Last thing about my hometown dealer, attached. Found this 2019 brief article in the local paper there, about the Water Co. buying the property...for $35K.
I like that! And I can't nitpick a single thing from that picture!
1955. When the two-door wagon was introduced for '54 it was called a 'Conestoga', but I can't recall if they still called it that the next year or not.
I'd take it!
Not a sales advantage in the fifties, but I like how Studes were trimmer than most everything else at the time.
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It has the side scoops that catch air and direct it inside the car. Great cooling effect even without freon, as long g as the car is moving on hot humid days. They were from the factory and they scooped cool feeling air.
Dad and mom joked about those on the 50 Studebaker we had.
I like that! And I can't nitpick a single thing from that picture!
1955. When the two-door wagon was introduced for '54 it was called a 'Conestoga', but I can't recall if they still called it that the next year or not.
I'd take it!
Not a sales advantage in the fifties, but I like how Studes were trimmer than most everything else at the time.
I think being trimmer did appeal to some, just not enough to make a huge difference vs the big 3, although it did influence the Falcon and Corvair, and later intermediate models. That idea also was behind the Lark of course - I think some of that same group also wanted more of a European "flavor" car which led to Larks with big sunroofs and the fancier cloth interior and even a few MB-reminiscent styling cues - some Studebaker executive types listened.
The Hawks kept that direct ventilation the whole way to the end, '64! The only other car I remember with those, are the two-seat Thunderbirds.
I love the Gran Turismo Hawk, especially '64, but Studebaker knew it was the oldest basic bodyshell still being used. They often used "classic" in its advertising. : Some of the available features, like in-dash tach, PRND21 automatic, supercharger, and disc brakes, were avant-garde for the time.
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Looking at that '55 wagon reminds me that when the '55's were introduced they didn't have a wraparound windshield, but that was a midyear '55 addition. Added zero to the styling IMHO.
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This is what the building and lot look like today in Ft Wayne. Pretty big for a dealer in my experience in Indiana. Building looks well designed with showroom and entrance midway for parts and service.
Yesterday I came across this photo from around 1998 of my old '63 Lark Daytona Skytop with factory R1 Avanti power. I had just had a leaf added to each rear spring and I was unhappy with how high it sat in the back. The shop told me it would 'settle', and it eventually did.
I miss that car.
I was a fussbutt about originality/authenticity, and even the mudflaps were Studebaker.
I replaced every single seat piece with NOS except the rear seat back, which amazingly was in good condition. If you squint you can see the white Lark 'bird' emblem in the upper center of that seat back.
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‘64 or ‘65 service dept. shot inside my hometown dealer. Fintail sedan, new Canadian Stude, and Simca in shot—the three lines they carried at the time.
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I'll condense the story, but I found a folder full of correspondence from the original owner of a '63 Lark Daytona Wagonaire subsequently owned by the late newsletter editor of our Ohio Region Studebaker Drivers' Club. The editor's family gave it to the current newsletter editor, who gave it to me, knowing I'm a Stude history nerd.
The original owner was a professor at Kent State University named Edgar McCormick, and he was a voracious Studebaker buff and owner. From what I can see in the folder of stuff, he bought five new Studebakers between 1959 and 1966.
The folder is full of newspaper clippings about Studebaker, from the Akron Beacon-Journal and other papers.
He wrote the president of Studebaker more than once in the '60's, and got responses, which I have. None from Sherwood Egbert, my Stude hero, sadly, but from Byers Burlingame, Egbert's successor and the CEO who ordered the shutdown, and also one from R. H. Guthrie who was on the board. That letter has in the upper right-hand corner, "RICHARD NIXON, COUNSEL".
I'll post the two most interesting, in my opinion, here and below.
This one was written only four days after JFK's assassination. The Board had Egbert "resign" the Monday after the assassination--supposedly thinking all the major news would result in this not being 'big news'. The letter's typist, 'MJR', was Martha Jane Rich, later Martha Fleener, who subsequently married Lon Fleener. I'd met Martha a couple times at South Bend meets in the early '90's; a charming, polished older lady. She said her husband Lon "helped bring Mercedes to this country". That was a bit of hyperbole probably, but he was an exec in the M-B Sales division of Studebaker and stayed with M-B after they were broken off from Stude in 1965.
