Packard Forum Index » Studebaker Built Packards (1957 - 58)

I have been doing some reading on the 57 & 58 Studebaker's.
The top of the line Studebaker President Classic came equipped with a 289 cid engine with a four barrel carb. The article stated that the President Classic would do 0 to 60 in about 11 seconds, with an honest top speed of 100 mph plus.

John F. Shireman

Interesting. Did the President replace the Dictator after the '30s, when dictators started to get a bad reputation? Actually, I'm kind of curious when Studebaker first had the "Dictator" model and when they discontinued it? Sorry, this is a bit off-topic.

Back to '57 and '58 Studebakers, many people have fond memories of them and their performance. Unfortunately, so few of the Packard versions were produced that they are rarely mentioned, even though they shared the Studebaker mechanicals, in general.

I wonder how many Studebaker dealers also sold Packard in those two years. I don't believe and Packards-only dealerships existed then, but I could be mistaken on that.

Guy,
Studebaker introduced the Dictator badge from 1927 to 1936 to replace the Standard Six. The Standard Six badge was still on units sold to European countries. The Dictator badge was dropped in 1937 and renamed Commander for 1938. In 1939 Commander was replaced with Champion and Commander was elevated to rank of mid size car.

The story goes that the "Dictator" namemplate was dropped due to the rise in power of Mussolini and Hitler and public resentment over their policies.

You hit the nail on the head!

Owen-Dyneto,


Owen_Dyneto wrote:
Quote:

sort of what I was getting at
Quote:

They may have been a little late dropping the Dictator in '37. It was four years after Mr. Hilter [sic] rose to Chancellorship, and Mussolini had been in power for some time. It must've been a "wait and see" proposition for Studebaker. Dictators (the politicians) were pretty popular among a fairly sizeable demographic group in the U.S. of the 1930's.

The Commander and Champion replacement names have a nice "Victory" spin on them, though.

The Studebaker President was the top of the line Studebaker in the 30's and had a straight eight engine. The last straight eight President was the 1942 model and the line was not carried over after the war. In 1955 the President line was again offered as the top of the line Studebaker with a V8 engine. The 57 Clipper was a restyled Studebaker President with a 289 V8 and a supercharger. Same horsepower as the 56 Clipper, but much lighter and therefore faster.

Hard to believe now, but in the twenties and thirties it looked like dictatorship was the wave of the future in politics, and in a good way.

Mussolini and Hitler had a lot of supporters when they came into office and at first, seemed to be doing a good job.

Many prominent Americans were among these supporters.

By 1936 cracks were appearing in the pleasant mask and the ugliness behind it all was beginning to show.

This is when Studebaker dropped the Dictator name.

It's interesting to note that the President always outranked the Dictator at Studebaker.

Benevolent dictators can make a great form of effectived and efficient government, the major problem is keeping them benevolent! Take a book at Haiti and see what the Duvaliers, Doc and son, and then Aristede managed.