1941 Studebaker Champion Coupe Delivery: Multipurpose Tool

摘要

Transformable vehicles have come and gone over the years. Until recently, General Motors sold the Chevrolet Avalanche and Cadillac Escalade EXT that were both an SUV and a pickup. The GMC Envoy XUV had a retractable rear roof that converted the SUV into a sort of pickup, a la the 1963-66 Stude-baker Wagonaire with its retractable roof section that allowed the station wagon to haul tall items. But these are just the latest efforts. From late 1939 through 1941, Studebaker sold the Champion Coupe Delivery. It blended a three-passenger coupe with a pickup bed that could be inserted into the trunk to take up the slack when Studebaker lacked a regular light-duty pickup. The coupe/pickup idea had been around since at least the mid Thirties with Chevrolet, Ford, Plymouth, and Terraplane offering versions. Competitive automakers are always looking for a new niche, and the coupe/ pickup was a vehicle that could make light deliveries when needed and then convert back to a car. Today, we think nothing of using a pickup for a night on the town, but 70 years ago people were about as comfortable arriving at a restaurant in a truck as wearing shorts to the office. Although a clever idea, coupe/pickups never sold in large volume.