1969 Mach 1 Mustang, 1969 Z28 Camaro, 1970 Z28 Camaro, 1966 Chevelle SuperSport, – Just a few of the models that have passed through Missouri resident, Tony West’s enviable car collection, one he claims to have fostered over 25 different cars, from the fast to the rare and all that’s in between. But West’s current model hardly fits the mold of what has come before. It is not known for its speed or racing credentials, and it has likely never graced the walls of a young car enthusiast’s bedroom, but that’s probably because they’ve never gotten a chance to see one. It is a 1955 Studebaker Commander Regal, one of only ten remaining.
In the hierarchy of Studebaker production the Commander Regal was comfortably seated in the middle, certainly not the lowest of the line, an honor that feel to the Champion marque. It is because of this position as sturdy family car that there are so few left of the original run of only 2,016. Unlike its higher up Studebaker brother, the President, of which there are around 200 remaining, the Commander Regal was used to its fullest extent. It was driven cross country, raced at local tracks, a people carrier, pick-up truck and snow machine.
So two years ago, when West, in his search for an odd or off-beat car, came across one on his way home from checking out a 1964 Comet Convertible, he was immediately drawn in.
“I asked my dad ‘what is that?’ because I’d never seen a car look like that in the front end,” West says. “And he goes, ‘I think it’s a Studebaker.’” The car had been sitting under a metal awning, around six miles away from their house, for nearly a year and a half. It had been neglected and left to the elements, and when West and his father approached the car they could see a faded For Sale sign that had fallen down underneath the seat. It had a Chevy 350, and a top speed of 140 miles per hour, though West has gotten it up to 110 himself.
So for the tune of $8,000 dollars West brought the car home, an unlikely candidate for the latest model in his collection, but exactly what he had wanted.
“ I go to car shows and I see Mustangs, I see Camaros, I see Chevelles, I see Novas,” West says. “I want[ed] something odd.”
What he got was a slice of American automotive history. As the major American automaker of the mid-fifties lost themselves in a price war, with Ford, Dodge, and Chevrolet routinely dropping the cost of their main marques, Studebaker was simply struggling to stay afloat. It was a small factory, unable to compete with the lowering prices. When West’s Studebaker first came out it had a price tag of $2,586 dollars, unimaginable by today’s standards, but far and wide more expensive than the $2,100 fully loaded Chevrolet. So Studebaker produced what they could, a run barely over 2,000 models. It would be twelve years before the brand went extinct for good, in May of 1967, but amidst the increasingly competitive air of the automotive industry they were already beginning to lose their foothold.
Combine a small run with the role of family workhorse, and it’s easy to see why there are so few models left of this quirky and off-beat relic of the classic American car world.
West isn’t the only one mesmerized by the patina and intrigue of a car this rare. From Studebaker enthusiasts to non-gearheads, he has found fans for his car wherever he goes. He tells the story of the car’s first car show under his ownership. He hadn’t even gotten legal license plates yet, but when he pulled up in his Commander Regal that was the last thing anyone was paying attention to.
“The St. Louis Studebaker club came and completely surrounded me and the car,” he says. ‘They pretty much looked at every angle of the car over.” He went on to join that chapter of the Studebaker club, one of about 15 cars. Through his two years of ownership he has been stopped and asked about the car more times than he can count. People will take pictures of it on the highway, and as he drives through town.
And it turns out the love for rare Studebakers is contagious within the family as well. A year after West found his Commander Regal, his father found a 1955 Studebaker President for sale in Iowa, and ended up buying it. As part of a self-proclaimed Chevrolet family, his grandfather worked for Chevrolet for more than twenty years, West admits that he and his father have discussed buying another Studebaker, just to have one more.
For the time being, however, he has his hands full. Upon first purchasing the car he put in the work that most needed to be done, cleaning out the fuel tank and fuel lines, and rebuilding the carburetor, then giving the car a good cleaning. He figures that he put around $1,000 dollars into the car, atop the $8,000 price tag – simple restorations that brought the appraised value to around $33,200 dollars. And he doesn’t want to stop there. He has plans for the bodywork, a new paint job, and restoration of the faded chrome. With the goal of showroom floor quality work, and around an additional $10,000 dollars of work and parts, West puts the likely value of the car around $75,000 – a price that no other Studebaker of the time can match.
But for West it’s not just about the money. It’s about the feeling of driving a classic car, and having it be enjoyed by the world.
“The St. Louis chapter Studebaker Club has about 15 people so it’s not a real big club. Of those 15, me and my dad are the only two that take our cars to shows,” he says. “If you have a have a classic car get it out on the road and let people appreciate them. If you have these cars, get them out there.”’