What an exciting experience it was to caravan with other Stude's to
Omaha! As usual my 1949 Commander was the oldest car in the group. We
started in Indiana and drove to Burlington Iowa the first day. The
second day we took US 34 across Iowa, as I knew, it was a hilly drive
but the Commander took them with ease. We averaged about 65 MPH most of
the way. Even had to pass some slower modern cars on the steep hills.
While in Omaha I took a group to the Old Market area one day, even with
5 people and lots of stuff in the trunk the ole Commander took the
steep hills around Omaha with ease. The very rough brick roads around
the Old Market area weren't a problem in the Studebaker either. Most
new cars we saw were rocking their passengers around quite a bit but
all was smooth with that Planar front suspension. I see why Tom
McCahill said the 1949 Commander was one of the best cars in America.
To give the ole girl the ultimate test I made sure to take a run at the
Annual Newport Indiana antique auto hill climb. After a 1200 mile round
trip the Commander ran the hill in 31.56 seconds on par with the NEWER
Fraizer's and Hudsons with manual transmissions. I experienced on one
minor hiccup the whole trip. I had to clean some excess oil from the
governor on the overdrive. The oil caused the points to not contact
making the overdrive not engage. It is an easy task since Studebaker
put a little access panel in the floor to do the service from above the
car not under. Studebaker's reputation for economy proved to be real as
well. The lowest mileage I got was 18 MPG with the last two tanks
giving me 23 MPG. Pretty good for a 57-year-old car running at higher
speeds than were common in it's day. I see how they got 24 MPG in the
Mobil gas runs. With this trip I guess I have put about 3500 miles on
my Studebaker this year with most of the bugs being ironed out in the
first 300 miles this year. It proves a point, the more you drive them
the more reliable they are on long trips.