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Postwar Studebakers

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Comments

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,096
    If I park it for awhile it might leave a spot the size of a quarter...so not too bad yet. There are a few things I want to address first on the car - thermostat and possible radiator reconditioning, tires, restored steering wheel..these will likely come first.

    If I wanted a restored car, I could easily sink 30K or more into my old beast...not the best investment.
  • jljacjljac Member Posts: 649
    As I kid, I remember the flathead Studes used to smoke a lot.

    Our 1951 Champion was a smoker in its later years, but my parents did nothing to change the oil or maintain it. It was the same as the "loaner car" Studebaker in the Jim Carey movie The Mask. http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_24405-Studebaker-Champion-1951.html

    That said, the low compression motor with the six volt system always started in the coldest South Bend-Chicago weather and would push other cars to get them going. It went to the junk yard under its own power, but I saved the airplane hood ornament and still have it.
    image
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,056
    Check out that curved one-piece windshield--rather unusual in that general time period.

    Stude had such a windshield beginning their '41 "Sedan-Coupe" models.
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  • jljacjljac Member Posts: 649
    Studebaker was always pushing the limits on the used of curved glass and was never certain if that was going to cause problems. Even when designing the 1953 Lowey coupes and hardtops, they were not certain if the front and rear windshields would be in one or two pieces.

    One of the things I liked best about the 1951 Champion was that is was so nice and warm in the back seat in the winter because the heater was located under the passenger's side of the front seat which divided the heat evenly between the front and rear passengers. Since I was a kid in the back seat on the half-hour trip to and from Grandma's house that took place at least twice a month, I appreciated that.

    The Champion was replaced in 1963 by a full size Chevrolet Biscayne station wagon and it was cold in the back during the winter months because the parents in the front seat got warm long before us kids did in the back. By 1963, there were 4 kids in the family and a 5th on the way, so they wanted a bigger car.

    My Mom did not like the Chevy because it was harder to steer and did not have the nice overdrive transmission of the Studebaker. She disliked the 1963 Chevy so much that by 1967 she talked walked my Dad into getting her a new Chevy Bel Air wagon that had the 283 cid V-8 with an automatic transmission and power steering. No more manual transmissions or manual steering for her.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Mom could have ordered overdrive for her '63 Biscayne---same unit as the Studebaker. It cost an extra $108. Just about all the automakers bought these from Borg-Warner.

    I don't think Chevy wagons offered rear heaters in the wagons---maybe Chrysler did, however. It was a pretty rare thing back then, and the rear seat in a 9-passenger wagon would have been pretty uncomfortable in winter.
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,056
    edited December 2010
    I'm not sure when Chevy stopped offering overdrive, but we bought a new '67 Chevelle and I was aware of the brochure and the owner's manual of that car, and I don't remember anything about it. I don't really remember seeing mid '60's Chevys with overdrive, or hearing about them. I do know that once I got into the world of Studebakers, I saw that probably as many stick shifts had it as didn't, and that included right up until '66--it was usually prominently mentioned in the brochures too. Maybe that's a reflection of the often-thrifty Stude driver.

    My grandparents bought a new '63 Bel Air V8 wagon with Powerglide. I can remember the '58 Chevy wagon they traded in on it. I remember one day, the glass in the '63's tailgate window was in place but cracked in a zillion ways. I can't remember if that ended up being a warranty fix or not.

    I know that GM farmed out manufacture of their wagon bodies through '64, which I think may help explain the very generic look of its rear passenger doors and glass of the '61-64 period, compared to everybody else's.
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  • lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    I believe the Ionia Body Works made these wagon bodies.
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 10,685
    Here's the brochure page from '63 listing the overdrive option
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    edited December 2010
    Oh yes, you could get the same Borg Warner overdrive in a variety of cars.

