Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/22 for details.
A reporter would like to speak with you about your experience; please reach out to PR@Edmunds.com by 7/22 for details.
Options
Comments
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
I'm guessing this is probably August 1963, when I'd be just getting ready to start kindergarten. I have a few vague memories of that general period of time.
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
Stude merged with Worthington in 1967, not 1979. The GM 230 six-cylinder was also available optionally in '65 and '66. Production in '65 was the 19K he mentioned, but he said that was combined '65 and '66 production. '66 production was 8,947. The automatic trans is not a two-speed; it was called 'Flightomatic' not 'Flashomatic' as Steve stated.
Still, I enjoyed it, and thank you for pointing it out to me.
Interesting to me to see how the format was different then.
Bill Cullen was a fixture on game shows when I used to watch them in the '70s. He had childhood polio and was quite disabled physically.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
"Mercedes-Benz Sales Incorporated, South Bend, Indiana" - $8412
I always thought how Studebaker included the word 'sales' in the auto divisions' names was a bit odd. The Studebaker car and truck division was called 'Studebaker Automotive Sales Corporation', which later became "SASCO" on letterhead and such and that's what the parts division in South Bend was called through 1972.
I've probably mentioned this, but I have a book written about Byers Burlingame, the last president of Studebaker who was really a bean counter and in no way a product man, who had decided on the closure of South Bend. The book was written from factory archives like Board Meeting minutes and other memorandum, at the museum. Burlingame went to Germany to see M-B officials about dissolving the sales partnership, and reps would not see him. I'd say that's not the conventional wisdom about it. He (and the Board) wanted completely out of the auto manufacturing and sales business, and in fact there is evidence that centering all production of the much-truncated Studebaker line in Hamilton, ON was a way to make dealers quit. Many did. Had the Company completely quit at the time of the South Bend closure, they'd have been sued by many more dealers. When M-B Sales Div. became the totally separate company, it does seem like Stude dealers who had done well with M-B acquired the new franchise independently. There are supposedly still some U.S. M-B dealerships who started out as Studebaker dealers.
Studebaker had several non-automotive subsidiaries that did well throughout the '60's.
That is some serious money!
UPDATED: Just watched the segment and see it is a 1960 model.
I have a 90-year old friend who worked at my hometown's Stude/Packard/M-B/Simca/Sunbeam dealer from 1948-66. He was the one mechanic they sent to NYC for M-B Service Training. He would take the train there and drive a new M-B home for the dealership to sell. He was there for a week, home for a week, back there for a week, etc. Not sure how long in total.
One thing I've enjoyed about these old Cullen TPIR's is the sponsors whose names I clearly remember, like Wizard and Speidel, but had long-forgotten.
I had always smiled thinking that the Stude dealer in Greenville, PA chose to add M-B, but I guess it might be logical after Packard was gone. Not every Stude dealer got M-B. I was surprised to see a couple retail sale cards for the dealership in the museum archives where people had traded a M-B for a new Studebaker in those later years (late '63 to '66). But I also think back then, sometimes, people bought the dealer as much as the car. Probably more so in a small town. My dealer friend did last with Studebaker long enough to get a 40-year plaque, and I can't imagine there were a lot like that.
That 220SE cabrio would be worth decent money today, even a nice driver can hit 150K, and a concours as-new car up from there.
show at that time since I was busy in college. No TV either.
I would enjoy seeing more of those. I think the bid system is something I
like better than the current shows helter skelter.
Like Bill Cullen I had polio when I was 10. I must not have watched the
show since I never noticed his disability.
Also from the ads in the video I recall the Speidel watch bands and the florentine
one. I had one of those I put on a watch to replace the original that pinched.
I recall buying the watch band at a store in the little town 10 miles from our farm.
But I can't recall which store.
The watchband held a lot of importance to me as something nice. Seeing the
commercial in the video was nice.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
In my mind, older folks were still buying Larks in those very later years, and also it seems like I've heard of a good number of dealers who hung on 'til the end were small-town or rural dealers. One I heard about in Nebraska said years later he bemoaned the loss of his ability to sell Studebaker trucks after South Bend's closure in the '64 model year.
While the '64 styling was probably more mainstream, the '63 styling has its charms IMHO and is probably the most M-B-influenced Studebaker sedan in character, ever built. This is the best-selling Regal series, one up from the bottom and two down from the top-line Cruiser sedan. Excellent interior-space-to-exterior-size ratio.
No supercharger or disc brakes or sunroof or Powershift in this one. It's a six.
As I've often said, in a four-door Stude I like the '63 with the broadcloth seating. Only way I'd like the seating better is if it were the 50/50 split seat, but not like there's a bunch of them out there to shop.
I'm aware of a guy who bought a new '64 Wagonaire from a dealer that still had a gold '63 Cruiser with red broadcloth interior and R1 engine. That would be totally schweet for me now.
The green, in and out, isn't my favorite '63 Studebaker color, but I'd take it.
Really, there was nothing else domestic like the car that year, particularly when equipped with some of the optional equipment available. Stude advertised the Cruiser that year as "America's First and Only 'Limousette'".
The broadcloth option was $72. The seat design itself was much plusher than the standard Cruiser seating, not just the material being broadcloth. Worth every penny IMHO.
The F-41 was a requirement of mine when I bought my '93 Caprice Classic in a dealer trade. Base model, I didn't want pinstripe, and I was unyielding on exterior and interior color. My salesman was a bit frustrated with me because he said there was only one car like that at 203 dealers in their district, and it was in Pittsburgh, which was only a couple hours away. He asked if I'd take gray interior instead of the dark maroon, and I said no, LOL.
I so would like a black '77 Caprice Classic coupe, gold pinstripe, Sport wheel covers, F-41, 350 engine, gold Special Custom 50/50 interior, optional round instruments, PW and PDL, bumper strips, and that's about it. The Motor Trend Car of the Year was a four-door like that, but I've never seen a coupe exactly like that. That's exactly a Chevy (other than a late Corvair) I would seriously consider buying as a hobby car. I like various Chevys but usually not enough to exactly plunk money down for a hobby one.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Certainly looks like a good Stude to start with.
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
Desirable year and style, not sure if you could get there from here even if it was free
Old timer, has to be pretty rare with that top, I believe called a "California roof", a detachable hardtop of sorts I think
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
That '25 reminds me that my B-I-L bought a '27 Dictator last year. Nice-looking car but not my taste.
That 25 is also a bit pricey even with its rarity - I think most demand for machines of that era is gone. I see decent enough looking Model Ts and As hitting local classifieds in the 10K range.
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1961-studebaker-lark-vii-2/
One person's dream custom probably has limited appeal
How funny, how long they used that model name....right up to '66.
I recall close to 30 years ago taking my Cutlass on a summer trip to Maine and one early evening in the town of Houlton stumbling on to a gathering of old-car owners in a parking lot. There was a '30s big Studebaker sedan there which was nicely restored and was very impressive. It had the original straight-8 flathead engine. It was this massive lump of cast iron, hate to imagine how much that powerplant weighed.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
I suppose in this inflationary environment, that's a lot of flash for what is becoming a less impressive pile of cash. If I had a Jay Leno sized garage and budget, I'd own some material like that.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6