Studebaker Heavy and Medium Duty - A New Find for Me

Sometimes it pays to play "out of the box". Yes, I knew that Studebaker made trucks, but I thought only pick up trucks. Nothing wrong with that because they were good trucks - loved by hot-rodders and custom builders. In many design aspects they were ahead of the times. A fine example is the following------

1947 Studebaker M - Pick-Up


I had forgotten that Studebaker also made some very fine and innovative Heavy and Medium Duty trucks. Probably the reason for my forgetfulness is the fact that I don't remember seeing too many of these in the past - THAT IS NO FAULT OF STUDEBAKER! I fortunately found a picture of a 1960's Studebaker HD truck-------

1960's Studebaker Diesel


The picture above produced an inquiry to my friends at "straightstack.com", and since then a new item for their gallery. I asked if anyone knew how long Studebaker had been making HD trucks. No one there answered so I started my own research. I found that early in WWII, Studebaker was one of the first truck manufacturers to produce 6x's for the U.S. Army. These trucks were also used by the Russians who mounted rocket launchers on them - some of these survived into the 60's.

1940's Studebaker Army Truck - nice restoration


Furthermore, they aided in that war effort in the production of the "Weasel" and engines for aircraft. My search for tractor type trucks was a little more difficult - they are rare! Pictures are rarer! Again, that is no fault of Studebaker - they made fine trucks. My first find in the tractor category was this -----

1936 Studebaker M - COE with deluxe sleeper




I wasn't satisfied to stop here, so I found a latter model - color picture ------

1938 - 40 Studebaker K - with deluxe sleeper



If that isn't neat enough (note the classic sleeper windows - a change from the 36), I found a
Studebaker "conventional" tractor with a trailer --- and some paint scheme!!!!

1936 Studebaker 2W - 865 - Conventional


I will be posting more of Studebaker's fine trucks on the side-bar, so be watching. As I've already said, "these are a rare truck to find - even pictures".

If you have pictures of these old trucks, please contact me. COMMENTS are welcome too!!!