    Here's a blurb from a history website that explains the B-W overdrive history in brief:

    "Manufacturers who focused their marketing toward operating economy were all heavy promoters of the B-W overdrive. Studebaker probably made more OD-equipped vehicles than anybody. Other AMC marques (Hudson, Rambler, Nash) were also big users. Ford first offered the Borg-Warner OD on Lincoln Zephyrs beginning in 1941. Fords and Mercurys received the B-W OD as an option in 1949 and the F-series trucks got OD for 1953. (Before 1941 & 1949 Ford, Lincoln & Mercury used a two speed axle to lower engine revolutions – The Columbia axle - not discussed here).

    The last time I ever saw the B-W overdrive offered was in 1972 on Ford trucks. Ford cars stopped offering it in 1967 I believe.

    It first appeared as an option on American cars in the mid 1930s.
  • jljacjljac Member Posts: 649
    I believe the Ionia Body Works made these wagon bodies.

    Our family had two Chevrolet station wagons - 1963 and 1967. I remember seeing a metal tag by the door thresholds that said "Body by Fisher" and wondered why some other company was making Chevrolet bodies. This is the first I heard that some company other than Fisher was involved in making the bodies.

    I noticed in the advertisement that the Chevrolet six cyliner motor was called a "230." If that means cubic inch displacement cid, then the Chevrolet six-cylinder was just 2 cubic inches below Studebakers 1951 232 cid. V-8 and had more displacement that Studebaker's 224 cid V-8 of 1954. No wonder they had so much more power than the Studebaker 6 cylinder motors.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    The overdrive was something that not every American driver could live with. The free-wheeling ability, while great for gas mileage, was a nuisance when you found yourself going downhill...say on a strange road you didn't know too well...and of course you couldn't take the car out of overdrive unless you either a)stopped the car or slowed it way way down or b) floored the gas pedal to energize the overdrive solenoid.

    Naturally, flooring the car downhill wasn't a great option, nor was trying to pull over and stop.

    On the plus side, while in overdrive, you could shift without the clutch if you had the right touch.

    Of course, you could engage overdrive at any speed---but once you were in OD, your options were a bit limited.

    Another thing drivers had a hard time with was how gutless the car was in top gear in overdrive. Being used to torquey motors, we had to remember to either downshift more often or floor the gas pedal to get any power for passing.
  • lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    Here's the plate from a 1952 Buick Super station wagon with a body made by Ionia Manufacturing:

    image

    1952 Buick
    ID Tag:
    Buick Motors Division
    General Motors Corporation
    Flint, Mich
    1952 Mod 59
    Body No. 995
    Trim No. 96
    Paint No. 08
    Ionia Body
    Ionia Manufacturing Company
    Ionia, Michigan
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    I knewa guy who had what I thought was a really oddball 1966 Impala.

    It had a 327 engine with a three speed with factory overdrive.

    I've never seen another one and I don't know if that was the last year for overdrive.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    edited December 2010
    Oh I've seen those quite often...Chevy V8s with OD. It's kinda sorta rare, but not really. It was just an option you checked off. I read somewhere that about 10% of all 3-speed manual transmission Chevy cars and trucks had overdrive. Probably around 1967 would be the last year that GM offfered it. Ford kept it up to 1972 on trucks.

    Studebaker actively marketed the Borg Warner unit, as did Rambler. The other companies offered it but not very enthusiastically. Only Stude and Rambler were actually promoting fuel economy. Most Americans didn't really pay much attention to the concept, with gas at .25 cents a gallon.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    Once in awhile, I would see a Chevy with overdrive but thse were usually older ones with 6 cyls.

    Still, by 1966, I'm guessing V-8 Impalas with three speeds instead of automatics or four speeds were pretty damm rare. MAYBE 10% of the production?

    So, if 10% of those had OD, that's 1%.

