Postwar Studebakers

uplanderguy

Wow, that '53 is just lovely. I like the colors too.

uplanderguy

Oops, didn't mean to post a spoiler, wasn't aware you got it too

Oh, no sweat at all.

uplanderguy

I think that '60 Lark convertible is a repaint a bit too light for Jonquil Yellow that year. I've seen a bunch of Jonquil Yellow '60's in the past thirty or so years.

uplanderguy

Short promo film for the 1964 Champ pickup. I could like owning one of these. Their claim of 'no bare metal' is not really true, but even the base model had upholstered door panels and a headliner.
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/short-promotional-film-for-the-1964-studebaker-champ-pick-news-footage/169827640

uplanderguy

Here's an image without watching the short video:


Sorry for the small (factory) image.

uplanderguy

Taken this morning. Going to a nearby cruise-in tonight--getting near the very end of them here. No, the car doesn't have a flat RR tire, LOL.

fintail

Spotted at a local show (I think in IN so uplanderguy probably knows the owner) by someone in a forum I follow:

uplanderguy

I think there are a couple of those clone cars out there. It is labelled authentically. Those turquoise wheels though!!! Why???

The original '62 pace car is lost to history. There were a number of similar 'festival cars' for the race Stude provided, that looked similar without the "Official Pace Car" lettering, which were later made available for sale by dealers of course.

The '62 winner, Rodger Ward, won an Avanti as a prize. The Avanti was an early introduction.

uplanderguy

I'm in South Bend now. There was a presentation about a small-town dealer in Moline, OH near Toledo, given by the dealer's grandson I wanted to attend. I also had an appointment to look up a few things in the Archives building, with the Archivist, who I know. I never need an excuse to go to the Stude Museum and it 's a fun mid-week thing to do.

Here's the first-production-serial-no. Avanti on their turntable, on loan from the LeMay Museum in WA:

uplanderguy

Speaking of '50's President sedans earlier, here's a nice Ceramic Green '56 President Classic. Note door-handle guards installed upside-down. They don't even look great right side up, but are probably upside-down on half the cars with them I see:

uplanderguy

New addition, '38:

uplanderguy

My favorite model of Studebaker, '64 Gran Turismo Hawk. I wouldn't order triple black, but I like it. This car was owned new by Brooks Stevens, designer of Larks and Hawks from '62-64:

uplanderguy

Refurbished lettering from one of the local dealers there.

ab348

uplanderguy said:

This generation of Stude bodies was crippled by the greenhouse design generally and the thick door window frames and B-pillars in particular. The cheaper models also suffered from being saddled with the underpowered flathead six engine. Unfortunately Studebaker did not have the capital required to change those things until it was too late.

uplanderguy

The pillars around the side glass were thick, for sure, and highlighting them in white doesn't help. And the six was slow. But of course, I like that they're different from the "BIg Three". I like the Ceramic Green color on that President Classic.

One area Stude did better than just about everybody else then IMHO, is that the top opening of the rear door didn't make you conk your head all in the name of styling. My best man's '56 Packard Patrician--a car that cost new what a Cadillac did--I always had to duck to get in the back seat or conk my head. And I'm five-eight. WTH? I think largely the rest of the industry had the sharply sloping rear-door opening at top then.

On that President, I don't care for the zig-zaggy two-tone paint divider lines. But then, there's not a single mid-fifties four-door sedan that I'd consider buying either. That era is generally not my thing.

I do think the Stude looks better than the same year's Nash and Hudson ('Hash'), but that's a pretty low bar.

In general, I've always liked that I can't really think of a Stude that looks 'chubby'.

uplanderguy

The Nash for '56 is especially dreadful. The Hudson at least has wheel openings. The Stude has a fairly low beltline compared to this car.

uplanderguy

Cute '61 Champ half-ton with the double-walled bed and exterior fenders, at the museum Wed.

imidazol97

That is a nice green on the President. I don't recall seeing one like that. AND I like
that the seats have a two-tone green in them, as best I can tell in my enlarged picture.

One thing I liked at the Ohio Oldsmobile show Sunday was how many Oldsmobiles had nicely
colored seats and interiors, unlike the choice of dark grey, platinum, or black offered today. LOL

fintail

I miss blue interiors, seem to only be special order on a few highline brands anymore.

imidazol97 said:

That is a nice green on the President. I don't recall seeing one like that. AND I like
that the seats have a two-tone green in them, as best I can tell in my enlarged picture.

One thing I liked at the Ohio Oldsmobile show Sunday was how many Oldsmobiles had nicely
colored seats and interiors, unlike the choice of dark grey, platinum, or black offered today. LOL

sda

I've had several cars with blue interiors and really liked them. This would be rare find today. Notice it has the 6way pwr seat and manual transmission. Both are 1982s, owned at different times. Same shade of blue. 82 Cimarron, 82 Skylark Custom.

uplanderguy

Typically I've not been a fan of blue interiors, although at this point in time would welcome them back as just something different!

