38 Special

Skip and Linda Hicok’s...        read full caption Skip and Linda Hicok’s ’38 Coupe Express retains the classic Studebaker lines, but it has been heavily customized. All the seams were filled, the running boards were smoothed, and the bumpers were deleted. The taillights are from a ’38 Chevy.

Skip and Linda Hicok’s...        read full caption Skip and Linda Hicok’s Studebaker.

The bench seat is from a Chevy...        read full caption The bench seat is from a Chevy S-10 and has been re-covered in tan vinyl, as have the door panels. The headliner is tan velour, and the carpet is a contrasting dark brown nylon loop.

The ’38 Special pistol...        read full caption The ’38 Special pistol graphic is repeated on the front end. The headlights are from a ’39 Ford.

The GM theme is continued...        read full caption The GM theme is continued under the hood. Since our photo shoot, Skip has swapped out the Chevy small-block V-8 shown in favor of a stouter, 300-horse 350, which is mated to a 700-R4 automatic tranny. The hybrid running gear culminates in a 3.50-geared Ford 9-inch rearend. Note the “Polish Pistol” graphic on the left side of the firewall.

The stock undercarriage was...        read full caption The stock undercarriage was augmented by a Nova subframe that’s fitted with Nova suspension components. The truck now sits down in the weeds on modular wheels and Firestone tires.

Aside from the original Studebaker...        read full caption Aside from the original Studebaker sheetmetal, this truck is mainly a GM composite—hence the Bow Tie instrument panel behind the GMC steering wheel atop a Buick Regal tilt column. The stereo is an Audiovox unit.

Even in stock trim, early Studebaker pickups are swoopy-looking machines. But when one has been massaged to the extent that Skip and Linda Hicok’s has been, the lines epitomize the term classic. The original Coupe Express was one of only 1,000 built in 1938. The all-steel body has been significantly modified with ’37 Ford headlights, ’39 Chevy taillights, and a custom rear window. The bumpers were removed, all of the seams were filled, and the running boards were smoothed. Then numerous coats of flame-red Delstar were applied, along with tastefully subtle pinstripes and more blatant pink and purple “Polish Pistol” graphics.

When we photographed the truck, its powertrain consisted of a ’76 Chevy small-block that was fitted with a Rochester 600-cfm carburetor. It was mated to a TH350 transmission that had been tweaked with a B&M shift kit. Since then, Skip has swapped in a 300-horse Chevy 350 with a 700-R4 automatic trans, and he also swapped from 4.10:1 to 3.50:1 rearend gears in the Ford 9-inch differential.

The stock frame was augmented by a Nova subframe, and the suspension was also transplanted from the Nova. Monroe gas shocks damp spring oscillation at all four corners, and the frontend also carries a GM 1-inch sway bar. The front disc and rear drum brakes control 7x14-inch modular wheels clad in 225/70R14 Firestone tires.

Studebaker purists might be dismayed to find that the custom digital instrument panel has been fashioned into the Chevy Bow Tie shape. The panel is framed by a GMC steering wheel that resides atop a Buick Regal tilt steering column. Alongside it in the stock Studebaker dash is an Audiovox AM-FM/cassette stereo unit. The bench seat is also a GM piece that was salvaged from an S-10 pickup and has been covered in tan vinyl.

Skip Hicok has been building vehicles since 1958, including a restored ’34 Studebaker R/S Coupe. He’s currently working on his wife’s ’64 Avanti, which has been 10 years in the making. The Coupe Express was his first shot at a street-rodded truck, but he said that it wouldn’t be his last. Before he gets to anything else, however, Linda says he better complete the Avanti. She wants a driver, too!