    That is pretty rare!
  • jljacjljac Member Posts: 649
    edited December 2010
    The overdrive was something that not every American driver could live with. The free-wheeling ability, while great for gas mileage, was a nuisance when you found yourself going downhill...say on a strange road you didn't know too well...i>

    Free-wheeling was not much of a "nuisance" considering that automatic transmissions are free-wheeling all of the time and you have no choice in the matter. Basically, you lock out the overdrive when you are in the city so that the motor can slow you down and save your brake shoes and you engage it when you plan to be on the highway for maximum fuel economy. All you have to do it pull the lever or push it back in. It's not like you have to get out of the car and lock the front hubs in a rain storm, as you do with some 4 wheel drive vehicles.

    My Mom was always saying how nice the 1951 Champion transmission with overdrive was. I never got to drive it because it went to the junk yard before I had a driver's license. But 20 years later, I bought a 1960 surplus army Lark that had the overdrive transmission I found out why Mom liked that transmission so much. It was so much quicker than my first 1960 Lark with the Fordomatic transmission plus there was less wear on the brakes and engine. The low gear ratios meant you could go off road and climb hills. You could get a lot of of options for practically nothing.

    image

    The problem with getting an overdrive transmission in a Chevrolet is that IF you were going to spend $108 for the overdrive manual transmission, you might as well spend a little more and get an automatic transmission.
  • texasestexases Member Posts: 10,685
    "Free-wheeling was not much of a "nuisance" considering that automatic transmissions are free-wheeling all of the time"

    Not really, otherwise you'd get no engine braking when you downshift. Not so much as a manual, but pretty substantial.
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,056
    Our new '67 Chevelle was in dealer stock and had a 3-speed (no overdrive), but it had sat there for almost four months before Dad bought it. By the time he was ready for another new car (fall of '72), stick-shift Chevelles were absolutely non-existent at our small-town dealer, and only the occasional stick-shift Nova would show up. That's what Dad bought next. (He refused to order a car.)
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  • jljacjljac Member Posts: 649
    In July 2002 I went to the Studebaker National Meet in South Bend and took some images of the factory, including the final assembly buildings. There I met a former Studebaker employee who drove a red 1964 Daytona just like the last one made in South Bend. It was a chance encounter, I never met him before or since. He was inside a building materials and hardware store when I saw his car.

    In August 2006, I went to my father's funeral in South Bend. On the way back,from the cemetery (out Western Avenue by the Studebaker proving grounds), I stopped by the same site and the buildings were being torn down. I took more images. Recently I made a gif file and put it at the bottom of the page here. http://stude.net/rollingalong.html It was a sad day in South Bend, but it might be worth a visit. The guy pushing the Lark to the box car looks so much like my grandfather. The images inside are of the buildings that are being torn down.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Not quite. You couldn't just "pull the lever out" if you were in OD. You had to either stop the car while on the highway or, much easier, floor the gas pedal until you were downshifted into conventional gearing, THEN pull the lever out.

    This was not convenient if you didn't have room in front of you to accelerate.

    The reason you might have gotten the impression of "more power" is that typically, cars equipped with this BW overdrive also got a lower differential ratio. They did this because if the ratio were say 2:8 to 1 you would barely move in 3rd gear in overdrive--it would put tremendous "lug" on the engine. So often they gave you a "low" rear end, like a 4:11 or some such. This of course gave you great acceleration but poor gas mileage in city driving and just the opposite on the highway.
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,056
    edited December 2010
    Thanks for posting. That is a nice Bordeaux Red '64 and is close in appearance to the final South Bend-built Stude which is in the Studebaker National Museum and is a NOS Stude with only 28 miles.

    I started going to South Bend in 1988 and every time I'm back, it seems another of the old production buildings is gone. I have taken two tours of the Administration Building, the latter tour being 2007, and it is in remarkable condition inside--mostly untouched. The grandeur of the executive offices is pretty amazing.

