1954 STUDEBAKER Commander
Chassis n° 8388416
Ex-Martini and Rossi
Original French
French registration

In the autumn of 192, Studebaker celebrated its centenary. This was an opportunity to create an extraordinary coupé with stunning lines. Studebaker called on the Raymond Loewy studio, where, under the leadership of the flamboyant Franco-American designer, a host of talented stylists had distinguished themselves, including Virgil Exner (later Director of Styling at Chrysler), Bob Koto and Robert Bourke. It was they who created this coupé, with its low-slung, uncluttered lines.
These extraordinary, bold lines typified the sleek, futuristic style of the twentieth century. Every child of the baby-boom generation has at some time owned a Studebaker coupé in 1:43 scale, namely the famous 1955 Commander.
The current owner of this Studebaker has been looking for this model for a long time, since his father owned one. So it was out of nostalgia that he found this example, and it's not just any example, as this car was bought new by Count Rossi of the Martini Rossi company on 28 December 1954. It was delivered new by Etablissements E.Dujardin at 323 rue de Charenton in Paris. It remained in Mr Rossi's collection until his death. The collection was then dispersed, at which point our collector took possession of it on 19 January 1996. At the time, it had 78,000 km and was entirely original. In 1996, the car was restarted by the Mouty garage in Gravigny (Eure): carburettor, brakes, overdrive, distributors, coil... In 1997, the car was repainted by Automobiles d'antan in Chatillon. In 2000, the PLB garage rebuilt the axle and rear axle shaft seals, the water pump, the cooling system, etc. In 2002, the odometer read 82,600 km, corresponding to its original mileage. The invoice file, together with the owner's manual and a copy of the registration document in the name of Martini Rossi, will be given to the purchaser.