Postwar Studebakers

uplanderguy

Came across this ad again, whimsical, but I always liked it. I like how the '63 Studebakers had a narrow whitewall that went right up to the (white) wheel. I'm sure no one reproduces them.

uplanderguy

Same whitewall on this '63. Looks good against the full wheelcovers with the white band, IMHO:



The little green wagon is a Studebaker too.

explorerx4

Studebaker way ahead of its' time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1BxNmGauuw

uplanderguy

"Desert Special" it was called I believe (haven't yet watched the video).

uplanderguy

Oops, "Desert Explorer"! I'm thinking for export markets only.

ab348

The comments on the video said it was made for use in the Saudi oil fields.

fintail

"Drive the car of tomorrow, today!", and live in the home of tomorrow... today!

uplanderguy

That '66 Cruiser sold for $9,000 with no reserve.

I paid $8,700 for mine four years ago. I do believe Studes have peaked.


https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1966-studebaker-cruiser-2/

uplanderguy

Just lovely, even with the weird roof color. Such a trim, balanced piece of design IMHO:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1954-studebaker-commander/?utm_source=dm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2021-03-04&fbclid=IwAR1EkLMd5CjArc7CQzXII6eCdGmLCtCHAvNT8UflU_LzenCDuxkWdUNDhNU

fintail

Related to the "Lyon Estates" sign, those hardtops always make me think of this:



Also from deleted scenes:

uplanderguy

Man, $45K for this '54 Commander hardtop. I've not seen one sell that high.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1954-studebaker-commander/?utm_source=dm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2021-03-04&fbclid=IwAR1EkLMd5CjArc7CQzXII6eCdGmLCtCHAvNT8UflU_LzenCDuxkWdUNDhNU

uplanderguy

Discussing Studebaker salesman's buttons on a Stude FB page and it reminded me of the one my dealer friend gave me 25 or 30 years ago. I've never seen another one.

uplanderguy

Didn't think the pic would print so gargantuan!

uplanderguy

Temple Motors, 201 St. Helens, Tacoma, WA, Aug. 1958 (supposedly):

fintail

They were diversifying early. Address can't be right, no buildings of that style on the site today, and the buildings at that location are older.

Apparently this is 728 Broadway in Tacoma, buildings are largely the same today

uplanderguy

My hometown dealer got M-B in Oct. '57 per their contract card at the museum. That is a '58 Hawk in the showroom (identifiable by the badge low in the center of the grille), and a '58 Scotsman pickup. The Scotsman car did so well, they stripped down (even further!) the current pickup and dusted off the old '49-53 grille to make it what I think was America's lowest-priced pickup then.

You're right. I read the original poster's decription wrong. Here it is in entirety:

After years at 201 Saint Helens Ave in Tacoma, Temple Motors Studebaker moved to 728 Broadway in 1958. They were authorized dealers of Studebakers, Packards, and Mercedes-Benz offering a full service & repair facility, including body and fender work. This photo would be August 1958 not long after opening the new location.
The building still stands today.

fintail

The Seattle MB-only dealer would open the next year.

In a fintail group I belong to, old ads are often posted. Here's a classic style one, from the Stude days (1960). This car, a basic model 220, had the lower output (single carb) I6 and less chrome trim than more powerful models, but the same body:

sda

Looks sharp in that shade of red.

uplanderguy

I wonder how long Temple Motors hung on selling Studebaker. I'll ask one of the guys who keeps track of that kind of thing. '59 and '60 were good sales years for Studebaker and '62 wasn't bad.

uplanderguy

At first I thought this was the same place, but I don't think so now. Those are '64 Studebakers.



Both Studes have small caps, when the '64 (and '65) had about the prettiest full wheelcovers to ever grace a Studebaker IMO:

uplanderguy

Fellow who I thought would know how long Temple held on, directed me to the museum archives.

fintail

Yeah looks like a different building. Inside under the sign appears to be a W113/Pagoda SL, brand new at the time, and maybe a fintail in the background. Upstairs I see at least a couple Pontons, and what looks like a 55-56 Packard with its hood up.

uplanderguy said:

At first I thought this was the same place, but I don't think so now. Those are '64 Studebakers.

uplanderguy

I've posted pics of this car before, when I saw it at Hershey maybe three years ago, but talk about a Studebaker that made me weak in the knees. Completely authentically restored, the "Different By Design" 1964 Daytona Hardtop with supercharged R2 Avanti engine, 4-speed, and disc brakes. I love the Stude Halibrand wheels on whitewalls. I also love the Bordeaux Red paint; Studebaker's only red that year and not the typical bright red. Jewel-like features in the compact class. This car had a crowd around it most of the morning I saw it that day. Only 2,414 Daytona Hardtops built the entire '64 model year between South Bend and Hamilton, and only 48 R2 '64 Daytonas in all bodystyles (4-door sedan, 2-door hardtop, convertible, and Wagonaire) were built.

111 years of continuous Studebaker vehicle production in South Bend ended in December, 1963 ('64 model year).

