Danbury Mint 1:24 1950 Studebaker Custom Rod- Nbr Ltd Ed Limited to 2006 Production

When legendary hot rod and custom design builder, Ding Troutington, decided to fabricate a one-of-a-kind-car that would see some action at custom shows but ultimately sell at the Jarrett-Backson Auction he knew just what he wanted. The call went out for a classic car of the early fifties with ahead-of-its-time styling and one that both lent itself to futuristic customization and was not your run of the mill Ford or Chevy seen at every other custom show or auction house sale. It was Ding’s paint and body man, Jose Flippanõche, who found the nearly rusted out shell of a 1950 Studebaker Champion convertible languishing in the Carmel, California junk yard. The pieces were all there and the outside body relatively free of dents and damage. The journey began. Jose had the hulk hauled back to the Dan & Berry Coachworks shop for its transformation and eventual resurrection. Over the next several months, and with long hours into the night, lead work and sanding and chopping and welding, Ding weaved his magic into the metal. From the chassis up, the car started to breathe its new air of life. Each body panel was painstakingly restored, primed, sanded and sanded some more. This was going to be big.

Ding had this open air roadster in mind and was determined to build it the right way. The windshield frame was laid back; raked but proper. Shortened too, until way cool. Bumpers, badly pitted chrome add-ons, door handles, unnecessary trim; toast. They were vanished. Interior tub; gutted. The old, tired and rusted out six? History. Wouldn’t a big V-8 be juicy here? Oh sure, if you want one more dime-a-dozen custom rod. No, nothing short of a V-10 Viper mill will do here boys. Oh yeah, and a six speed manual tranny to go with it. Bring up the rear in Viper fashion too while we’re at it. Nestle it in coil-over shocks, tomorrow’s cradle suspension and you have one proper snake. “Hey! That’s a good name for the project”, exclaimed Ding. The boys all agreed. So, “Snake” it was. The crew set out to replace the interior and trunk with ‘go-fast-in-style’ goodies and pieces. After a complete gutting of the bench seats, door panels and dash, Jose, with help from shop co-owner, Dan Mint, laid up and fabricated a complete new dash. A wrap-around with flat panel configuration was formed. Flush-mounted gauges, high tech, of course, were added. With insight by Berry Mint, Dan’s brother and co-owner of the shop, the center of the dash was extended to flow down into a center console that the boys allowed to run the length of the interior tub. It housed the shifter, emergency brake handle and power control switches. After a short, time-limited stint at Babe’s Upholstery shop, the car returned to Dan & Berry’s. The boys admired the new hides, properly stretched like fine high fashion garb on some supermodel. Babe had clothed four high-rise bucket seats with three of them outfitted with fabric belts and race-inspired quick release buckles. The driver’s seat was fitted for a three point lap belt with two additional shoulder harnesses. Carpet was fabricated and laid out. Stereo speakers were pressed into service on four side panels and two were placed between the twin rear buckets. The color of the seats, a warm nutmeg, was carried over onto the interior side panels and at Berry’s insistence, the color advanced to the inside upper portion of the hood and trunk lid. Later, the crew all agreed it was the right thing to do.

After the carpet was installed to the trunk, Dan fitted this puppy with a chrome-plated NOS tank, all the tie-downs and a battery for good balance. The license plate holder was also treated to a coating of the chrome kind. Once the beefed up chassis was ready, the mighty Viper motor found residence in the old Stude’s front quarters. By now paint colors were being fleshed out from the drawings that Ding labored over all those months ago. The bottom portion of the car received a platinum silver base coat that appeared to be a foot thick. And this, before the clear-coating! Then separated by a wafer-thin nutmeg pinstripe, the top portion of the coach got a shot of charcoal pearl metallic to die for. And of course the prerequisite clear-coat that looked like icing on the cake. There wasn’t going to be a top; this was a roadster after all, but Dan laid up the fiberglass top-down boot, in charcoal, that fits so profoundly flush and tight where only a long curved line gives it away as a separate piece. But when it is removed, a stealthy twin-hooped tonneau cover may be installed in its place to transform the car from a four place fun machine into a cozy two occupant Sunday car show thrill ride. Jose fabricated the piece and added four metal-faced speakers to the unit. He then added the “Viper” emblem to the waterfall portion of the tonneau to match the one affixed to the trunk rear. And just like the boot, when snapped into position, the tonneau is tight and seamless.

It was the shop’s foreman, JRD, who did the mechanical work. He installed those big Viper disc brakes and drilled rotors that you see spinning past the mag wheels. He also carried out the plan to exit the exhaust just in front of each rear wheel, ala Dodge Viper SRT10. He fashioned the black metal air intake screening for the front end of the car and the side fender vents as well. He plumbed and fitted the motor and gave the engine bay the classy and clean look that you see there. He got the in-the-weeds stance so low and cool too. In fact, it was JRD who first realized that the long months were complete. “Boys!” he shouted, “We’re done!” So off on the show circuit it was for the Snake. One after the other, the trophies piled up. It didn’t seem like the car could garner anything except first place results. So after due time, and plenty of instant crowd recognition, the custom rod was ready for the Jarrett-Backson stage. From the opening announcement, with wildly appreciative cheers, to the final gavel, only 9 minutes passed. But to Ding it seemed like at least one of the months that spent in building the little dream machine. When the dust settled and before any commission was tacked on, the rod sold for $1.2 million!! Ding and the Mint brothers were happy. The crowd was snake bitten and all the better for it.

Danbury obviously had a lot of fun putting this one together and so did I, fictionalizing a bogus story about it. But owning the model will give you more than a great measure of fun; it will give you a diecast that is a stand-out, far different than the norm and one surely to attract a lot of attention from onlookers trying to figure out its origins. It is nostalgic and high tech all at once. DM calls it the Snake. I think I’d either call it Studeviper or better yet, Snakeabaker. But whether you like resto-rods or not, this is truly a MUST-have model no matter what you decide to call it!

Collectors who bought the Corvette Nomad Custom ($135) and sent in their Option Form to reserve the Studebaker Custom Rod will get it at $135 (as advertised in the materials accompanying the Corvettte Nomad). New buyers (anybody else who didn't buy the Corvette Nomad) will pay the new price of $140.

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