    Speaking of the last South Bend-built Studebaker, I was wearing a Stude Museum sweatshirt in a Friday's restaurant near home with my daughter about five years ago, and a handsome older fellow came over to me and said he had worked at the NBC affiliate in South Bend, right out of graduating Notre Dame and that he snuck in the plant on the last day of operation and took pictures. I had always heard that story! This guy was not a car guy but told me Stude wouldn't let any photos of the last car be taken, but he didn't shave for a few days, gave a guy coming out of the plant ten bucks for his employee badge, and went in with the crowd on the last day (12/20/63). He had been provided a small spy camera by the station, and after he got the footage, someone drove in from the NBC station in Chicago to get it and his footage was used on Huntley-Brinkley that night. Amazing. He wasn't even aware there was a Studebaker Museum there. I had heard every bit of that story before, as it was in the South Bend newspaper at the time of the closing--with no names mentioned (saw a reprint of that article in the Studebaker Drivers' Club magazine).
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  • martianmartian Member Posts: 220
    The old SAAB 95 (two stroke engines) had freewheeling-this was done to prevent cylinder wear when you were descending hills.
    A friend of my Dads had one (he was a RC priest )-he liked the SAAB because of the good winter driving capabilities.
    Anyways, this guy said that driving the old SAAB was a weird experience-as you descended a hill, the engine revs dropped (as the engine freewheeled)-then you got to the bottom, and the clutch re-engaged-then you usually had a tremendous explosion in the little muffler-as the unburned gas /air misture ignited.
    If nothing else, it kept you awake-although that little two stroker sounded like an old Singer sewing machine.
  • isellhondasisellhondas Member Posts: 20,342
    I'm trying to think how there would be an explosion unless he turned his ignition off and then back on again?

    Like someone I know used to do!
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    edited December 2010
    Nice story but not my recollection of how the 2-strokes worked. It's true that it freewheeled to protect the engine because 2-strokes lubricate through the fuel/oil mix. So when you coast, no fuel, ergo no lubrication, ergo KA-BOOM. They stayed in freewheel all the time, the 2-strokes I think, but as I recall the 4-stroke engines had switchable free-wheeling. I need to check that out more.

    Those freewheeling transmissions were extremely fragile, however, unlike the Stude/BW overdrives, which were very sturdy aside from the occasional glitch in the simple electrics. The overdrive solenoid was exposed to road dirt and water, so they could die on you. No big deal to fix though.
  • jljacjljac Member Posts: 649
    The reason you might have gotten the impression of "more power" is that typically, cars equipped with this BW overdrive also got a lower differential ratio.

    You are entirely correct about this. When I first got my Lark the overdrive did not work. The car would still run OK until 60 mph, but after that the engine ran hotter and was revving too fast.

    Not quite. You couldn't just "pull the lever out" if you were in OD. You had to either stop the car while on the highway or, much easier, floor the gas pedal until you were downshifted into conventional gearing, THEN pull the lever out.

    This was not convenient if you didn't have room in front of you to accelerate
    .


    I managed to drive the Lark for about ten years without being aware that I had to stop the car to engage the overdrive. Then too, I cannot imagine why anyone would want to "pull the lever out" when the car was already in overdrive at speed. The transmission would drop out of overdrive back to third gear when the gas pedal was floored. There was no need to fool with the lever that engaged it and disengaged it.

    I rarely pulled the lever to change in and out of overdrive. More than 90% of the time I was in the freeways and flatlands of Los Angeles with the overdrive and free wheeling on. When I was in the hills and mountains around Lone Pine California, I had the overdrive and free wheeling off so the engine would slow the car on the downhill.

    I never had any instructions on how to operate it, so I treated it the same way as an army Jeep where you would pull a small lever to engage 4 wheel drive when the vehicle was stopped. In the case of the overdrive, I would lock it out when the vehicle was stopped, but it seems that I could engage the overdrive when the car was moving and wanted to have a higher top speed.

    I never felt inconvenienced by this minor limitation and wish my "modern" automatic transmission would give me the option of NOT having freewheeling on all the time so I do not have to change the brakes so often.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Well all engineering is a compromise. Modern automatics give you both far greater fuel economy and performance than one from 20 years ago, and OD besides---sometimes 2 OD gears and 7 or 8 speeds. I mean, you can get 26 mpg out of an automatic Corvette!
  • jljacjljac Member Posts: 649
    The old SAAB 95 (two stroke engines) had freewheeling-this was done to prevent cylinder wear when you were descending hills.