I think four headlights, 15 inch wheels, and big wheel openings give the illusion that the car is larger than its 109-inch wheelbase would indicate.

uplanderguy

I gotta say, I probably couldn't live with driving on them, but I love the looks of bias-ply tires on an old car.

fintail

I've seen repro tires that look suitable on old cars - vintage looking tread patterns etc. When were the first radials, around 1970?

This showed up in a local history group, pic looks like it might be from the 'teens-twenties era to me, note the building in the background:



Looks like a pretty big place, Spokane had several Stude dealers.

uplanderguy

The first radials I remember, at least from auto manufacturers, were on the '73 Monte Carlo, '73 Grand Am, and '73 Cutlass Salon. They became standard on virtually every GM line at the beginning of the '75 model year.

My hometown's Facebook memories page had this ad today, from 1963. Our hometown's 125th anniversary celebration was that year and a weeklong big deal, but honestly I have zero memory of it. There is a 90-minute film made that week around town but supposedly it is being held hostage by a family member of the original filmmaker/owner of the film, sigh, in Florida. The town is smaller and poorer now than in 1963 and the Historical Society can't afford to buy the film, but could benefit I'm sure from selling copies of it.

fintail

I recall a nutty professor I had in school talking about a car he bought around 1970. Long winding story about how he was intending to buy a Volvo, ended up falling in love with a base model MB coupe (230C I think it would have been). It had radials, and he said people would approach him to tell him his tires were low on air, as they sat lower than bias ply. I remember ads touting "steel belted radials" as some kind of new advancement well into my childhood.

Shame about that film, not like something like that has any real market value or interest outside of your small town. Some people are difficult just for the hell of it.

uplanderguy

Our first car with radials was our '77 Impala.

I remember the talk about them looking low on air, and that was indeed the appearance, and people hearing all the time, 'You got a low tire!'.

"Some people are difficult just for the hell of it"--boy, no kidding.

I get that everybody is a product of their entire life up to now, and I get different tastes in things, but I'll never understand people who are a jerk for no apparent reason--like the guy in question is. I can tell you, although only about 5K people live in the town limits now (the rural area around it makes the total area about 15K), there are lot of sentimental folks like me who live elsewhere but follow the Facebook memories page and if a DVD of that film could be made, I'd bet the Historical Society would do well selling them (and museums like that always operate by the skin of their teeth, financially).

But the longer the wait is, the fewer people like me who could hope to see someone or something that looks familiar to them in that film.

ab348

What's the guy's issue with making the film available? Price?

uplanderguy

He wants some insane price, although it's been several years since anybody's spoken with him. I probably shouldn't say this without knowing for sure, but I'm thinking he wanted $5,000 for it, which is insane.

It was shown at our old movie theater (torn down by now of course), with the ad "See your friends and maybe yourself in the film!".

Our town was one of those where you knew a lot of folks, and even if you didn't, you knew who they were or knew the name. I always had to remind myself when I'd take my mother out to lunch, to talk softly in the restaurant because either the person we were talking about it would be in there or someone who knew them would.

The world economy has greatly bruised the town, like a lot of small towns not right on an interstate and not a suburb. But I wouldn't trade the experience of having grown up there for anything. I lived in suburban Atlanta for two years and in this college town of 30K for a lot of years, and this town is in the Cleveland-Akron population corridor, but I never lived anyplace else where I had the feeling of community that I had in Greenville.

fintail

When I got the fintail, it had a bias ply spare. I used it a couple times, the final time I was told "that's dangerous, you shouldn't drive on that" when I took the other tire in for repair (they actually gave me a "loaner" tire while I was waiting for a replacement, as even 20 years ago, 13" were getting hard to find I guess), as apparently bias ply and radial don't mix. I finally replaced the spare when I got wide whites, 8 years ago now.

For the film guy, some people just like to have something others want, and rub it in. 5K is insane for that, I wonder if he could donate it as a tax deduction, but I bet he wouldn't. Reminds me of those who have old cars they'll never do anything with, but turn down all offers and reply "gonna restore it someday", which of course never comes as there's no real intention, and then the owner goes to the parking lot in the sky, and/or the car becomes a lost cause or with changing tastes, undesirable.

uplanderguy said:

Our first car with radials was our '77 Impala.

I remember the talk about them looking low on air, and that was indeed the appearance, and people hearing all the time, 'You got a low tire!'.

"Some people are difficult just for the hell of it"--boy, no kidding.

I get that everybody is a product of their entire life up to now, and I get different tastes in things, but I'll never understand people who are a jerk for no apparent reason--like the guy in question is. I can tell you, although only about 5K people live in the town limits now (the rural area around it makes the total area about 15K), there are lot of sentimental folks like me who live elsewhere but follow the Facebook memories page and if a DVD of that film could be made, I'd bet the Historical Society would do well selling them (and museums like that always operate by the skin of their teeth, financially).

