NY Times - March 14, 1939

NEW YORK - An entirely new contender in the low-price automobile field, 
the Studebaker Champion, was presented here yesterday in a preview for 
dealers and automobile editors at a luncheon at the Hotel Astor.

The new car, which is not an adaptation of any previous model but has 
been designed from the ground up,…was described by Paul G. Hoffman, 
Studebaker president, as the automotive counterpart of the modern 
streamlined lightweight train, with reduction of weight accompanied by 
increase in strength due to both design and material, and consequent 
operating economy.

Mr. Hoffman…said that the car had the lowest center of gravity of any 
automobile produced in America. The effect of this feature was shown in 
a motion picture in which one of the new sedans was driven at speed up 
a ramp and leaped off the end with sufficient momentum to clear a brush 
hurdle and the hood of a parked automobile, then landed on its front 
wheels and drove off unscathed.

"We think this car is an important one to America," Mr. Hoffman said. 
"It will show a fuel economy 20 percent better than any competitor and 
perhaps more. If this 20 percent saving could be applied to all the 
motor cars on the American roads, it would mean a saving of $1 billion 
a year, based on last year's total mileage."

He explained that the car was the result of four years of 
investigation, including surveys of what average drivers of many types 
sought in a low-priced automobile. Four chassis, two European and two 
American, were completely torn down, he said, and every part weighed as 
a basic study for the new offering. As a result, weight savings of more 
than 500 pounds have been effected.

More than 165 pounds have been eliminated in the engine block casting 
alone, Mr. Hoffman said, by abandoning the principle of 
interchangeability by which mass production manufacture has heretofore 
made it possible to use the same basic block for engines of different 
makes produced by a single manufacturer.

"Nowhere have we sacrificed strength, however," he added. "The front 
pillar post of the Champion, the crucial point in most head-on 
collisions, is, we believe, the strongest in the field and the same 
principles of strength have been applied all through the design of the 
car."

Details of the new automobile and prices will be revealed on March 26. 
Meanwhile, the first fifty cars have been driven 10,000 miles each by 
test driver over all types of roads from coast to coast. Production for 
the public market started on March 1.

The Champion shows careful streamlining with ample leg, shoulder and 
knee room and a large luggage compartment. Steering post gear shift, 
planar independent front wheel suspension and rotary type door locks 
are among standard features. Headlights are mounted in the front 
fenders. With the floor at curb level, running boards are dispensed 
with.

The development of the new car represented an investment of $4,500,000, 
Mr. Hoffman said...