Father's First Car: 1951

This photo, taken by my mother in 1951, shows my father with his first car: a 1950 Studebaker Champion 4 door sedan. He dated my mother in that car. They were married in October 1951, and he traded that car in on a 1952 Commander in the spring of '52. So they only had this car as newlyweds.

The reason my father bought a Studebaker was that he had come from New York City where nobody in his family had ever owned a car, or even had a license to drive one. The Studebaker dealer offered to give him driving lessons, and take him to the DMV to get a license, included in the price of that car. So a sale was made. By all reports the car was a dog - under-powered and under-braked, which is why he did not keep it long. It had a manual transmission, and if anyone ever waxed it, there is no evidence of that in this shot.

Buildings in the background are the New Brunswick New Jersey garden apartments where they lived until 1953.