Re: 8.75 vs 2.1

Posted by Steve203 On 2014/11/19 15:22:34

While they still had the old Commander 245 cid six in production for their trucks, for some reason, they didn't make it optional in place of the anemic 170 ci.

As I recall, the 245 was even more ancient that the 170, dating back to the Rockne. I may be remembering wrong, but sticks in my mind that when the V8 came out in 51, the Studies got their nose bobbed as they didn't need to accommodate the 245 anymore, so the 245 may have been too long to fit in the 53 platform. By some accounts, Studie kept trying to drop the 245, but truck operators wanted it because it had the bags of low end torque that the short stroke V8 lacked.

As a 30 years SDC member,

Maybe you have a tidbit of info in your archives that I have wondered about: how long is the 245? I wonder if the Hudson big sixs would fit in a Studebaker truck. I have measured the length of the 308's head: 30". The 232 and 262 were about the same size. The Hudson engines would have given Studie a line of simple, high torque engines, better suited to truck use than their V8s.

The greatest downside of the Jet engine was it was still smaller than the entry level 6s from the big three. An improvement over the 170, but still coming up short. The 202 was essentially the straight eight from the Commodore with two cylinders cut off. It had the same 3" bore as the 170/186, but a 4 3/4" stroke. None of the Jet road tests I have read from 53-54 noted ill effects. While there were plenty of complaints about the Jet's handling and build quality, the testers seemed to regard the engine as the best part of the Jet.

There is another thing Nance could have done regarding the Champion's engine problem. The Commander had had a significant price premium over the Champ, until around 55, when the Commander's price premium was cut, assuming classiccardatabase's numbers are accurate, to only $90 over the Champ. Looking at photos of low trim 56 Commanders and Champs, it looks like all the Commander amounted to was a Champ with the V8. My parents had a 56 Commander, which I well remember, and there was nothing premium about that car. I would read that change in pricing policy as a reaction to customer resistance to how underpowered the Champ was, by minimizing the additional cost of getting significant power under the hood.

So, why not just drop the 6 entirely? Put the 224 V8 in the Champ and have the advertising highlight "the only low priced car with the power of a modern OHV V8 standard", which would hit all the buzzwords buyers were looking for at the time. Then move the Commander back to a higher trim level, on the same 116.5 wheelbase, with the 259, and the President on the 120.5 wheelbase, with the 259. That would solve the engine power problem, at zero capital cost as they had already tooled up for the 224, and simplify manufacturing.

Studebaker 224 V8: 140hp, 202ftlbs

Plymouth 230 I6: 117hp, 194ftlbs

Ford 224 I6: 120hp, 195ftlbs

Chevy 236 I6: 123hp, 207ftlbs