Richard Jandrey, Sr. has a few auto restorations under his belt. With the help of his son Rick, he completed a 1949 Ford F1 pickup a few years ago, and it earned an AACA senior award in 2018. In addition, Richard’s daily drivers are a 1955 Fairlane and 1951 Ford Fordor sedan, demonstrating to the world where his heart is.

Richard’s other favorite automobile make is Studebaker, with fond memories of the Studebaker family car from his childhood. His dad traded in a Model A Ford and purchased a 1934 Studebaker Sedan because it accommodated more passengers.

Currently, Richard owns a 1936 Studebaker President Coupe that he restored in 1995. It has won numerous awards including Best of Show at a CCCA show at Akron’s Stan Hywet and AACA Senior and Preservation Awards.

Richard’s latest project is a 1938 Studebaker Coupe Express.

The Coupe Express design is similar to the Australian Ford Utility or, more recently, the Ford Ranchero and Chevrolet El Camino. These light trucks were essentially designed on car frames. The silhouette features a conventional passenger car front end of metal and a pickup bed, all built on a Studebaker Commander 116.5-inch chassis with sedan fenders. Studebaker produced just over 5,000 of these vehicles from 1937–1939.

Richard purchased his 1938 Coupe Express from a new car dealership in La Porte, Indiana in 2000. The truck registered 23,000 miles and originally belonged to a hunting lodge in Minnesota. When he bought it, the fenders were cut off for off-road use and it had many bullet holes. It needed a lot of work to achieve a restoration.

The truck was built in December of 1937, with the serial number #345 showing it was 345 of 1,000 trucks built that year.

In 2000 Richard began a full restoration by completely taking the truck apart. He discovered that the chassis was in terrible condition. Years of driving off-road and numerous frame repairs made it impossible to use the frame. Richard purchased a parts car from a Studebaker guy in Illinois who had acquired the parts car from Arizona, so it was in decent shape. The rebuild stalled.

In 2015 Richard’s son Rick reminded his father that they should complete the restoration “before the state takes your license away,” hoping to motivate his father into action. After that, father and son got serious about completing the project.

Richard now needed assistance to do work on the truck that he could not, enlisting the help of a body and fender man. Richard purchased a better Studebaker motor from Indiana and gave it a valve job, then Rick did the cleaning and detailing. Richard also hired Seybold Enterprises to do the wiring and final detailing and assembly. Chassis, running gear and interior were completely refurbished.