This pointy old Studebaker Land Cruiser, yes, a Land Cruiser, is rotting away down in Old Car City USA.
The Wikipedia page for this car is much less complete than that of the more recognized coupe version, the Champion. The third generation of Studebaker’s full sized sedan enjoyed a long run from 1947 to 1952, playing off being one of the first post WWII designs to market.
This car features the unique “spinner” grille design, pinning this one as a 1950-1952.
The first picture really looks like a coupe but as you can see it is a sedan. Boasting suicide doors and a tall upright profile, the pre war influence is apparent. The Big Three went a very different direction with their post war cars that makes the Land Cruiser stand out today but perhaps aged it prematurely in its time.
I believe that is another land Cruiser besides it in the above photo. Quarters were tight and good photography was pretty difficult.
The interior is pretty destroyed but you can see evidence what used to be a pretty stylish design. Dash mounted mirrors were not quite on their way out yet so it is interesting to see an example of when such a design was commonplace. I wonder what the button in front of the mirror stand on the top of the dash was for. Perhaps heater controls? Push in for power and twist to adjust the air? Or maybe that opened a fresh air vent below the windscreen.
Actually, all the controls seem pretty interesting. The AM radio appears to have preset buttons, which must have been pretty futuristic. The handle control is somewhat enigmatic. Wipers? Three gauge clusters must also stood out.
I wonder why the gas filler cap is so oblong. I assume it has an internal catch to open it.
I’ve filed this to “Land Cruiser” to annoy all the Toyota guys FYI. Studebaker was here first. Clearly Toyota was blatantly playing off the legendary reputation of Studebaker to sell their 4x4s.