Studebakers are heading to Wairarapa

WHEN Rangitumau farmer John Harvey bought his new Studebaker from S.M.Baird Ltd in Masterton on November 11, 1924 he got a lot of automobile.
The price was a whopping ?525.00, at a time when you could buy a Ford Model T tourer for just ?158.00.
Eighty-two years and two owners later the big old tourer is still in the district and it's still a lot of automobile.
The dashboard still bears the dealer plate of S.M.Baird Ltd, Engineers, of The Motor House. They had premises on the site now occupied by the Stationery Warehouse (Their letterhead claims storage room for 100 cars, so they were a substantial business). The firm is long gone, failing to survive the Depression. This car may well be one of the few Studebakers they sold, the main markets in New Zealand being the well-heeled Hawke's Bay and Canterbury areas.
Today, Chris Slater understands his is one of just three EL models still running in New Zealand. He can account for three others ? wrecks he has stored as a source of parts.
The car had only moderate daily use by the Harvey family. Tyres weren't available during the war and the car had been relegated to summer hay sweeping duties when it was bought by Carterton car dealer John Keedwell in 1957. At that time it had just 15,000 miles on the clock. The new owner gave it a repaint and drove another 10,000 miles before selling it to Chris in 1982
He dismantled the car and carried out a full refurbishment. Restoration, as such, wasn't needed: This was a quality car, and quality lasts. Today, resplendent in maroon and black, the car is a familiar sight around Wairarapa. The odometer now reads 55,000 miles after excursions all round the South Island and as far north as Hamilton.
The car was actually built in Walkerville, Ontario, Canada, one of 110,000 Studebaker EL models built between 1922 and 1924. (Right-hand drive cars of all makes, including Ford Model Ts, were built in Canada to capitalise on Commonwealth export concessions.)
It is powered by a straight six 4.7 litre low-compression petrol engine with a 3? inch bore and 5 inch stroke, rated at 29.4hp. The torque is enormous, and Chris demonstrates how it can idle in top gear at walking pace and then accelerate to 50mph without any discernable strain. The transmission is "crash box" ? no synchromesh ? but gear-shifting is hardly necessary, such is the strength of the engine. Both the flywheel and the reduction-gear starter are exposed.
Chris lists the car's good points as roominess, comfort (down to a carpeted hot water bottle in the back) and reliability. The bad points are "suicide" (rear-hinged) front doors, two-wheel brakes and a "healthy" appetite for petrol.
Nice touches include a still-functional clock which you wind by rotating the rim. (To change the time, pull the rim and then turn). And there's a dash-mounted light on a retracting cord long enough to reach the engine compartment. One key operates the ignition, the gearshift lock and the passenger-door tool compartment cover.
The hood (re-covering that was a joint effort by Chris and wife Anne) overhangs the front seats by some way, keeping the occupants dry when the weather turns sour. For heavy weather there are side curtains.