Love this article. A couple excerpts:
I’m 84 years old and have driven Studebakers since I got my license at 16. My first car was a ’50 Champion and being a very economical six it was not a “hot” car. My next car was a ’51 Commander with the first year Stude V8 and found it to be almost impossible to destroy. It was a convertible and I entered it in the first NHRA National Drag Race held in Indianapolis. The oil pressure was really low on it and since I was going to enter it in the NHRA Summer National Drags in Indy I wanted to overhaul it but when I tried to “blow” the engine, I could not. I run it until the valves floated in first and second many times but it just kept on running. The oil pressure was about 5 pounds at idle and only would go up to about 20 while driving it even up to about 5000+ rpms when the valves would start to float.
I overhauled the engine when I first got it almost 20 years ago and it has not been apart since then except to prove it is STOCK. I don’t have any records of its successes but can say it seldom gets beat and turns high 12’s @ 113+ in the quarter mile on STREET tires. Like probably you (onaroll) and others felt the car was not legal so it has been torn down twice in the past 20 years (to verify it is stock) not for any repairs of ANY kind but just to prove it is stock. I also drive a ’64 Challenger with the R 3 engine in it belonging to George Krem and it has competed in Pure Stock Drag races the past 20 years also and never a problem and it turns quicker and faster times than my R 2. Both these cars are four speeds and run past 6000 rpm’s EVERY time they go down the track in all four gears.
This little 232 cu. in. engine was competing against most of its rivals with more cu. in. such as the Olds with 303 inches! After NHRA dropped our class twice I put a 289 Stude in the Chicken Hawk starting with a Paxton Supercharger. I finally went to TWO Paxtons and was able to get about 14 pounds of boost from the two of them together. The car was turning in the mid 11’s and since 14 pounds was all I could get I decided to go with TWO turbocharges. With these I was able to get up to 18 pounds boost. Long story short the car ran 10’0’s at 138 mph. Again no failures with the 289 Stude engine!
The Pure Stock races allow cars through 1974 and the Studes usually out perform these 10+ newer muscle cars. No, in ’74 these cars do not have the advantages of today’s technologies but what can you expect from an engine developed by Studebaker in the late 1940’s?
^^^ Read the whole thing if you care at all about such stuff. I found it fascinating.
I’m 84 years old and have driven Studebakers since I got my license at 16. My first car was a ’50 Champion and being a very economical six it was not a “hot” car. My next car was a ’51 Commander with the first year Stude V8 and found it to be almost impossible to destroy. It was a convertible and I entered it in the first NHRA National Drag Race held in Indianapolis. The oil pressure was really low on it and since I was going to enter it in the NHRA Summer National Drags in Indy I wanted to overhaul it but when I tried to “blow” the engine, I could not. I run it until the valves floated in first and second many times but it just kept on running. The oil pressure was about 5 pounds at idle and only would go up to about 20 while driving it even up to about 5000+ rpms when the valves would start to float.
I overhauled the engine when I first got it almost 20 years ago and it has not been apart since then except to prove it is STOCK. I don’t have any records of its successes but can say it seldom gets beat and turns high 12’s @ 113+ in the quarter mile on STREET tires. Like probably you (onaroll) and others felt the car was not legal so it has been torn down twice in the past 20 years (to verify it is stock) not for any repairs of ANY kind but just to prove it is stock. I also drive a ’64 Challenger with the R 3 engine in it belonging to George Krem and it has competed in Pure Stock Drag races the past 20 years also and never a problem and it turns quicker and faster times than my R 2. Both these cars are four speeds and run past 6000 rpm’s EVERY time they go down the track in all four gears.
This little 232 cu. in. engine was competing against most of its rivals with more cu. in. such as the Olds with 303 inches! After NHRA dropped our class twice I put a 289 Stude in the Chicken Hawk starting with a Paxton Supercharger. I finally went to TWO Paxtons and was able to get about 14 pounds of boost from the two of them together. The car was turning in the mid 11’s and since 14 pounds was all I could get I decided to go with TWO turbocharges. With these I was able to get up to 18 pounds boost. Long story short the car ran 10’0’s at 138 mph. Again no failures with the 289 Stude engine!
The Pure Stock races allow cars through 1974 and the Studes usually out perform these 10+ newer muscle cars. No, in ’74 these cars do not have the advantages of today’s technologies but what can you expect from an engine developed by Studebaker in the late 1940’s?
^^^ Read the whole thing if you care at all about such stuff. I found it fascinating.