Your cars look good with blue interiors.

I always say this, but I think GM back then was tops in 'first impression' stuff when you opened the door. On the other forum here I post on, people have knocked 'plastichrome' but it sure looks better than just....plastic.

I liked GM's chromed metal power window and door lock switches then--seemed substantial (although andre had posted he had to replace one, maybe more, before).

You know the same old drumbeat about the Cimarron, but that interior looks inviting and 'quality' to me even 40 years later.

uplanderguy

Couple non-car photos taken at the Stude Museum. Nice groundskeeping out front, and a photo of President Sherwood H. Egbert at a shareholder's meeting in 1963. That was probably a tough crowd.

kyfdx

@sda My '84 911 had blue leather. Slightly darker than your picture

fintail

I recall uplanderguy's car has a nice color interior too.

Our 85 Tempo was blue on blue, 93 Taurus was white on blue, fintail of course has a blue interior. 66 Galaxie was also blue on blue, and my memory is hazy, but my dad's 70 Mustang was blue with a blue or black interior, and his Horizon was blue on blue. My uncle's 91 Taurus was blue on blue, and his 99 LeSabre was white on blue. I know MB offered blue interiors commonly at least into the 90s, but into the new century it effectively vanished - now a Designo option on some models.

uplanderguy

I miss red and maroon interiors, mostly. My Cruiser interior is called 'blue' but it's really a turquoise color.

A longtime friend and coworker had a new '87 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe. The cloth interior was navy blue, very striking and I don't recall Chevy ever using a dark blue like that.

This fellow is 75 years old and has never owned anything but a Ford product. He's got me beat--even I've owned four Studebakers and a PT Cruiser!

sda

My 86 Audi 4000S had a dark blue cloth, velour like but shorter nap, and matching dark blue carpet that exuded quality. I have a picture of it somewhere. Audi, even back then, had first class interiors.

uplanderguy

Last two pics from my trip. One is the museum's trailer, which I think is clever-looking. They do a good business, supposedly, from sale of production orders (build sheets) and also copies of blueprints, from their archives. There is an old saw that Studebaker destroyed all Packard documents, and that was espoused by a former moderator here whose father worked for Packard, but there's a big bank of file cabinets at the archives that have "PACKARD" written across them.

Second is the south side of the old Administration Building (Bronson St.). It looks worse each time I see it. The executive offices and 'Mural of Transportation' which extends around the inner walls of one floor there were cool when I was last in there in 2018, but there were signs of homeless people in there and also zero climate control of any kind. Sad.

ab348

I think I've posted this before, but this is my favorite blue interior (and this pic doesn't do it full justice). The upholstery and door panels almost seemed to be slightly metallic. My buddy Steve's former '70 Cutlass SX, which I coulda/shoulda bought when he decided to simplify his life about 12 years ago. Now in the collection of a local car dealer.

uplanderguy

That is a sharp interior.

I can plainly remember riding my bike up to Stevenson Buick-Olds in Greenville and seeing the first Cutlass SX, a convertible, I ever saw. Even at 11 or 12, I thought 'SX' was a piece of suggestive selling! LOL

sda

This was the blue cloth interior that was in mom's 72 Cutlass Supreme 4dr hardtop. It had the nordic blue exterior and black vinyl top.

texases

I'd have expected 3 or 2 areas with buttons, not 4.

ab348

texases said:

I'd have expected 3 or 2 areas with buttons, not 4.

Hey, man, it’s an Olds, not a Chevy!

thebean

Man, I really like that ‘61 Champ pick-em-up truck. So different and IMO better looking than the Chevies and Fords of the era.

Thanks very much @uplanderguy for showing these pics. Very cool.

sda

Sorry guys I didn’t mean to sidetrack the Studebaker forum with pictures of different blue interiors. I forgot where I was…

fintail

Not to hijack the Stude thread, but when did you have the Audi? I don't recall seeing it before.

When I was a kid, a friend of my mom's had a 4000 coupe, which I am pretty sure only existed pre-facelift (quad lights). I think the car was kind of a bronze color, and was pretty unusual even then, it seemed a little exotic to my young eyes, and I remember it nearly 40 years later. 4000s must be almost extinct now save for a few later Quattro variants usually cosmetically neglected and driven into the ground by VW bros.

sda said:

My 86 Audi 4000S had a dark blue cloth, velour like but shorter nap, and matching dark blue carpet that exuded quality. I have a picture of it somewhere. Audi, even back then, had first class interiors.

uplanderguy

Man, I really like that ‘61 Champ pick-em-up truck. So different and IMO better looking than the Chevies and Fords of the era.

Thanks very much @uplanderguy for showing these pics. Very cool.

I always really liked that very Champ pickup too--good color, and with the short, 'stepside'-style box, it looks jaunty. Seems like later mid-sized pickups. I also like the big center grille.