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A matter of a few months after South Bend shut down, Ford mailed Studebaker owners a large envelope that said "A MESSAGE OF INTEREST TO STUDEBAKER OWNERS", and inside was a 1964 Ford full-line brochure. Nowhere on the envelope did it say "Ford", although there was a tiny "DEARBORN, MICHIGAN" in the upper left-hand corner.
Mr. McCormick was incensed at this, feeling that Ford was telling Studebaker owners that Studebaker was gone for good.
Attached is the large Ford envelope, and Studebaker's subsequent response envelope. The Stude response was that they were in business to stay. The letter from the Auto Division's president to Mr. McCormick, about Ford's mailing, is shown below.
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As I always say, I don't like the mirror out on the fender, although I've seen factory photos like this, and also pics with the mirror on the door, or no mirror at all.
I always think this is a good angle of an Avanti, to show the general grace of the design.
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It kinda looks like the A-pillar would be in the way of the driver looking at the rear view mirror. It may just be the angle of the picture. I’m not sure I have ever seen an Avanti in the flesh, much less one with the mirror like this.
That's the color I would want. Maybe a white/off-white/or matching interior.
The mirror thing reminds me of fintails, which also had a fender mounted mirror maybe until late in the 1962 or early 1963 calendar year when it moved to the door, much better ergonomics, adjusting a fender mirror had to be a little annoying.
On an Avanti, in turquoise, I actually like the 'fawn' interior. It's vinyl, not leather, but a good vinyl, and to me, leather should be that color. LOL
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I watched an episode of "Roadkill's Junkyard Gold" this morning on Motor Trend TV (I had recorded it a few weeks ago and just now got around to watching it) that dealt exclusively with Studes. In this junkyard in Texas, not too awfully far from where I live, they had a 1958 President Starlight hardtop. I have never seen one of these in my life. It looked a lot like the late 50's Chrysler products, except the fins weren't as tall. Very cool and quite a bit different from the normal President four door sedan.
He (Steve Magnante) also showed an early 60's Hawk GT, and the interesting thing about this car was the rear seat floor pan. It was so narrow that you could only put one of your feet in it at a time. So, you rode with one foot in the floor pan and one on the trans tunnel. That was something I had never seen either. I would hate to take a long trip in the back seat.
I don't see where this show will be rerun any time in the next few weeks, but if anyone is interested you can keep a watch out for it. This was on the Motor Trend channel on cable/satellite, not the streaming channel.
Most Studes of that era had almost flat floors, but I've seen what you're talking about on GT Hawks. There is a footwell in the rear, down, but not a real big one.
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On another Edmunds forum I post pretty regularly on, there's recent discussion about Checkers. I'd post this there but I think there is zero interest in things Studebaker there.
Late '60's, at the earliest, Checkers (and International pickups and Travelalls, as well), had the good-looking 1964-65 Studebaker full wheel covers as an option (minus the 'S' in the center, of course).
Also, when South Bend's smaller-of-the-two Studebaker dealers, Nate Altman, was looking for ways to rejuvenate the defunct Avanti, he went to Morris Markin of Checker to see if they would build it on their line. Markin said, "You expect us to build a car that ugly?" to which Altman replied, "Seriously? You build the Checker Marathon!", LOL.
At that point, Altman decided to buy a building or two from Studebaker and build the Avanti II himself. I think it is nothing short of a miracle that he received bank financing to build the car, not long after the collapse of auto and truck manufacturing by Studebaker in the U.S. He bought the rights and leftover parts for Avanti, and also Stude trucks, and hired unemployed Avanti production workers.
It would be like a Chevy dealer going to GM and asking to continue building the Camaro, and GM saying, "OK".
Altman sold 'regular' Studebakers to the end, '66, and had also been an Edsel dealer, and Packard dealer before that. He became a Studebaker dealer in successful 1959.
