On 'Barn Finds' now, there is an absolutely miserable, clapped out, rust bucket, '66 Wagonaire, one of only 940 built.
In the comments section, a fellow mentioned his uncle buying what he thought was the last Studebaker built, an Olive Green Metallic '66 Wagonaire with the 230 six and off-white vinyl interior. He said the dealer kept trying to buy it back from him, but he didn't sell. Then someone kept calling him about the car, and the uncle said "If you buy me a Chrysler I like down at the dealer, we'll trade even up"--and the guy supposedly did. He knew the car supposedly ended up in a museum but he hadn't seen the car in decades it sounds like.
That story sounded familiar to me and I dug a little bit in the S.D.C. forum and found these pics--this is the car and it was in Harrah's collection in Reno but I don't know where it is now. The serial no. is mentioned in another thread. It is the next-to-last Studebaker built. The last Studebaker built is in the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend.
Anyway, Olive Green Metallic was a spring color and is quite rare, and I like it with the white interior. What a nice, functional, 113-inch wheelbase station wagon--and again, only one of 940.
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A fellow who has several Studebakers in this area was telling me about his Wagonaire at a cruise in several years ago. IIRC, he said he had put int he supercharged R engine, replacing the original. I recall thinking that was a pretty hot station wagon with the supoerccharged engine. But I think it would have had more value with the original equipment. At least that's the way I like to see cars.
A friend has a 65 Ford convertible. He found a 289 engine frame in California and used it to replace his apparently rusted or damaged frame because his car has the original 289 cu in engine. I had to think back because my 67 Mustang had the 289 cu in engine with 3 on floor and was quick but not super fast. Add a lot of weight for a full size car and that has to be a slow car with the automatic transmission. But it's original.
Studes, even those with the Chevrolet-designed Canadian McKinnon engines, never came with a Powerglide. They used the three-speed Borg-Warner automatic.
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At least it has a Cruiseomatic 3-speed autobox. It could have been a Chevy with a 283 and Powerglide.
I had a 61 Chev with the 283 Powerglide. It was slow in normal driving. But got me there for being such a heavy car. Floor the thing and that trans wound out like crazy up to some high speed I'd have thought not likely because of the way the torque converter worked with the low gear.
A coworker offered the Chev to me at a low price when a lady rear-ended my 67 Mustang. The car was stored in a cattle barn on the family farm. Sort of an extra car they had kept rather than trading. The humidity from the cows and the sludge in the winter meant it was already ahead of its time on rusting from when it had been driven on the salted roads. Add a couple of scrapes on the car, and it was a perfect filler car until my new Mustang came in.
imidazol, I'm pretty sure the guy you met with the R2 Wagonaire is named Malcolm. Pretty-well-known in Stude circles as a nice guy. I'm with you on liking 'factory', best, though.
I like '61 Chevrolets a lot. They're one of my favorite years. Funny how one thing I get hung-up on about them, is when you got the pushbutton radio, it spells "CHEVY" on the buttons. That disappeared for '62. I just think it's cheesy. It's not a Chevy van or Chevy II, it's a Chevrolet! Impala is a top-of-the-line! LOL I'd have to find one with a straight-line tuning radio!
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This came up in my FB memories today. Last production-line U.S.-built Studebaker, literally a NOS Studebaker including the tires, 23.6 miles, on display in 2018 at the Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals in Chicago, among the other Studebakers there. Car was built Dec. 20, 1963 and had never left South Bend before this display.
I have serious lust for that car (as do most Studebaker guys). R1 engine, 240 hp, 10.25 to 1 compression, 4-speed, 50/50 split bench cloth seats, in-dash tach, Twin Traction, disc brakes. The R1 got you chrome valve covers and dipstick handle, and brushed-metal air cleaner. The styling is handsome for a 1964-model domestic compact. 109 inch wheelbase.
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It was originally ordered by a customer in eastern Pennsylvania. It was put on a truck, then at the last minute Studebaker decided to keep the car and give it to the City of South Bend. A similar car in factory stock had options added and deleted to meet the customer's order. Long story short, that 'ringer' car is now in Australia, based on paperwork stumbled on in the museum archives. It did not have the oval "Avanti Powered" badge as the mounting holes were different than the base '8' emblem. It was also delivered without a tach, which the R-engined cars were to have standard.
