Question about 50 studebaker

[mnwildpunk]

I found this video

for the 50 studebaker in the video they keep calling the vehicles desert explorers was it a promotional gimick or where they an actual special option package?

[Casey]

or where they an actual special option package?

Sounds like they were specially built with "interchangable parts", but I'm not sure how much Studebaker cars and trucks shared already...probably a lot knowing how little capital Studebaker had.

It does sound a lot like marketing and sales-speak, as the "desert" models may have been very close to what was a standard Commander with heavt duty options (cooling, larger shocks, etc.), but the off-road type tires look like a distinct "special" option.

[Greg Myers]

I don't recall Studebaker having a "proving ground " anywhere near Arizona. 110 degrees in the desert.

[Art Anderson]

I don't recall Studebaker having a "proving ground " anywhere near Arizona. 110 degrees in the desert.

They didn't. The Studebaker proving grounds were on Indiana State Road 2, about 10 miles or so west of South Bend. It's a St Joseph County park now--easily spotted, as it's fenced, with the masonry fence columns decorated with the 1920's Studebaker badge, which was a wood-spoked wheel and tire. Bendix Corporation used some of the road "course" sections of the grounds for several decades--and in later years, Robert Bosch Inc.

Art

[Greg Myers]

Must of been pretty hot there for their "desert" testing ?

[mnwildpunk]

If you at the film those deffinetly not the normal wheel opening for the comander

[mr moto]

Here's a link that has some info about the Desert Explorers. They were special models built for ARAMCO.

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?17146-Desert-Explorer-info-pics-wanted&highlight=desert+explorers

The test track that Art mentioned is located just outside of South Bend, Indiana and it is still a very active test facility owned by Robert Bosch, Inc. I attended the Studebaker Drivers Club International Meet in South Bend in 2012 and the test track was made available for half a day to allow Studes and Packards to lap the track. I managed to hitch a ride in a supercharged 1963 Avanti to ride around the 3 1/2 mile banked oval. This is what it looks like from Google Earth. Note the name "Studebaker" which is spelled out in pine trees that were planted in the 1930's.

Here are a few pics that I took in the infield. That was a fun day!