Along with my two younger brothers, I was born in Sydney. One sunny day early in 1975, the whole family piled into dad’s vintage Studebaker and crossed the Harbour Bridge on the journey of a lifetime.

Over a few months, we drove first to Melbourne and then on to Adelaide – where a tiny cog in the almost-fifty-year-old car wore out. A new part had to be made to the original US specifications, and so mum, my baby brother and I flew the rest of way to Perth whilst dad and Evan killed time in Adelaide until all was ready to drive the car across the Nullarbor plain.

Their arrival in Perth caused quite a stir – and made the front page of the state newspaper “The West Australian”. Dad kindly sent me one of the photos taken – I present it here courtesy The West, who own the copyright and hopefully won’t mind me publishing it here.

1928 Studebaker GB Regal Commander, with Brian and Evan Jenkins arriving in Perth in 1975 (you can see the old Boans department store in the background). Dad’s posted about the car on Shannon’s site so there’s more here if you like: click here. 

As you can imagine, there’s a lot of attachment to the Stude in my family – nowadays she’s safely ensconced in dad’s Perth garage, undergoing restoration. She still bears the colour scheme that she received during her original restoration in the early ’70s: black and burgundy – not dissimilar to these lovely examples, who also have loving homes – they’re from a great website called Old Car and Truck Pictures. All photos owned by their original owners.

1927 Studebaker Commander 4 door sedan, Big Six – I suspect this is the model before dad’s. Owned by Jerry White of Grand Island NE, USA.

1928 Studebaker Director Royal Sedan – owned by Steve K. of Sydney, Australia. Update 14/5/13: now owned by Laurie E. of Albury, NSW.

1928 Studebaker taken at Yarmouth County Museum, Yarmouth, NS Canada by J. Stuart McLean. Perhaps this is the same model as dad’s?