Studebaker's Intriguing Postwar Business Coupe

A while ago I wrote about business coupes.  These were common in the USA through the 1930s and into the early 1950s.  All had a single bench seat for the driver and any passengers.  But no back seat -- that space and a (usually) large trunk were devoted to hauling wares.  Some business coupes used regular coupe bodies sans back seats.  Others had unique styles, essentially short passenger greenhouses that incidentally served to create long trunk areas.

A particularly stylish and interesting example of the latter case was marketed by Studebaker in the late 1940s using its fresh postwar Starlight coupe body.  Studebaker never called these cars business coupes, preferring the the term DeLuxe Coupe.  But functionally, business coupes they actually were.

Gallery

First, an example of the Starlight coupe that served as the basis for business coupes.   This Barrett-Jackson auction photo shows the 1948 Commander version.  Starlights were and remain noteworthy due to their four-segment panoramic backlight / back window that has fascinated me since I first saw them.  It works best as a brand-signifying style touch because the thick pillar abaft of the door obstructs the vision of back seat passengers, thereby earning functionality demerits.

Now for a Champion business coupe, one that was for sale a while ago.  The shortened greenhouse is obvious.  Besides its reshaping, a different backlight was used, also different sheet metal to bridge it and the trunk lid.

View of a for sale, rather ratty 1947 Champion 4-door sedan showing its backlight.  Like the business coupe's, it's a two-segment affair.  But its size and shape are not quite the same, so the business coupe's backlight was unique to that body style.

Studebaker Champions had shorter hoods than the more upscale Commander and Land Cruiser models.  That helps to exaggerate the length of the rear deck in this photo.  The driver's position is at about the midpoint of the wheelbase, however.

Additional views of the same car.

Mecum auctions photo of another '47 Champion business coupe showing its appearance as seen from the rear.

Another view of the same car.  The lead designer was Virgil Exner who later was styling vice president for Chrysler Corporation.  He did a very fine job on these postwar Studebakers.  Note their taut, well-composed features (aside from the Champ's stubby front that was probably dictated by Studebaker executives).