by Michael GolubiewskiProduction Editor
A bygone great
This week’s ride is a 1952 Studebaker Custom Starlight Coupe owned by Joe “Guido” Marsola of West Wyoming. Studebaker, with headquarters in South Bend, Ind., had a long history in American manufacturing, beginning in 1852 as a producer of wagons for farmers and the military. It began manufacturing electric vehicles in 1902, followed by gasoline-powered vehicles in 1904.
The company built a reputation for reliability and quality. It ran into financial difficulties in the 1950s, merged with Packard in 1954 and eventually ceased operations with the last Studebaker rolling off the assembly line on March 16, 1966.
Marsola’s Custom Starlight Coupe is one of only 1,096 models produced by Studebaker for 1952, when it came with a sticker price of about $1,763. When commercial auto production was suspended for World War II, Studebaker began preparing for the post-war market, using the slogan “First by far with a post-war car.” That unique, post-war car was the Studebaker Starlight.
The Starlight was a unique two-door body design offered by Studebaker from 1947 through 1952. Unlike other two-door sedans, which used two side windows separated from the rear window by roof supports, Starlight designer Virgin Exner created a roof rounded at the rear with a wraparound window patterned after a railroad observation car to give a panoramic view.
For 1951 and 1952, the car also received the unique “bullet nose” on the front, which was referred to as the “spinner” front. This, and its rounded rear, gave the Studebaker a rather futuristic look for the 1950s.
Marsola’s Starlight features “Three Step Pearl White” exterior paint and is equipped with a 350-cubic-inch Chevrolet turbo engine. It has custom side pipes and Crager wheels.
Marsola says he didn’t get the Studebaker looking like it does today all by himself, and he would especially like to thank Ken Marsola Sr., Jim Ferris Customs of Luzerne and Stackhouse Auto for all the hours of hard work they also put into the car. He often takes his Studebaker out to local car shows, so be sure to stop by and take a look at one of the great designs from a great American automobile manufacturer that unfortunately is no longer with us.
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