Summary

This Studebaker Commander is known as the John Dillinger Getaway car from the October 1933 Central National Bank robbery in Greencastle, IN. It is reputed to be the car abandoned by Dillinger after the robbery. The car has been in museums for years.

Details

Dark green with brown mohair interior. Engine: straight eight sidevalve, 4.1 liters, 80bph at 3600rpm; Gearbox: three speed manual; Suspension: front beam, rear live axle; brakes: four-wheel mechanical drum, left hand drive. It is no surprise that such an automobile attracted the attention of bankrobber, John Dillinger. He stole one for himself in 1933. The Commander was the getaway car when Dillinger, 'America's public enemy number one', and his gang robbed the Central National Bank in Greencastle, Indiana, in October 1933. Armed with an arsenal of weapons stolen from a police armory, they swarmed into the bank and left the getaway car at the curbside in the charge of another gang member. The getaway Studebaker was itself a stolen and unmarked sheriff's vehicle! The stolen vehicle was fitted with false Ohio license plates originally issued to Dillinger's wife. The Greencastle robbery went off without a hitch. It was the largest bank robbery up to this point in history, totaling over $75,000. The gang drove sedately out of the country on already chosen dirt roads and slipped past every roadblock set up by police. Dillinger abandoned the Studebaker soon after the Greencastle robbery. In recent years the Studebaker has been on display at various shows and museums. It has benefited from a bare metal respray and runs and drives beautifully. It is fitted with an optional steel trunk that is lightened with bullet holes. There is much documentation of the car available.