A number of years back, I found and purchased a book called “The Ultimate Hot Rod Dictionary: A-Bombs to Zoom ies” from Amazon. I thought it fun & novel – and actually, learning classic & custom car terms when I was first beginning in the car world was a great way of growing my kn0wledge (I still remember how confused I was by the word “gasket”!) While this has been a bit more of a coffee table book for me than a reference, I love picking it up and finding some new fun fact to travel along with me in automobilia. Most recently, I was surprised when I went looking for “Studebaker” and found this…

Slippery Stude

Referring to my Studebaker car model, a 1953-1955 Studebaker Coupe was far ahead of it’s time as far as design went and much more aerodynamic and streamlined than it’s contemporaries. Designed by Bob Bourke, working under Loewy design group, the design was acclaimed by the Museum of Modern Art not as a design, but as “a work of art.” The Design Chronicles goes on to say it had,”A blend of the best features of European and American design, it was longer, wider and lower than previous models.” That’s my car! For Studebaker nuts out there, I found an interesting interview with Bob Bourke by the Automotive Design Oral History project that is dictated here.

Studillac

Just under “Stude (also Studie)” is Studillac. Can we back-track though… I was a little aghast that there in the Hot Rod Dictionary was “Studie,” my car’s nickname. While I knew it wasn’t necessarily original on my part to call her that, it was the name that fit and I’ve quite taken ownership of it in my own mind! Anyhow… “Studillac” is the project I’m planning for my Stude. Transplanting a Cadillac engine (which was the hot-ticket of the time as one of the first OHV V8s) into a Studebaker body. Because the design was so speedy, but the ’53 Studebaker Coupe was only released with a V6 inside, hot rodders quickly took to doing this Cadillac engine swap – getting the best aerodynamics of the time combined with the best powerplant. If you want to hear more about Studebaker Coupe history, I did a Speed-Seeking Studebaker series covering some of their history in Land Speed Racing, find it here.

Find the book for yourself from Motorbooks (who make some great car books!) – The Ultimate Hot Rod Dictionary by Jeff Breitenstein, 2004.

I’ve been thinking of starting my own little dictionary here on GreaseGirl… are there any words that confuse you, once confused you, or you’re generally just curious about?