Happy to post these pics. I'm 64 so I remember Studebaker, remember seeing the dealer in my hometown, and I remember when the final closing news (1966) was...news. I always thought they did a lot with a little, more than other independents. And I think for an independent orphan make, their museum is very nice and the things they have in their archives are wonderful--other makes would be fortunate to have that stuff available to buffs for research.

uplanderguy

I don't mind thread drift; I often participate in it myself!

sda

Ok one more thread drift for @fintail. I bought the 86 4000s in 91 at a Saturn dealer for $2800. It had around 60K, very clean. I later met up with the owner who handed me a Service manual and told me why he traded it. Typical Audi stuff at the time. I drove it and enjoyed it for a year or so when I thought I needed a truck. Bought a new 92 Ranger Super cab. I quickly found out, as nice as the Ranger was, I definitely preferred a car. I added pics of the Ranger to the Auto brochures thread where I previously added the Monroney sticker. Now you can match them up.

uplanderguy

Main reason I went to the museum was to hear this dealer's grandson give a presentation, with slides, of his grandfather's Studebaker dealership in small-town Moline, Ohio.

I think in those later years, Stude dealers tended to be smaller, and seemed to do fairly well in rural and small-town areas. He said the family always referred to the business as "the garage", and that friends and neighbors tended to hang out there.

This pic was of a customer and his '63 Cruiser, bought there. The grandson had postcards that customer had mailed monthly to the dealership, about their trip out west and to report how well the Studebaker was performing.

As the grandson said, "Can you imagine anyone today sending postcards to their dealer?".

I concur.

ab348

Those 1960 Fords are everywhere in period pictures!

uplanderguy

Sure seems like it.

fintail

And a wagon to boot - appears two tone, so likely a Country Sedan, maybe a Squire.

I suspect their weight and period rustproofing helped with the demise.

ab348 said:

Those 1960 Fords are everywhere in period pictures!

fintail

The small town family run stuff no doubt endeared some loyalty and friendliness.

In some areas today, it seems all dealerships no matter the brand are owned by 3-4 conglomerates, and buying a car is no different than going to Costco and buying a TV (or car).

uplanderguy said:

Main reason I went to the museum was to hear this dealer's grandson give a presentation, with slides, of his grandfather's Studebaker dealership in small-town Moline, Ohio.

I think in those later years, Stude dealers tended to be smaller, and seemed to do fairly well in rural and small-town areas. He said the family always referred to the business as "the garage", and that friends and neighbors tended to hang out there.

This pic was of a customer and his '63 Cruiser, bought there. The grandson had postcards that customer had mailed monthly to the dealership, about their trip out west and to report how well the Studebaker was performing.

As the grandson said, "Can you imagine anyone today sending postcards to their dealer?".

I concur.

fintail

Period Audi stuff meaning electrical quirks I bet. Some steep depreciation there. Would be a rare car today, and if a Quattro might be worth a little something. Can't recall when I last saw a non-Quattro 4000.

sda said:

Ok one more thread drift for @fintail. I bought the 86 4000s in 91 at a Saturn dealer for $2800. It had around 60K, very clean. I later met up with the owner who handed me a Service manual and told me why he traded it. Typical Audi stuff at the time. I drove it and enjoyed it for a year or so when I thought I needed a truck. Bought a new 92 Ranger Super cab. I quickly found out, as nice as the Ranger was, I definitely preferred a car. I added pics of the Ranger to the Auto brochures thread where I previously added the Monroney sticker. Now you can match them up.

Michaell

When I was a teenager, our next door neighbor bought an Audi 4000 - the "5+5" model, IIRC. It was 7-Up can green and a two door. I really liked the looks of those Audi's back in the day.

uplanderguy

In the Cleveland Plain Dealer on March 18, 1966, one day after the last Studebaker was built in Hamilton, Ontario (which is in the Studebaker National Museum). The factory Parts Depot locations were printed lower on the page. They were: Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Kansas City, New York, Boston, South Bend, and Atlanta. Studebaker continued to sell parts and maintain the 'Service Dealer' concept until late 1972.

thebean

Sad.

uplanderguy

Went and checked out my friend's 'new' Studebaker corn sheller. Second pic shows "South Bend, Ind, USA". He thinks it's from around 1915.

Snapped a pic of his one-repaint-in-original-color-but-otherwise-original, 40K mile 1964 Super Hawk while there. It was built Nov. 25, 1963, the day of JFK's funeral. His black '64 Daytona convertible was built two days later.

uplanderguy

Another friend's collection of 1964 Daytonas, all in Astra White, all available body styles that year. The hardtop is a (factory) four-speed.

sda

uplanderguy said:

Another friend's collection of 1964 Daytonas, all in Astra White, all available body styles that year. The hardtop is a (factory) four-speed.

How recent was the picture taken? Does he still have them?