Don Armacost's '31 Studebaker Speedway

Studebaker blood runs deep in the Armacost family.

 Robert S. Armacost had a Studebaker dealership in Indianapolis in 1926. In 1930, he moved to Kansas City and opened a Studebaker dealership. He was president of the National Automobile Dealers Association in 1953. In 1956, he began selling Pontiacs. He ceased business in 1967.

 Today, his grandsons Don and David are avid admirers of cars in general and Studebakers in particular. They are surrounded by dozens of Studebakers and other memorabilia that are owned by their company, Peterson Manufacturing Co., in Grandview.

 Peterson also has a small restoration company, Studebaker Specialists, whose four employees, Brian Neher, John McCall, Brian Veal and Christopher Mather, maintain and restore the company’s collection.

 When Armacost’s company bought a 1931 Studebaker President roadster in 1999, he turned the guys loose. They restored it as a replica of the Speedway model, and their work is exemplary. The long, powerful roadster has an amazing presence, and the restoration is startling in its quality.

 Every tiny detail, down to the stainless steel spoke covers on the Budd wire wheels, is accurate. The black paint is flawless and the chrome is as smooth as glass. McCall made a top, upholstered the seats and even fabricated molds so he could cast new rubber mats.

 “This restoration is their best one to date,” Armacost said.

If Robert Armacost had a Studebaker gene, he certainly passed it on to his grandsons.

 The Speedway was a hotter model of the President roadster. It had a high-compression cylinder head, larger carburetor jets, high-lift cam and a 3.47:1 rear axle ratio. The sleek two-seater was available in Chessylite gray or black. The chassis, wheels, cylinder head and the bottoms of the fenders were painted bright red. The seat was upholstered in red leather. The American Automobile Association required record holders to be production vehicles, so 100 Speedways were built.

 In 1931, George Hunt, a Studebaker research engineer, drove a Speedway roadster to eleven speed records at Dry Lake in California. It covered 100 miles at an average speed of 90.35 miles per hour.