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How many iterations of the Avanti have there been, with the original Stude one counting as te first obviously? I don’t keep up with it, TBH. I’m much more fond of the Cruisers/Daytonas. Blasphemy, I know. 🙂
The Avanti has indeed had several iterations since its inception by Studebaker. After the original Studebaker Avanti, which was produced from 1962 to 1963, the Avanti nameplate has seen various attempts at revival by different companies. There have been Avanti II, Avanti Motors, Avanti automotive, and then Avanti motors again
Studebaker built Avantis from 1962 to the last week of December, 1963 (which were 1964 models by that time).
Avanti II production started in 1965 by Nate Altman in the old South Bend Avanti building. He died in 1976. His brother, Arnold, continued to build them through 1982. The quality under Nate supposedly was always good, but Arnold didn't have the same love of the product.
Steve Blake bought the company and no longer called the car "II". He tried to update the chassis but the cars had paint problems. The Blake era was 1983-85 or 86 (I'm just not sure). He added a convertible model and a long-wheelbase coupe (ugh).
J.J. Cafaro of Youngstown, OH bought the company in South Bend, and not long after moved production to Youngstown. He added a four-door sedan model which had rear doors that recalled the '59 and '60 Lark four-door--not a good look. '91's were the last Cafaro cars.
I'm thinking that until near the end of the '90's, there were no Avantis. Some guys put Avanti bodywork on Firebird chassis and interiors--one of the stylists was Tom Kellogg of the original Studebaker Avanti design team.
In 2005, I think, Avantis were made on Mustang chassis but the final car was built in 2006 in Cancun, Mexico. The president of the company, a South Bend native, ended up going to jail for a Ponzi scheme. While it's a Studebaker or none for me, the lifespan is pretty amazing.
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That's a good restomod - always should be key IMO to have a ride height and tire/wheel package as close to stock looking as possible. I've always seen the ideal as fooling people into thinking it is stock until you open the hood (or doors).
That '41 or '42 coupe in the lower-left of the pic is a prewar car I like. Clean down the sides; only moldings are rocker moldings, sort of like concurrent Continentals, and the windshield is one-piece curved, unusual at the time.
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On this date in 1966, this, the last Studebaker, came down the Hamilton, Ontario line. Employee photo. This car was shipped to South Bend and driven by a Stude exec until 1969 at which point it was donated to the City of South Bend. It's in the Studebaker National Museum now with just under 20K miles.
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My former '63 is for sale in Australia now for $38K Australian, which is about $25K American I believe. I miss it, but not enough to buy it back. This pic is from Australia.
I know I say this all the time, but the '63 Larks, especially to my eyes, have a few 'Mercedes bends' as the Eagles say in "Hotel California", here and there.
That car was nicely equipped from the factory with the Avanti R1 engine, factory air, Skytop sunroof, Twin Traction, and tinted glass in all windows. Reclining seats too.
I paid $2,600 for the car in 1988, which was probably a grand too much (LOL), and got a loan through my employer's credit union for it! They had never loaned on an old car before. Westmoreland Studebaker (now Westmoreland Restorations) did a beautiful job restoring it to the level I wanted, six or seven years later. I consider the owner and his family, friends as well as business associates.
This is a closeup of the front fender badge for this car:
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Looking recently at photos of my old Skytop, including with the original owners, made me think to Google their names. Sadly, I found that Peter passed on March 24 and in fact his service was only yesterday.
Looking recently at photos of my old Skytop, including with the original owners, made me think to Google their names. Sadly, I found that Peter passed on March 24 and in fact his service was only yesterday.
Comments
https://www.recordargusnews.com/front-page/water-authority-buys-lot-for-future-plant/article_b9dcf562-85c1-5866-a679-25cecf20fae1.html
A friend of mine in another group combs street view images for unusual cars, he spotted this:
1955. When the two-door wagon was introduced for '54 it was called a 'Conestoga', but I can't recall if they still called it that the next year or not.
I'd take it!
