1963 Studebaker 8E5 ZIP Van US Postal Mail Truck

Studebaker won a 1963 contract to produce 3,391 examples of the Zip Vans and were very popular, so an additional 847 orders were placed and the total rose to 4,238.

Studebaker provided the engineering and chassis, while the unitized body was fabricated by Met-Pro, Inc. of Lansdale, PA. Met-Pro established the Bede Manufacturing Company to handle the Zip Van project.

Studebaker named them after something NEW called the ZIP Code (Zone Improvement Plan) that the Postal Service came out with.

The Zip Vans featured a sliding door for the driver, no door on the left side, and all examples were right-hand drive. In the back, the door opened up-and-down in similar fashion to a garage door.

Inside, there were two gas pedals. One pedal was for the driver when they were sitting, while the other was to be used when they were standing. Features included a heater and an adjustable seat. The gauge cluster was the one used in Studebaker's Transtar pickup.

Powering the Zip Van was a 170 cubic-inch overhead 'Skybolt' six that offered 112 horsepower passing power through a Borg-Warner 3-speed automaticand onto aDana 44 Twin-Tractionlimited-slip equipped rear axle. It had a wheelbase of 85 inches and a length of 143 inches. ZIP Vans had easy viewing with large windows. The huge flat front dash was perfect for sorting trays of mail and large air panel below windshield let air cross flow to upper rear vents that open. They had large rear bumper guards for loading docks and a safety back-up buzzer. The driver seat folds up as back rest for stand-up driving while using a lower gas pedal by sliding your right foot sideways.

The front suspension, steering gear, engine, and radiator are all mounted on a cradle that can be easily be rolled out from underneath for service. The Postal Service could quickly swap in another one to keep it on the road while doing any repairs.

The Studebaker Mechanicals are easily available being mostly based on the ½ ton truck using the Studebaker Champ 6-cylinder engine, automatic transmission, rear end, steering components, and the Transtar instrument cluster.

The Zip Van paint scheme used by the U.S. Post office were painted red, white and blue.

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Rain, or Snow, nor dark of night stopped the hard-working ZIP Vans and later they were repurposed as Ice Cream Trucks, Handyman Work Trucks, Shop Vans, Catering Food Trucks, mini Campers ect.

Even at Studebaker meets these are rarely seen and it will draw a crowd at any car show.

Decription:

This ZIP Van had a nice amateur restoration by the previous owner who refurbished the 170 OHV engine with NOS Pistons, Rings, Bearings, Transmission Seals, Front Brakes and Master Cylinder, as well as a NOS Radiator installed.

We bought the ZIP Van to display in a private Museum and just took it out and got it running.

The engine runs nice and has good oil pressure. It had a new electric fuel pump and filter installed.

We placed a New Battery in it with a shut-off switch.

Things needing attention before zipping around the roadways:

We decided to replace the old rubber brake hoses and found the front brakes that previous owner replaced work fine, but not the rear.

There is a long section of rubber gas line between carburetor and fuel tank that should be replaced with metal.

Tail lights don't seem to be working.

Sliding door glass has a crack and driver's door doesn't slide easily as it should.

Tires are old, so they should be replaced.

We have only driven it once (on side street for the video), butyou can see it runs fine anddoesn't smoke.