The thing about special cars is that there are more people in the world who would like to own one than there are cars available. For this reason, a lot of people convert their production cars into a “replica”, “tribute” or “clone” car.
For example, it’s common to see car owners take a base model 1960s Camaro or Chevelle and add the SS trim package, even though the car was not originally built as a Super Sport model. Buying a genuine Super Sport Chevy costs a lot more than a base model, so many aspiring car owners will create their own version. With a few bits of trim, some badges, and the right wheels, an 80s Buick Regal can easily become a T-Type clone, or a 90s Chevy Caprice can become an Impala SS. And generally, I don’t have a problem with that.
What is unusual is for a person to take a vehicle and make it into a tribute to a completely different type of car entirely. That’s what we are featuring today.
What we have here is a 1990 Oldsmobile Toronado, modified to look like a 1950 Studebaker Champion coupe. A hand-written paper on the seat described the front end and rear fenders as being all-steel construction. The owner also described the car as a “Long distance cruiser!”
The asking price for the car was $16,900 – which I thought was pretty high. For kicks, I punched in a 1992 Oldsmobile Toronado coupe on Kelley Blue Book (the car is actually a 1990 model, but KBB’s website did not go back that far). For a very similar car, KBB says the Private Party value is approximately $1,000 to $2,000. I don’t know that the custom Studebaker bodywork increases the car’s value by a factor of 8x.
A 1950 Studebaker Champion coupe would have come with a 2.8L Inline-6 cylinder engine producing 85 horsepower. The 1990 Toronado uses the Buick 3.8L V6 engine rated at 165 horsepower. So at least it has almost double the horsepower of the original car.
The car doesn’t look too bad, considering that it has rounded, ponton-style bodywork grafted on to a boxy, angular car. The panel gaps and paint work are quite good, and it should be fairly practical to own and maintain mechanically.
It’s certainly something you don’t see every day. Thank you for letting me share this unique car with you.