    I have been thinking about the connection between free-wheeling and two stroke engines but I just don't see the connection. Two stroke engines used in motorcycles and scooters before 1980 use the braking effects of the engine on a regular basis when downshifting back to first gear. I do that when driving my two-stroke beast below where I can run the motor forward and backwards. (I do have to stop the motor to do that.)

    image
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I think motorcycles with direct injection can mitigate this somewhat but still you have to be careful about extremes of long steep hills with throttle closed all the time (you have to juice it a bit now and then) or high speed deceleration and downshifting at extreme RPM.
  • jljacjljac Member Posts: 649
    If there was some connection between free wheeling and saving a two stroke engine someone besides the people at SAAB should have discovered that connection. When I was in Germany, I was in a microcar club where I got to meet and talk to many owners of two stroke vehicles such as Messerschmitts, Heinkels, Gogomobils, and the East German cars known as Trabants. I am not aware that any of them had free wheeling and that goes for two-stroke motorcycles.

    When I was driving the Messerschmiitt through the alps from Frankfort to Bavaria and Switzerland, I went on many long, downhill roads and the furthest thing from my mind was juicing the throttle from time to time.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    You got lucky.
  • jljacjljac Member Posts: 649
    Speaking of Messerschmitts...

    That was very good. I enjoyed watching it and the other video clips posted at that YouTube site. Thanks for sending it.

    My survival driving my Messerschmitt in Europe was not just a matter of luck. . .it was more a matter of common sense of not doing foolish things like letting the engine slow me down and not juicing the throttle pedal when the thing was going downhill. This is especially important when the vehicle has cable-operated brakes that came from a Lambretta motor scooter and because it tended to make right or left turns whenever the cables serving the two front wheels were not adjusted equally and frequently.

    Since I never heard of any two stroke motorcycle, scooter or micro car that had free wheeling before someone mentioned the SAAB I remain skeptical about the connection between the two, especially because the SAAB system operated so poorly. Would you like to own or drive a motorcycle or scooter that had free wheeling?
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Two-strokes need fuel to lubricate. Your evidence is anecdotal and seems to rub against the science. Just because a person might have smoked all his life and not died of lung disease, for instance, doesn't mean that cigarettes don't cause cancer.

    2-stroke motocross bike engines seize all the time. It's part of the deal of racing.

    No, I don't like driving free-wheeling cars, which is why Borg Warner overdrive was replaced by 4 and 5 speed transmissions.
  • jljacjljac Member Posts: 649
    Two-strokes need fuel to lubricate. Your evidence is anecdotal and seems to rub against the science

    When a two stroke motor is acting as a brake, it is still getting some fuel and oil because engines are set to idle and they are generating less heat when braking because the mixture is too thin to fire. It is anecdotal to conclude that because SAAB had a two-stroke motor with free-wheeling that the two were connected for that reason. I have not seen any science which says that two-stroke motors are more likely to be damaged or destroyed while acting as a brake.

    Assuming that the two things are connected for that reason, the benefit of free wheeling is outweighed by the additional wear on the brakes and the strain on the engine described in the SAAB system. If there were benefits for having free-wheeling with two stroke engines, it would be more common to have the two systems together. All kinds or racing engines break down under the strain.

    It is also true that smoking causes cancer. However, ex-smokers gain weight and now obesity has replaced smoking as the leading cause of preventable death.
    http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/obesity-is-now-more-deadly-than-smokin- g-20100408-rv5l.html.

    Although this is also anecdotal evidence, my mother was healthy until she quit smoking. Then she gained 80 pounds and passed away at 74 years old from heart failure. Her older brother kept on smoking and outlived her by twelve years. There is no history of cancer in our family.