The selling dealer never had a clue until a friend of his saw it in the Stude Museum with the dealer's name on the window sticker. That dealer, in his 80's by that time, took the bus to South Bend, walked in the museum and said, "I hear you have my car". His picture was taken with the car and an article appeared in newspapers about it. This was probably about 15 years ago.
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I've looked at the last day of South Bend production via production orders (build sheets) before. That last four V8 cars before the red hardtop were identical, cheapo silver Challenger Wagonaires sold to the GSA. Immediately prior to those four, the last Gran Turismo Hawk was built--white with blue interior. It is owned by the original owner's son now I believe. His father believed his ordering it with a 3-speed overdrive may have put it at the end of the line. His father was in the California dealership ordering it on Friday Nov. 22, 1963, when a TV in an office at the dealership reported JFK's assassination.
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It’s surprising to me the subtle differences in styling between the ‘59 Lark my family had and the later Cruisers. The Cruisers look so much better to my eye, and even today they are pleasing to look at. While for some reason, I just don’t like the early Larks nearly as much. Maybe it’s the hot Texas summers I spent in the backseat of that black Lark with black vinyl upholstery. No AC, which is torture in Texas. When we went to Colorado for vacation and the weather was so much cooler, my memories of the Lark are more pleasant. 🙂
They built the Cruiser on the longer wheelbase that was used on the wagons (and Hawk). I agree that the Cruiser looked much better, and also gave the rear passengers more foot room. Of course, they were also considerably better equipped.
Actually, this predated the Lark. In the mid-50s when Studebaker designed the previous line they put the sedans on the shorter wheelbase. I always thought they looked stubby and would have sold better if they had put them on the longer Hawk chassis.
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Studebaker did build long-wheelbase sedans in the fifties, starting with the '53 Land Cruiser and extending to the President Classic series. They were the same 120.5 inch wheelbase as the Loewy coupes and Hawks.
A long(er) wheelbase Lark was introduced for '61, the Cruiser. In '62, all four-door Larks had the same, longer wheelbase (four inches longer than two-doors).
I much-prefer the '62 and later Lark-types, and in two-doors especially like the '64. The '59 and '60 sold the best though. When parking any other domestic of the same year next to them, they really were a simpler style, even compared to Rambler, and were the best interior use-of-space out there.
On FB a guy just posted that he bought this solid '64 Daytona Hardtop in need of paint. Nice find I'd say.
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Nice original interior too. I like the instrument panel; even the cheapest model got full instruments. Padded top-to-bottom. Red instrument lights, and the glovebox opens to a slide-out beauty 'vanity', a makeup case with a flip-up mirror.
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I'm almost certain that green Hawk is a photo, but the color and lighting have been artifically puffed up, LOL.
Those wheel covers are the same ones my Cruiser came with. I like them but they have those ridiculous clips and you can't check the air in the tires without pulling the wheel cover away from the wheel.
That is definitely a Champ. My guess is that pic was taken after Stude was gone but the dealership kept their Champ service truck. I know a guy in FL whose grandparents and parents had owned a Stude-MB dealership and he has pics, too, of when Stude was gone but the dealership was still using their Champ.
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You guys probably already seen this, but I thought it was interesting. It comes from the Jan22 Hemmings Classic Car (I’m a bit behind on my reading 🙂). The fact that Studebaker would trim the fins at the factory on a brand new car blows my mind. What customer service! I can’t imagine any other manufacturer even thinking of doing this.
I faintly remember that '59 Silver Hawk for sale. Personally, I doubt the claim that Studebaker built it without fins, but the production order (build sheet) would show for sure. Any kind of production deviation usually required a 'deviation permit' which showed up on the production order, but in all my years of production-order looking, I've never seen a 'deviation' like that! My guess is that if he has the production order (and a lot of us do), he either wouldn't show it, or it wouldn't show anything of that nature.
Truth be told, the car does look better without fins, but it's making his '59 look like a '56 Power Hawk!