Not a sales advantage in the fifties, but I like how Studes were trimmer than most everything else at the time.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
It has the side scoops that catch air and direct it inside the car. Great cooling effect even without freon, as long g as the car is moving on hot humid days. They were from the factory and they scooped cool feeling air.
Dad and mom joked about those on the 50 Studebaker we had.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
The Hawks kept that direct ventilation the whole way to the end, '64! The only other car I remember with those, are the two-seat Thunderbirds.
I love the Gran Turismo Hawk, especially '64, but Studebaker knew it was the oldest basic bodyshell still being used. They often used "classic" in its advertising. : Some of the available features, like in-dash tach, PRND21 automatic, supercharger, and disc brakes, were avant-garde for the time.
All cars with radio too - fintails did not come from the factory with a radio, all were dealer/owner installed.
I should have put quotes around "factory air."
I think my 67 Mustang had air inlets in the footwells from the cowl air intake. Im trying to verify that.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
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in my experience in Indiana. Building looks well designed with showroom
and entrance midway for parts and service.
Someone's earlier photo
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I miss that car.
I was a fussbutt about originality/authenticity, and even the mudflaps were Studebaker.
I replaced every single seat piece with NOS except the rear seat back, which amazingly was in good condition. If you squint you can see the white Lark 'bird' emblem in the upper center of that seat back.
‘64 or ‘65 service dept. shot inside my hometown dealer. Fintail sedan, new Canadian Stude, and Simca in shot—the three lines they carried at the time.
The original owner was a professor at Kent State University named Edgar McCormick, and he was a voracious Studebaker buff and owner. From what I can see in the folder of stuff, he bought five new Studebakers between 1959 and 1966.
The folder is full of newspaper clippings about Studebaker, from the Akron Beacon-Journal and other papers.
He wrote the president of Studebaker more than once in the '60's, and got responses, which I have. None from Sherwood Egbert, my Stude hero, sadly, but from Byers Burlingame, Egbert's successor and the CEO who ordered the shutdown, and also one from R. H. Guthrie who was on the board. That letter has in the upper right-hand corner, "RICHARD NIXON, COUNSEL".
I'll post the two most interesting, in my opinion, here and below.
This one was written only four days after JFK's assassination. The Board had Egbert "resign" the Monday after the assassination--supposedly thinking all the major news would result in this not being 'big news'. The letter's typist, 'MJR', was Martha Jane Rich, later Martha Fleener, who subsequently married Lon Fleener. I'd met Martha a couple times at South Bend meets in the early '90's; a charming, polished older lady. She said her husband Lon "helped bring Mercedes to this country". That was a bit of hyperbole probably, but he was an exec in the M-B Sales division of Studebaker and stayed with M-B after they were broken off from Stude in 1965.
A matter of a few months after South Bend shut down, Ford mailed Studebaker owners a large envelope that said "A MESSAGE OF INTEREST TO STUDEBAKER OWNERS", and inside was a 1964 Ford full-line brochure. Nowhere on the envelope did it say "Ford", although there was a tiny "DEARBORN, MICHIGAN" in the upper left-hand corner.
Mr. McCormick was incensed at this, feeling that Ford was telling Studebaker owners that Studebaker was gone for good.
Attached is the large Ford envelope, and Studebaker's subsequent response envelope. The Stude response was that they were in business to stay. The letter from the Auto Division's president to Mr. McCormick, about Ford's mailing, is shown below.
As I always say, I don't like the mirror out on the fender, although I've seen factory photos like this, and also pics with the mirror on the door, or no mirror at all.
I always think this is a good angle of an Avanti, to show the general grace of the design.
It kinda looks like the A-pillar would be in the way of the driver looking at the rear view mirror. It may just be the angle of the picture. I’m not sure I have ever seen an Avanti in the flesh, much less one with the mirror like this.
Over the years, I've heard that there is no place on an Avanti you could lay a ruler completely flat. Don't know if that's hyperbole or not.
The mirror thing reminds me of fintails, which also had a fender mounted mirror maybe until late in the 1962 or early 1963 calendar year when it moved to the door, much better ergonomics, adjusting a fender mirror had to be a little annoying.
