This beautiful 1934 Studebaker Dictator Land Cruiser is owned by Chester and Nancy Bradfield of Bridgewater, Virginia. The Bradfield's Land Cruiser can be described as a "Restomod" in that it combines an original classic body with a modern drivetain and other modern features while retaining the appearence of a classic car. Other than having modern wheels and tires it appears on the outside as it might have looked in 1934.

The modernized drivetrain includes a rebuilt 1968 Corvette 327 cubic inch V8 and a Turbo-Hydramatic 350 automatic transmission and rear end from a 1974 Chevy Nova. The car rides on 8" wide Chevy Rally Wheels and the springs were custom made by Eaton Detroit Spring. The front end is Mustang II type from Fatman Fabrications and the steering is Mustang II rack and pinion. The brakes are Chevy Nova with 1970's Mustang master cylinder and Chrysler brake cylinders.

The seats front and rear are reupholstered 1990's Jeep Cherokee front seats and the armrests and door pulls are from various Japanese makes. The beautiful engine turned dasboard came from Hanline Products. The steering column is from a 1968 Ford Thunderbird and the dashboard switches are early Ford Mustang. The interior lights are from a Ford Taurus and are operated by switches on the front doors. Controls for heating and air conditioning are discretly located in the passenger side glove box.

The streamlined 1934 Studebaker Land Cruiser was available as a Dictator, Commander, or President with the Dictator being the least expensive. Much of the design work was done before Studebaker sold Pierce-Arrow and was clearly influenced by the Pierce-Artrow Silver Arrow. The Land Cruiser body was Studebaker's prestige car and was featured prominently in magazine advertising, Land Cruisers were priced about 15 percent higher than standard four-door sedans.

A total of 407 Dictator Land Crusiers were produced in 1934 with only two known survivors including this car. The Bradfields purchased the Land Cruser in 2005 and are the fourth owners. The pictures were taken the April 2019 Dayton Rosebud Festival Cruise-in at the Heritage Museum in Dayton, Virginia.

Chester and Nancy own a number of fine Studebakers including several which have appeared as Stude of the Month on this page. Thanks to Chester for providing information regarding this cool 1934 Studebaker Dictator Land Cruiser.

If you own or once owned a Studebaker or related vehicle and would like to see your car as "Stude of the Month" or in the "Cool Studes" section, or if you have other pictures or material that you would like to contribute to this page, please e-mail me here at wj2d44@gmail.com. I can accept either electronic or hard copy images. The Main Page is issued every other month so the next edition will be August 2019.

All of the previous editions of the Main Page going back to October 1995 have been reposted. In the process of reposting the pages, I have made corrections and revisions as needed, and in some cases added material that was not used when a page was first posted due to download speed and file storage limitations. A complete list of Main Pages and Studes of the Month with links to each is located here.

If you have a particular interest in Bullet Nose Studebakers, visit Bill Junge's Bullet Nose Paradise which is dedicated to the 1950 and 1951 Bullet Nose models.

This year's event will be held on October 25 and 26, 2019. Now that the Studebaker York Swap meet is no more, the event at Reedsville is my best chance to find parts without making an overnight trip.

Dan Armstrong from Mansfield, Texas has created a number of crossword puzzles and games for car nuts. Dan has a strong interest in Studebakers, particularly the 1956 Sky Hawk, the performance equipped 1963 Lark Daytona, and the performance equipped 1963 and 1964 GT Hawks. The Studebaker crosswords are copyright by Dan Armstrong and are used with his permission. Thanks to Dan for providing the link and the downloadable Studebaker crossword puzzles for readers of this page to enjoy.

Trev has supplied the complete story of the car. Thanks to Dianne Halstead for sending the pictures and information regarding Trev's very cool Bullet Nose Studebaker.

This version of the Hot Wheels 1963 Studebaker Champ Pickup is one of ten trucks in the recently issued Hot Wheels Walmart Exclusive Series of ten American pickup trucks. All ten are previously issued castings with new color schemes and special card art. These retail for $2.14 each which is about double the cost of a regular issue Hot Wheels vehicle. The Walmart Exclusive '63 Champ comes on a plain light blue and white blister card that indicates it is number 10 of 10 in the series. It is painted white with black and red trim and has "Studebaker" printed on the side of the pickup box. The wheels are black with no chrome trim or lettering on the tires.

The Hot Wheels Studebaker Champ first appeared in the 2011 New Models Series in red as featured on this page in June 2011. Later that year it was issued in metallic aqua and finally in yellow. All three of the 2011 New Models colors had "Goodyear Eagle" lettering on the tires. It reappeared in 2015 in the HW Workshop Series in blue with flames on the sides and yellow trimmed wheels. Several more expensive versions have also been issued including Nostalgic Brands Hershey's Whatchamacallit, Boulevard Legends, and Pop Culture DC Comics The Joker. The 2016 Hot Wheels Collectors Special Edition in metallic red and black in a plastic display case came at a cost of $19.95 when issued.

All versions of the Hot Wheels Studebaker Champ appear regularly on eBay. Prices range from a couple of dollars for the regular issues to $30 or more for the Hot Wheels Collectors model with display case. The Boulevard Legends Champ with Real Riders Wheels seems to appear less often than the others and has been rising in price.

More toy Studes can be found in the Stude Stuff area of this page and on my Studebaker Toys Home Page.

Click here for information on ordering hard to find Studebaker toys made by manufacturers such as Johnny Lightning, Racing Champions, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Muscle Machines, Maisto, and EKO.

Jim Geary's book Studebaker Toy Treasures is the standard reference for collectors of Studebaker Toys. This wonderful book has 294 pages of color pictures and details on hundreds of Studebaker toys. Publication date is 2004 and just about every Studebaker toy and model produced up to that time is pictured and cataloged. Jim is making the book available for $25 plus $14 for shipping. Jim will sign the book if requested. It also comes with a CD of more toys than what is in the book. This is a must for the serious Studebaker toy vehicle collector. Jim can be contacted at sanjim76@live.com or send payment to Jim Geary, 181 Allendale Hills Road, Franklin, NC 28734.