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Small thing, but the Hawks are one of earliest cars I can think of that had wheel opening moldings. The Gran Turismo revision of '62-64 cribbed the concept of the current Continental's outlining of the body side in bright metal while leaving the middle of the body side plain--which I like.
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That got me thinking, what can I find as the first MB with wheelarch trim. Later examples of the Adenauer coupes/cabrios had it. Amusing this prewar-looking beast is from 1955:
Probably some concurrent evolution at play, as I doubt either one was really influencing the other.
As someone who sees MB kind of taking over the Packard position in the US market, these links and similarities are interesting to me.
I know the craftsmanship was absolutely top-notch, but it's funny as a domestic car guy to think that styling is from 1955--even by Studebaker's standards! Kind-of ahead of its time I guess if one thinks about cars like the Excalibur et al.
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That coupe was top of the line, an extremely expensive car then. There might have been a belief that the highline buyer wanted something traditional. From the front, it might even look older (and the cabrios still had functional landau bars):
With few exceptions, Euro styling lagged the US for a long time - 30s until the late 60s at least. Of course, the war didn't help European makes - but even looking at a 39 Ford compared to a 39 MB, one can see different paths. Then in the 70s to my eyes anyway, Euro designs started becoming more modern and set the pace for a long time.
One of the nicer Avanti II's I've seen, in color, wheels, and redline tires. Originally Fredrick Baer's car, Newman and Altman's silent partner in Avanti II and had been a prosecutor for the allies at the Nuremberg Trials.
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Still a good looking design. But I must admit I like the Cruisers better than the Avanti. Just something about that compact design and Merc-like grille that makes me happy.
I like the size/character of those last Cruisers (particularly '63) too; good use of space; fairly luxurious inside; and character that reminds me of late '70's GM sedans.
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I'd like this Champ. I think the color was called 'Desert Tan' but not sure. I always liked Champs with whitewalls for some reason, and this has the '63-64 style whitewalls.
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I like the 'unibody' '61-63 Ford pickups, but none other besides the Champ. The '60-66 Chevy and GMC styling does absolutely zero for me.
The Champ gets good-natured grief about the wide bed being wider than the cab, but at least the styling blends well with the cab as far as feature lines and wheel openings. I'd have to have the long, wide bed, as above. The old style (exterior fenders; double-walled) bed was last offered in '62.
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Here's the car on the National Mall in D.C. It has the R3 engine, wayyyy desirable and factory-installed in nine Avantis, but the R3 required the front rake to be adjusted upwards, which I think is a negative in the appearance of the car. I've been near it a few times as it's in the Crawford Museum in Cleveland with a little under 10K miles. It's a Powershift automatic (PRND21), and disc brakes as all Avantis had of course.
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Comments
In the comments section, a fellow mentioned his uncle buying what he thought was the last Studebaker built, an Olive Green Metallic '66 Wagonaire with the 230 six and off-white vinyl interior. He said the dealer kept trying to buy it back from him, but he didn't sell. Then someone kept calling him about the car, and the uncle said "If you buy me a Chrysler I like down at the dealer, we'll trade even up"--and the guy supposedly did. He knew the car supposedly ended up in a museum but he hadn't seen the car in decades it sounds like.
That story sounded familiar to me and I dug a little bit in the S.D.C. forum and found these pics--this is the car and it was in Harrah's collection in Reno but I don't know where it is now. The serial no. is mentioned in another thread. It is the next-to-last Studebaker built. The last Studebaker built is in the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend.
Anyway, Olive Green Metallic was a spring color and is quite rare, and I like it with the white interior. What a nice, functional, 113-inch wheelbase station wagon--and again, only one of 940.
A friend has a 65 Ford convertible. He found a 289 engine frame in California and used it to replace his apparently rusted or damaged frame because his car has the original 289 cu in engine. I had to think back because my 67 Mustang had the 289 cu in engine with 3 on floor and was quick but not super fast. Add a lot of weight for a full size car and that has to be a slow car with the automatic transmission.
But it's original.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
there for being such a heavy car. Floor the thing and that trans wound out like
crazy up to some high speed I'd have thought not likely because of the
way the torque converter worked with the low gear.