Studebaker had a noticeable background role, with the dealership in 1955 being a Toyota dealer in 1985.
He (Steve Magnante) also showed an early 60's Hawk GT, and the interesting thing about this car was the rear seat floor pan. It was so narrow that you could only put one of your feet in it at a time. So, you rode with one foot in the floor pan and one on the trans tunnel. That was something I had never seen either. I would hate to take a long trip in the back seat.
I don't see where this show will be rerun any time in the next few weeks, but if anyone is interested you can keep a watch out for it. This was on the Motor Trend channel on cable/satellite, not the streaming channel.
Late '60's, at the earliest, Checkers (and International pickups and Travelalls, as well), had the good-looking 1964-65 Studebaker full wheel covers as an option (minus the 'S' in the center, of course).
Also, when South Bend's smaller-of-the-two Studebaker dealers, Nate Altman, was looking for ways to rejuvenate the defunct Avanti, he went to Morris Markin of Checker to see if they would build it on their line. Markin said, "You expect us to build a car that ugly?" to which Altman replied, "Seriously? You build the Checker Marathon!", LOL.
At that point, Altman decided to buy a building or two from Studebaker and build the Avanti II himself. I think it is nothing short of a miracle that he received bank financing to build the car, not long after the collapse of auto and truck manufacturing by Studebaker in the U.S. He bought the rights and leftover parts for Avanti, and also Stude trucks, and hired unemployed Avanti production workers.
It would be like a Chevy dealer going to GM and asking to continue building the Camaro, and GM saying, "OK".
Altman sold 'regular' Studebakers to the end, '66, and had also been an Edsel dealer, and Packard dealer before that. He became a Studebaker dealer in successful 1959.
Studebaker built Avantis from 1962 to the last week of December, 1963 (which were 1964 models by that time).
Avanti II production started in 1965 by Nate Altman in the old South Bend Avanti building. He died in 1976. His brother, Arnold, continued to build them through 1982. The quality under Nate supposedly was always good, but Arnold didn't have the same love of the product.
Steve Blake bought the company and no longer called the car "II". He tried to update the chassis but the cars had paint problems. The Blake era was 1983-85 or 86 (I'm just not sure). He added a convertible model and a long-wheelbase coupe (ugh).
J.J. Cafaro of Youngstown, OH bought the company in South Bend, and not long after moved production to Youngstown. He added a four-door sedan model which had rear doors that recalled the '59 and '60 Lark four-door--not a good look. '91's were the last Cafaro cars.
I'm thinking that until near the end of the '90's, there were no Avantis. Some guys put Avanti bodywork on Firebird chassis and interiors--one of the stylists was Tom Kellogg of the original Studebaker Avanti design team.
In 2005, I think, Avantis were made on Mustang chassis but the final car was built in 2006 in Cancun, Mexico. The president of the company, a South Bend native, ended up going to jail for a Ponzi scheme. While it's a Studebaker or none for me, the lifespan is pretty amazing.
https://www.premierauctiongroup.com/vehicles/9033/1932-studebaker-commander-restomod-coupe
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That's a good restomod - always should be key IMO to have a ride height and tire/wheel package as close to stock looking as possible. I've always seen the ideal as fooling people into thinking it is stock until you open the hood (or doors).
Beautiful.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I know I say this all the time, but the '63 Larks, especially to my eyes, have a few 'Mercedes bends' as the Eagles say in "Hotel California", here and there.
That car was nicely equipped from the factory with the Avanti R1 engine, factory air, Skytop sunroof, Twin Traction, and tinted glass in all windows. Reclining seats too.
I paid $2,600 for the car in 1988, which was probably a grand too much (LOL), and got a loan through my employer's credit union for it! They had never loaned on an old car before. Westmoreland Studebaker (now Westmoreland Restorations) did a beautiful job restoring it to the level I wanted, six or seven years later. I consider the owner and his family, friends as well as business associates.
This is a closeup of the front fender badge for this car:
I was happy to get this nice piece of provenance from the original owners.
https://www.whitneymurphyfuneralhome.com/obituaries/peter-duginski
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