Delco Remy Division -Studebaker Museum

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Studebaker Museum - South Bend, IN

This may be the most famous Studebaker of them all and it was driven by a bear, Fozzie Bear to be exact. Actually it was driven a person sitting in the trunk and looking at a TV scene to see where he was going. The TV camera providing the signal was located in the whole in the center where the chrome has been removed. The Studebaker bullet nose was based on the Lockheed P-38 fighter from WWII.

This is what the Studebaker Commander is supposed to look like! This is actually a 1950 Commander Starlight Coupe. My grandparents in Lansing, MI used to rent out the upper floor of their house and in the early 50's I remember one set of renters that drove a Commander. Once you see one you never forget the distinctive nose. For all its fame the Commander was only produced in 1950 and 1951.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, here are two of the seven that remain flyable in the world today making a high speed pass at the 2010 Chino, CA Airshow. Note that the P-38 engines are represented on the car by the headlights, the air intakes by the parking lights, and the gun nose by the distinctive Commander chrome nose. 10,036 P-38s were built during WWII and destroyed 3,785 enemy aircraft in air to air combat. But we digress. Time to go find some Delco-Remy parts.

Studebaker came out with Hawk series of cars in 1957.

A close up shot of the engine bay. Note the very obvious DR tag on the DC generator at the left. On this particular vehicle I could only ID the generator and regulator as Delco-Remy components. The coil on the firewall was a Borg Warner and the distributor was not identifiable at its location.

Note that each wire to the generator terminals had to be hand installed and secured leading to added labor cost in assembly. Also this generator as a capacitor attached.

Model 1102088, Serial Number 9M19.

The DR Regulator which is mounted on the front of the engine. Again note that each terminal would have to be wired in as it came down the assembly line.

This photo had to be totally over exposed to bring out the Delco-Remy on the unit.

On this display engine only the starter could be identified as Delco-Remy. The DC generator in this case has been sanitized to remove any manufacturers' identification, which is a common practice by auto manufacturers for their display engines.

Note that the Delco-Remy starter has no solenoid and has a terminal that would be have to be hand wired to the wiring harness.

Starter Model 1107650, Serial Number 5L11. Due to the fact this V-8 has a DR starter, we should be able to assume the V-8 in the previous Golden Hawk 75 had one also.

I was unaware that Wheel Horse was a South Bend product. I had 12 HP automatic at my first house to mow the lawn and plow the drive.

This simulation of a body drop of a 1937 Studebaker President sits in the foyer as one enters the museum. Unfortunately the Delco-Remy generator, starter and distributor are all on the opposite side of the display and are difficult to see. To adequately photograph them one needs to cross the barrier. The best way to do this is to enter from behind the vehicle underneath the stairs.

One can just see the DC generator but from this side of the vehicle it is very difficult to see the DR tag.

From the back side the DR tag on the generator can be seen along with the Delco-Remy starter and solenoid.

DC Generator Model 961H, Serial Number 1034.

Delco-Remy starter 729G, serial number 1234.

The DR distributor appears to be model 862M, but serial 32765 for sure.

Now to finish up on Fozzie Bear's Commander.

Next time I watch the movie I will have to see if I can detect the camera in the hole.

The current Studebaker Museum was built in 2005 and is two story with basement state of the art facility which was built by loyal Studebaker fans and the city of South Bend. The museum is co joined to the South Bend Center for History Museum.

The main entry way into the auto and history galleries. There are 30-40 cars in the basement on display/storage for rotation to the upper floors.

Appendix:

Note that Fozzie Bear's 1951 Commander, whether a six or eight, had plenty of DR parts on it when it came off the assembly line. I am not sure why these are listed as trucks.

The 1957 Golden Hawk had plenty of Delco-Remy parts on it also. The generator photographed above is not the same as listed here.