A coworker offered the Chev to me at a low price when a lady rear-ended my 67 Mustang.
The car was stored in a cattle barn on the family farm. Sort of an extra car they
had kept rather than trading. The humidity from the cows and the sludge
in the winter meant it was already ahead of its time on rusting from when it
had been driven on the salted roads. Add a couple of scrapes on the car, and
it was a perfect filler car until my new Mustang came in.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I like '61 Chevrolets a lot. They're one of my favorite years. Funny how one thing I get hung-up on about them, is when you got the pushbutton radio, it spells "CHEVY" on the buttons. That disappeared for '62. I just think it's cheesy. It's not a Chevy van or Chevy II, it's a Chevrolet! Impala is a top-of-the-line! LOL I'd have to find one with a straight-line tuning radio!
I have serious lust for that car (as do most Studebaker guys). R1 engine, 240 hp, 10.25 to 1 compression, 4-speed, 50/50 split bench cloth seats, in-dash tach, Twin Traction, disc brakes. The R1 got you chrome valve covers and dipstick handle, and brushed-metal air cleaner. The styling is handsome for a 1964-model domestic compact. 109 inch wheelbase.
That’s really cool that Studebaker kept that car for people to be able to view.
The selling dealer never had a clue until a friend of his saw it in the Stude Museum with the dealer's name on the window sticker. That dealer, in his 80's by that time, took the bus to South Bend, walked in the museum and said, "I hear you have my car". His picture was taken with the car and an article appeared in newspapers about it. This was probably about 15 years ago.
Actually, this predated the Lark. In the mid-50s when Studebaker designed the previous line they put the sedans on the shorter wheelbase. I always thought they looked stubby and would have sold better if they had put them on the longer Hawk chassis.
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
A long(er) wheelbase Lark was introduced for '61, the Cruiser. In '62, all four-door Larks had the same, longer wheelbase (four inches longer than two-doors).
I much-prefer the '62 and later Lark-types, and in two-doors especially like the '64. The '59 and '60 sold the best though. When parking any other domestic of the same year next to them, they really were a simpler style, even compared to Rambler, and were the best interior use-of-space out there.
On FB a guy just posted that he bought this solid '64 Daytona Hardtop in need of paint. Nice find I'd say.
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Agreed. Even the 23.6 mile last U.S.-built '64 Daytona has warpage at the top vinyl portion of the dash, above the glovebox.
This angle makes the car look like it has fins. It doesn't, but from overhead, the sculpturing around the decklid makes it look that way.
Looks like a Champ in the background:
Those wheel covers are the same ones my Cruiser came with. I like them but they have those ridiculous clips and you can't check the air in the tires without pulling the wheel cover away from the wheel.
That is definitely a Champ. My guess is that pic was taken after Stude was gone but the dealership kept their Champ service truck. I know a guy in FL whose grandparents and parents had owned a Stude-MB dealership and he has pics, too, of when Stude was gone but the dealership was still using their Champ.
Truth be told, the car does look better without fins, but it's making his '59 look like a '56 Power Hawk!
Also seen on W112 coupes and sedans in 1961 (but only at front for the sedan, as the rear becomes a flourish for the fin):
And of course it became a popular aftermarket item in the 70s.
Probably some concurrent evolution at play, as I doubt either one was really influencing the other.
As someone who sees MB kind of taking over the Packard position in the US market, these links and similarities are interesting to me.
With few exceptions, Euro styling lagged the US for a long time - 30s until the late 60s at least. Of course, the war didn't help European makes - but even looking at a 39 Ford compared to a 39 MB, one can see different paths. Then in the 70s to my eyes anyway, Euro designs started becoming more modern and set the pace for a long time.
Still a good looking design. But I must admit I like the Cruisers better than the Avanti. Just something about that compact design and Merc-like grille that makes me happy.
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
Too bad obnoxious Reggie is the owner!
The Champ gets good-natured grief about the wide bed being wider than the cab, but at least the styling blends well with the cab as far as feature lines and wheel openings. I'd have to have the long, wide bed, as above. The old style (exterior fenders; double-walled) bed was last offered in '62.
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])