Words & Photos: Harrison Wade
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting Trevor Halstead, then you’ll know that he’s a bit of a perfectionist. And it’s for that exact reason that this is the sixth car of his we’ve featured in NZV8, all of which are Studebakers. Talk about being brand-loyal. This issue’s subject is arguably one of his most ambitious projects to date, as it’ll even have those of you with a keen eye for Studees scratching your head, let alone those not in the know. You see, what Trev has done here is nothing short of mastercraft, turning what was once a four-door Champion into a shortened, roof-chopped, and big-blocked coupe. The best part? Trev did all the work himself, except for the upholstery. I suggest you go and grab a bevvy, because this is one interesting read.
Before we begin, it’s important to understand Trev’s obsession with Studebaker, as it wasn’t always a brand that stuck out to him. In the early 1970s, he was rolling around on two-wheeled machinery, namely BSAs and Triumphs, and it wasn’t until he started a family that he realised he needed some more space. After wandering onto a used car lot in Dunedin, he was faced with two choices: a Ford Customline priced at $500 or a Studebaker for $450. “I thought that they were just about the same car, so I’ll go for the $50 cheaper one,” he says. The rest was history.
Fast forward to today, and we arrive at ‘KUSTQM’ — Trev’s ultimate Studebaker, which bears almost zero resemblance to the four-door it started life as. What was originally a 1951 Champion has been shortened by 14 inches, the roof chopped four-and-a-half inches, and raked back, turning it into a two-seat sports coupe — a silhouette that didn’t exist when the car left the factory in South Bend, Indiana.
As you can imagine, a lot of genius and creativity went into this build, such as the chopped roof that has been pancaked using a centre section lifted from an XP Falcon bonnet, creating a peak that mirrors the bonnet’s centre line. The trunk lid has also been peaked to match, with a recessed number plate housing worked in below — details that look factory if you don’t know what you’re looking at. The doors were fabricated by joining sections from front and rear four-door sedan shells, meeting at the rear bubble, while the window body belt line was dropped an inch and a half. At the rear, the guards were flared and welded to the body, with frenched 1950 Studebaker tail lights tucked in cleanly. The original petrol filler in the guard is gone, replaced by a pop cap off a PB Vauxhall feeding a Rover fuel tank mounted cleanly under the parcel rack.
One of this car’s party pieces is the tilting front clamshell, which Trev constructed from a 1947–’49 Studebaker bonnet and guards. The clamshell is also home to one of the most distinguishing features of any Studebaker, the bullet-nose front end, which Trev cast in bronze, before linishing, polishing, and chroming to a mirror-like finish — slotting between custom-made chrome mesh grilles, with horizontal blades formed from stainless steel. As for its eyes, Trev crafted these from Ford Cortina light pods and the original 47 headlight bezels were moulded in.
A custom body is no good without a chassis to sit on, which in this case, commands just as much attention, even if it goes unseen by most. To accommodate the shortened passenger compartment and custom front clamshell, Trev chopped 14 inches out of the original frame before boxing and plating it with radiused corners to add strength. He then custom-built the front rails, starting at the firewall, to accommodate Holden Torana (LJ) front suspension with boxed lower arms and heavy-duty Bedford CF coil springs. The stabiliser bar has been re-bent and tempered from a Holden Commodore, while the steering arms were flame-cut from 22mm high-tensile steel. If you didn’t think this car could get more diverse, the steering and balance shaft were taken from a Mitsubishi, which connects to an electronically-assisted Toyota Yaris power steering column. Trev notes that the steering rack, taken from a Morris Minor, is 2.5 turns lock to lock, adding to the car’s already impressive turn-in ability thanks to the shortened chassis. The rear suspension is just as ingenious as the front, including a fabricated W-pattern four-bar system with adjustable lower arms, Triumph Herald shock absorbers, and Honda coil springs.
As for the brakes, the fronts are made up of Holden Kingswood (HQ) rotors and cast iron callipers, while the rears are 11-inch Ford drums. A dual one-inch master cylinder and six-inch dual vacuum booster operated by a custom-built brake lever system ensures pedal feel and braking performance are kept in check. Oh, and how could we forget the Mk4 Cortina handbrake lever! In true hot rod fashion, Trev opted for a set of Razor 100 wire wheels in 14×6-inch up front and 15×8-inch at the rear, wrapped in 185/70R14 and 245/60R15 rubber, respectively.
With the body and structural work out of the way, the whole car was then stripped bare and primed with Black Resene 440 2K primer, followed by the smoothing of each panel with Cromax 840 and 1040R, before a final coat of Cromax 131 lacquer primer. Alas, it then came time to lay on the colour: L400 Lucite acrylic lacquer Bomber Gold, giving this Studee its standout appearance among the rest of Trev’s collection. Custom gold mist scallops followed, then seven coats of clear lacquer sanded back to 1500 and 3000 grit for the first cut, with a final sand to 5000 grit as the lacquer settled. The chassis and interior received a coat of Centari 2K Bomber Gold, while the dashboard, window frames, seat fittings, and steering wheel were sprayed 2K Mist Gold.