    Therefore, I will not automatically conclude that quitting smoking extended life expectancy in my family given that the cancer risk was low and the problems caused by weight gain were high.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Fair enough! Let's just say that total free-wheeling is a system whose time has passed.
  • armesarmes Member Posts: 32
    From everything I have been reading on care and maintenance of two cycle engines, using synthetic oil mix provides superior protection of all parts "especially when useing any fuel with alcohol in it ". Regular oil is washed from the parts by the alcohol but with synthetic it still clings to metal parts and provides a friction barrier for metal parts. It also doesn't produce as much carbon ash to plug the engine with heavy carbon deposits. Free wheeling the engine would not increase the chance for damage.
  • jljacjljac Member Posts: 649
    Fair enough! Let's just say that total free-wheeling is a system whose time has passed.

    I suppose the operative word above is "total." I wish the automatic transmission in my modern Chevrolet would slow the car down more so that I did not have to change the brake pads and shoes so frequently. I can't tell much difference between that "modern" system and free-wheeling. As I see it, engine braking is a system whose time has passed and I am sad to see it go.

    Some municipal garbage trucks now have a system where the braking system compresses air and the compressed air from the tank is then used again to propel the vehicle. That might be a fuel-saving system of the future by being the opposite of free-wheeling.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    edited January 2011
    This fellow is a pretty amazing model builder:

    Avanti Model Builder (lots of photos

    image
  • jljacjljac Member Posts: 649
    edited January 2011
    I like the car and the color combination. I can only post messages with a few sentences before the text disappears. Someone fixed something that was not broke.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    they're workin' on that, be patient!
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,056
    Thanks for posting. That looks like the real car! That's also my favorite Avanti color. The '64 models incorporated many running improvements, but I prefer the round lights and lack of woodgrain applique inside, on the '63's.

    Too bad his model isn't a supercharged model! My eye always goes right to the front fenders, where the "Supercharged" emblem would be if so equipped. Studebaker should have put an emblem there even in non-supercharged cars.

    That Toronado is nice too. I never liked them 'til recently...thought they were too big for the styling. Last couple years I've started to change my mind. The flat floors are the flattest floors I think I've ever seen in a car.
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  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,096
    Crazy good...pretty much the best windows I have seen in model cars, especially with curved glass. The Toronado looks like a real car!
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I enjoyed reading about how he created certain parts of the car.
  • lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    I'm really impressed with that model maker's work. I wonder if I can commission him to make a 1:12 scale model of my 1989 Cadillac Brougham? It would probably cost more than the real car!
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Oh yeah, many thousands of dollars more. Some of the top model makers charge astronomical sums.
  • lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    My wife manages a property where one of the tenants builds awesome models of Formula One racing cars. You'd swear you were looking at a real car until you saw a lamp or a book next to the model in the photograph. They cost thousands of dollars - well out of my budget. Danbury Mint models are around $149 each and I found that somewhat extravagant.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    There are high rollers that will spend $20K to have a model made of their car.
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,056
    I agree on the pricing of Danbury (and Franklin) Mint cars. They're so damn nice though! I have a Danbury '57 Golden Hawk and it shames most of the Franklin Mint cars I have, in detail and proportion. I do like the Franklin Mint '63 Avanti in "gold" I have now; subsequently they made it in Turquoise which I would have preferred. Right now, Franklin I think has recently released a white over red '53 Studebaker Starliner hardtop. The detail looks amazing but I can't justify spending that much on another model! A store near here had a Franklin Mint '61 Ford Country Squire, light green with woodgrain and a beach ball and picnic basket in the back. It's awesome, but again....$$$$
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  • jljacjljac Member Posts: 649
    I own most of the Danbury Mint Studebaker models, 1950 convertible. 1953 Starlight hardtop, 1957 Golden Hawk, 1958 Packard Hawk and 1963 Avanti. This guy builds realistic neighborhoods around the models. link title
  • lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    I have a lot of those Danbury models, but I received most of them as gifts. I forgot about that Franklin Mint 1961 Country Squire. That is a nice model. I have the Franklin Mint 1963 Checker taxicab I received as a gift from a friend many years ago.
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