Studillac

Studillac is a name given to a customised aftermarket car assembled between 1953 and 1955, comprising a hard-top Studebaker coupé fitted with a Cadillac V8 engine. The assemblers charged about $1500 more than the Studebaker standard model. An option was a dual-range Hydra-Matic transmission, at an additional $500.

The Studillac entered popular consciousness through Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, being the preferred form of transport of Bond's CIA counterpart, Felix Leiter. Introduced in Diamonds are Forever, where Leiter supplies Bond with details of the conversion after the British agent expresses surprised admiration at the car's performance, it reappears in Goldfinger.

References

• Kowalke, Ron. (1997). Standard Catalog of American Cars 1946-1975 4th Edition, Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-521-3

Further reading

• Wilbur Shaw (July 1953). "Studebaker with a Cadillac Engine". The Popular Science Monthly. New York: Popular Science Publishing Co. pp. 76–80, 210, 212.