brakes. Wheelbase: 2,850 mm
“First by Far with a Post-War Car” has gone down in history as one of the most iconic advertising slogans of the 1940s.
The Studebaker factory in South Bend, Indiana, was able to beat just about every other major American manufacturer to market with an all-new automobile, which was introduced in June 1946 as a 1947 model. Lower, wider, and with redesigned chassis and suspension, the cars featured innovative new styling by Raymond Loewy, which was, at the time, controversial. Today, it has come to be seen as one of the most unique and attractive post-war American cars and as a design landmark that forecasted ultramodern Studebakers from Loewy’s hand.
The Shenandoah Green 1948 model in the Quattroruote Collection, a six-cylinder Champion DeLuxe, may well have been imported new to Italy and was first registered in the country in 1950. The car’s first Italian owner was Editoriale Domus founder Giovanni Mazzocchi, and it has remained in the care of Signore Mazzocchi’s family and company continuously ever since. Since the mid-1970s, it has been displayed in the Quattroruote Collection, representing the most advanced American design of the time period, alongside the 1955 Cadillac that was also purchased new by the Mazzocchi Family.
The car is in thoroughly original condition throughout, and overall in solid unrestored condition, although it is heavily patinated. The Collection catalogue speaks highly of the automobile’s styling and even of such advanced mechanical features as an automatic choke and servo-assisted brakes, unusual for an entry-level automobile of the time.
Like most large American sedans of this era, this Studebaker was relatively rare in Italy when new and remains even more so today, as extremely few were ever imported into the country. Yet Studebakers have since built an extensive following in Europe, and today this original example of a landmark design is proudly offered to a new home.
Please note that the windshield currently has a significant crack on the driver's side.