Continuing the theme of precious metal, almost every surface of the interior is clad in Gold Mist vinyl trim, complemented by stainless steel mouldings, speaker surrounds, and pedals that are laser-cut to Trev’s own design. The door cards are custom-made from 3mm PALIGHT board and feature armrests shaped to resemble snazzy 1950s Brothel Creeper shoes (do look them up if you don’t know what they are). A set of buckets pulled from an early Mitsubishi Starion is used for the driver and passenger seating arrangement, sitting on either side of a steel console angled toward the driver. Instruments once found in a Jaguar XJ12 are used to monitor oil, fuel, water temperature, and voltage, while the speedo and rev counter come from a Mk2 Jag. You wouldn’t think it, but the steering wheel is a heavily modified unit from an HQ Kingswood, with a 1956 Studebaker horn button set into custom stainless steel trim.
Under the tilting front end sits a 408-cubic-inch big-block Chevrolet, mounted low in the chassis with a winged sump for extra oil capacity and ground clearance, complete with an Isky Supercam camshaft. Air is fed into the motor via a polished Edelbrock Performer inlet manifold carrying a 650cfm Holley double-pumper spread-bore carburettor, topped with a custom air filter designed to complement the bullet nose up front. A set of closed-chamber heads, which have been ported and polished, funnel the fuel-and-air mixture entering the combustion chamber, with exhaust gas leaving through a pair of 1 ⅞-inch custom headers into four-inch collectors, followed by baffled lake pipes running under the car. Drive goes through a Turbo 400 gearbox with a floor-mounted trans cooler from an Opel, shifted via a Toyota gear selector, and fed to the rear wheels via a narrowed Ford nine-inch diff running a 2.7:1 ratio.
With that, it took Trev three-and-a-half years to turn this Studebaker into what it is today, and he’s already made quick work of showing off the result to the public by taking it to the Kumeu Hot Rod Show earlier this year, where it won the ‘Mothers Choice’ award, and, more recently, Beach Hop, where it was crowned the ‘Best Hot Rod’ at the Waihi Warmup event. We asked him if he’d do anything differently if he had to do it all over again, to which he simply said: “Nothing. This is exactly how I wanted it to turn out, even though it was never intended to be this in-depth a build.”
OWNER Q&A
DRIVER: Trev Halstead
AGE: 74
OCCUPATION: Retired
PREVIOUSLY OWNED CARS: Every modified Studebaker imaginable!
DREAM CAR: Custom-built ’53 or ’54 Studebaker Convertible
WHY THIS CAR? Purely for the style. It’s meant to be a throwback to the ’50s and ’60s with stuff from the ’70s that I like. And the fact that I had all the stuff to build it in the first place
BUILD TIME: 3.5 years
LENGTH OF OWNERSHIP: Since the mid-’70s
THIS CAR’S HISTORY: Originally a four-door 1951 Studebaker Champion body shell, purchased in the mid-’70s. Many components were sourced from a second Studebaker project that had been off the road for 17 years
TREV THANKS: Eric Carter, Peter Dellaway, and Greg Knight for their help with the build
SPEC LIST
VEHICLE: 1951 Studebaker Coupe
ENGINE: 408ci big-block Chevrolet, smooth-ground block, ported and polished closed-chamber heads, Isky Supercam camshaft, polished Edelbrock Performer inlet manifold, 650cfm Holley double pumper spread-bore carburettor, custom air filter, 1 ⅞-inch custom headers, four-inch collectors, baffled Lake pipes, winged oil sump, copper three-row radiator with brass fabricated tanks and stainless steel side mounts, 16-inch electric fan, tractor shroud with flexi fan
DRIVELINE: Turbo 400 automatic transmission, Toyota shift lever, floor-mounted Opel trans cooler, narrowed Ford nine-inch diff, 2.7:1 cruise ratio
SUSPENSION: Holden Torana (LJ) boxed lower arms, heavy-duty Bedford coil springs, rebent and tempered Holden Commodore stabiliser bar, flame-cut 22mm high tensile steel steering arms, fabricated W-pattern four-bar system, adjustable lower arms, Triumph Herald shock absorbers, Honda coil springs
BRAKES: Holden Kingswood (HQ) rotors, cast-iron callipers, dual one-inch master cylinder, six-inch dual vacuum booster, custom brake lever system, 11-inch Ford drums, Mk4 Ford Cortina handbrake lever
WHEELS/TYRES: 14×6- and 15×8-inch Razor 100 wire wheels, 185/70/14 and 245/60/15 tyres
EXTERIOR: Custom body with Bomber Gold paint
INTERIOR: Custom interior finished in Gold Mist vinyl upholstery, laser-cut stainless steel mouldings, speaker surrounds, and pedals, hand-fabricated stainless steel buttons, linished and polished stainless steel throughout, Mitsubishi Starion bucket seats, Jaguar XJ12 auxiliary instruments, Jaguar Mk2 speedo and rev counter, Fusion stereo with four 6×9-inch speakers, Holden Kingswood (HQ) steering wheel with 1956 Studebaker horn button in custom stainless steel trim, boot trimmed to match interior, upholstery stitching by Wayne at Pro Trim
PERFORMANCE: Untested