But the longer the wait is, the fewer people like me who could hope to see someone or something that looks familiar to them in that film.

kyfdx

My Dad was in the tire supply business, and was an early adopter of radials. We were constantly flagged at stop lights with people telling us we had a low tire.

My mother: "It's okay, they are radials!". You know, really proud.. like when you got the first car with automatic lights, and people would yell at you as you walked away from it. "Hey, you left your lights on!"

sda

I believe Lincoln used Michelin radials as standard equipment on the Mark III around 1970. T

kyfdx

sda said:

I believe Lincoln used Michelin radials as standard equipment on the Mark III around 1970. T

Our '72 Lincoln coupe came with radials. As did the '74 DeVille. Not sure about the '72 DeVille.

We also had Firestone 500s on everything, once I started driving. I think I changed 10 tires, the first year of driving.

uplanderguy

I remember Firestone 500 radials being problem tires in the mid-to-late seventies. My '63 Lark had Firestone 500's non-radial (obviously) per the build sheet. I'm told they were considered somewhat of a performance tire.

Speaking of fools, how about the guys who say "I'll cut it up before I sell it for that!". At that point I would immediately stop any further contact. Similarly, I can't stand when people put cars for sale without an asking price. Start somewhere and don't make it a guessing game for cripe sakes.

ab348

Our rust-prone '74 Maverick LDO 4-door came with Firestone 500 radials standard. Oddly enough, in the owners manual plastic bag with it and the other info from the factory was a document telling us about the Pirelli radials we were supposed to have. Nothing at all in there about Firestones. We never had a problem with them and they were nice tires, made the car handle well for a Maverick.

imidazol97

My first radials had tubes in them. Sears. Roadhandlers--was that the name for the Sears version of Michelins radials? Sears started selling them in 1966 and I bought them on my 1967 Mustang to replace the awful Firestone tires. I said I'd never buy another Firestone tire and I didn't. I believe one car came with Firestones. Wore them out and replaced with Michelins.

The original Wide Oval Firestone tires were indeed "oval" on the Mustang. After 10000 miles they were out of round and getting low on tread for winter driving and rain.

I bought the Michelins by Sears at the urging of my grad school roommate who had bought Michelin tires earlier for their van that he and his brothers drove. He was right.

I can't count the number of Michelin tires I've bought since 1967/68

fintail

Michelins seem to be the best choice on most 70s-90s era MBs, I didn't even shop around for tires on a couple cars.

I can't even recall the OEM tires on the wagon, winters are Blizzaks. Fintail has BF Goodrich Silvertown (IIRC 13" fintail tires also fit Corvairs or something odd like that).

sda

One thing I noticed about Michelins in the 80s and became a huge fan, is they always rode well. No vibrating at higher speeds and they didn't require a lot of weights to balance. When dad's 79 Eldorado diesel needed tires I convinced him to buy the Michelin XH. What a difference! The car just glided down the road, smooth as silk.

ab348

When dad bought his '68 Volvo 144 in 1972, it had Michelin X tires, the old narrow style with the unusual tread pattern. Despite being so skinny, those things made it handle like no car he had ever driven before.

imidazol97

I recommended to father-in-law to buy Michelins for him Pontiac 6000. He was really
pleased with the feel of the Michelins to other tires. I went up a notch in his eyes because of that.

ab348

1963 Studebaker ad. Posted without comment.

uplanderguy

I never liked Stude's '60's ads much until the '64 ads, and by then it was too late.

I do think the Lark carried about every gamut of body style and the broadcloth seating they mention was nearly Cadillac-like. And no other compact began to offer the range of engine choices.

You must follow the same Facebook page I do; I'd seen this one the other day. I'd never seen it before--luckily!

uplanderguy

I know Michelins have had a long reputation of superiority but the ones on my Equinox are noisy I think, and I've heard others say they didn't think theirs were any great shake. Like anything I guess, perception can lag reality.

uplanderguy

This is probably my favorite '63 Studebaker TV ad. I've posted it here in the past. Note they pick the cheapest model Falcon with blackwalls and dog-dish caps. The Lark is the mid-range Custom model.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlRvkGmUUds

fintail

The sedans at upper right and lower left in that 63 print ad really give me a fintail vibe.

uplanderguy

Yeah, the '63 has the biggest 'Benz vibe I think. I can't think of a car's rear door cutout that would be closer to a '75 Seville or '77 GM B-and-C bodies in general shape.

I would still just love that black '63 Cruiser Skytop with red broadcloth seating that I posted here some time back. To my eyes, perfect size, Euro flavor, roomy inside, stupidly rare.

uplanderguy

uplanderguy

uplanderguy

I think it's fun to show up at a cruise-in with something out-of-the-ordinary. My experience is that most people smile at a nice, authentic sixties Stude, a lot ask questions, tell you it's nice to see something different. Occasionally you get the type that will say in your earshot derogatory or stupid things...in my experience these are usually the Big Three pony-type or musclecar midsize owners, with aftermarket wheels and chromed engine dress-up accessories, LOL...the type that will have their initials monogrammed on the driver's door, LOL.