A Brief General History of Studebaker M Series Trucks
Studebaker designed this truck in the late 1930's and the model was put into production in November 1940.
In 1940, Studebaker was already gearing up for wartime production, so although a successful design, not too many were produced before the World War II.
The First Studebaker M Series Military Trucks Come Off The Line
Studebaker Factory Photo of M Series Military Trucks
During the war, the military version of this truck served with honor. It saw extensive use in the China- Burma theater and Studebaker M Series trucks were responsible for the bulk of the hauling during construction of the Burma road. These great trucks were also given to aid Russia, in fact tens of thousands served with the Russian army in W.W.II. It is a fact that Studebaker trucks were sought out as war prizes by the Germans, as the Studebakers were superior to any German military truck.
Studebaker 6X6 M Series Truck
While watching documentary programs on TV, or while reading history books, look at all of the US Army trucks, you can spot the Studebakers easily, they have a much more aerodynamic design and they have door window "wind wing" vents. They were the only trucks that had this civilian comfort feature during the war!
Studebaker trucks also saw heavy use in building the Alaskan Hi-way. Their heavy duty frames were respected for the punishment they could take.
1947 Studebaker M16 - 1 1/2 Ton Truck.
After the war, Studebaker started producing civilian trucks as soon as possible. The truck that was to become the Studebaker Stage was built in the prewar civilian design. It does share the same frame, running gear and cab as its famous soldier brother.
History From 1947 - 1992
This brings us up to this particular truck. It was made in South Bend Indiana in mid 1947. It was sent out to Nebraska to serve in agriculture industry...........OK, it was a farm truck!
It was fitted with a sugar beet box and was used in the beet harvest in the McCook, NE area until 1967. At that time, it was beat to death by farm hands, poor county roads, hard work and by the looks of it, lots of abuse.
From 1967 to 1992 it served as a home for a wide variety of rodents and insects as it waited its turn to be crushed and melted down to make Ford Escorts.
In 1992 it was sold at auction, and the scrap metal man was at the sale, but for some reason, even he didn't want it!
So, Mike Schoup, who just happened to be at the sale, and just happened to be a Studebaker fan, and also just happened to know of someone crazy enough to save this old truck, bought the truck.
He then called me on the phone and offered
it to me for the same price he paid for it...............$12.00
We named it "Dead Red Fred"!
This is how the truck looked when I bought it from Mike Schoup in McCook, NE
This truck was RUSTY! Note the rotten boards on the box. This truck was definitely rescued! Thanks Mike!
Pastor John Anderson kicks some tires and gave this truck a prayer!
A truck this straight had to be saved! It is a good example of "Studebaker Tough". Any lesser of a truck wouldn't have survived!
It did run, barely! Notice the damage on the grill
The only place that the paint was still intact was under the hood! I found lots of wasp nests under the hood and mice nests in the seat and under the dash, WHAT A MESS!
This is how the truck looked only 13 days after I bought the truck!
Those were the most intense 13 days I can recall. I still have nightmares about sanding...sanding....sanding....
My daughter Diana and son Jim worked hard on the truck.
My daughter claims that her fingers are now double jointed due to all of the sanding she did! My son decided that he never wants to be a body man!
History 1992 - 2003
Fred was ready for a parade less than a month after my purchase!
This was a shocker to almost everybody, but I did NOTHING else for 28 days but resurrect this old truck!
It turned out real nice!
The sides let down to make a great mobile stage!
The truck and the Calhouns along with Buck Taylor, "Newly" from TV's "Gunsmoke"
Buck Taylor was at a local celebration and came up to me and said "nice truck! do you mind if I get my picture taken with you in front of it?" Wow! Buck taylor from Gunsmoke! That is one of my all time favorite shows! Of course I said YOU BET!
In 1999 we decided to enclose the box and enlarge the stage area.
It was tough for me to undo some of the work that I did to this truck, but now that it is done, I am very pleased!
Unpainted rear section of the door.
This box is tough! It is made from 16 ga. cold rolled steel, and heavy.......
Working hard to figure out the fold out door.
I designed and built the box "on the fly". What amazed even me is that the entire box is only 1/8" off from being square! For me that is saying quite allot, as I cannot draw a straight line to save my life!
Almost Transformed......