Postwar Studebakers

imidazol97

kyfdx said:

@imidazol97 In Plain City?

Yes

uplanderguy

The rear of those '58's make me think of looking at a chihuahua with its ears up.

I could own a '58 two-door hardtop though.

While I'm much-more familiar with Der Dutchman at Bellville, I've been once to the one in Plain City. It's enormous!

One daughter of my hometown Stude dealer, lives in Plain City, although we're not close.

imidazol97

The front right edge of the hood says "Champion." The major chrome on the car looks refurbished and good, maybe original pieces. The "Studebaker" and "Champion" were pitted. They have white paint in the recessed letter spaces. Original. Aged.

Modified dash with speakers on top of the rear package tray. Is that dash the Champion dash or a Commander dash. Is there a possibility the hood is a replacement hood?

Are the red rims standard?

fintail

That two tone car has a real period correct look to it, that's how I imagine one looking when new.

imidazol97

Let me upload all the pics from each of the '51s.

imidazol97

Besides the turn signal added to the steering column and the radio, this car doesn't have the started button under the clutch pedal that I recalled. I see there is a small push button tacked onto the lower edge of the dash which I assume is the starter button.

uplanderguy

The dashes pictured are all Champion dashes. Commanders had three large round dials instead.

bhill2

imidazol97 said:

The front right edge of the hood says "Champion." The major chrome on the car looks refurbished and good, maybe original pieces. The "Studebaker" and "Champion" were pitted. They have white paint in the recessed letter spaces. Original. Aged.

Modified dash with speakers on top of the rear package tray. Is that dash the Champion dash or a Commander dash. Is there a possibility the hood is a replacement hood?

Are the red rims standard?

Thanks. Your monitor is better than mine (or maybe your eyes). I couldn't determine with confidence whether it was "Champion" or "Commander".

imidazol97

Zoomed in on the right side of the hood, I can see the "h" in Champion and the rest of the letters fit.

fintail

On a slightly Stude-related note, I recently learned of the passing of Bruno Sacco, the head of design at MB for 25 years, called one of the "titans of postwar design", responsible for most modern golden age MB products from the mid 70s until the turn of the century. It's often said his favorite products are either the W201 (190 series cars launched in 1982) or the C126 (SEC coupes launched in 1981):






I think mentioned here once before, he credited the 1950 Studebaker as the car that made him want to get into automotive design.

uplanderguy

Just back from a couple days at Hershey. At the show, cars must enter the field under their own power, which is a delight to see...even ancient old steam-powered cars and 1910-era cars.

In the show, I loved this '64 Avanti, which was in the 'Historic Presevation' class which indicates not restored. I'd have to replace those floor mats with repro factory-copies which are available. I can deal with that, LOL.

The Laguna Blue '64 Hawk was for sale the day before, but not in the show. Asking $34K.

uplanderguy

Sorry for the sequencing blunder--the bottom photo is the interior of the blue Hawk.

imidazol97

Beautiful cars.

imidazol97

1947 Champion! It has a radio! But no antenna?

fintail

Not sure if I recall seeing a blue Hawk like that before, great color.

uplanderguy

imidazol, good observation on that '47's radio!

I'd say that Champion is no longer-equipped with a flathead six, LOL.

uplanderguy

Since it's October, digging this old pic from about 2007 out again. I'm fond of the pic and I do miss the '63 Lark Daytona.

A friend of mine who was a cameraman at a Cleveland TV station and who did photography as a hobby, took the pic.

imidazol97

uplanderguy said:

imidazol, good observation on that '47's radio!

I'd say that Champion is no longer-equipped with a flathead six, LOL.

I wish the owner had been around to ask. I didn't see any signs of a heavier engine in the stance of the car.

Maybe I'll see it again at a cruise in that area next year, if I'm able.

Meanwhile. A 4-Studebaker show
2 Avanti and a GT Hawk (an a white convertible I already had seen other years).

uplanderguy

Wow, there weren't even four '60's Studebakers at the Hershey show this year!

Thanks for posting. I don't wish myself older, but I would like to have been old enough to stop inside a Studebaker dealer in that (IMHO) fruitful '62-64 period, especially.

uplanderguy

The fellow who bought my '66 Cruiser last year recently acquired the third-from-last 1966 Studebaker built, a Plum Metallic Commander four-door sedan. It now has just 100 miles. Was in the Harrah collection for years and years, and has changed hands a few times since then. It checks all the boxes for authenticity (as it should) and there are pics here of it with my old Cruiser, which at about 28K miles when I sold seems like high-mileage in comparison. Too many pics to post here, so here's a link:

https://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/forum/your-studebaker-forum/general-studebaker-specific-discussion/2041584-the-3rd-last-66-studebaker

fintail

Must be a rare color too

uplanderguy

It is a rare color. Studebaker usually added three "Spring Colors" and that was a 1966 Spring Color. Well, 1966 ended on March 17 for Studebaker.

Remarkable time capsule. And despite it being a plain-jane version, I still like the size, use of interior space, and general styling of those cars.

The vents in back are the one-year-only flow-through ventilation system ("Refreshaire").

uplanderguy

Nice fall photo from FB. ‘64 or ‘65 Cruiser (can’t tell without a rear view).

bhill2

Those Cruisers are just flat purty.

uplanderguy

I like them, inside and out. Perfect size to my eyes. The '64 and '65 have aged well too. I like the detail styling better than the '66--the four headlights, grille, side trim, and full wheel covers.

sda

Accuracy? https://youtu.be/y8KSXmDnrhI?si=lmh35NT93Io1KKHq

uplanderguy

I don't know if 'receivership' is exactly the same thing as 'bankruptcy', but 'receivership' is what Studebaker did in the mid-thirties.

Lark not only beat Corvair and Falcon to the market, but was available with a V8 and in a hardtop body style when available in '59. Convertible and four-door wagon was added for '60. Studebaker made more profit in 1959 than any year in their 107-year history up to the time.

"Andy Gratelli" (sic)? LOL

Largely, the piece is accurate, although the production numbers mentioned are low and a Super Lark could be had, in the lower trim levels, at far less than "only $300 less than a new Corvette", LOL.

Too bad they couldn't find far-nicer cars to film along with the narration.

Thanks for sharing....seriously!

imidazol97

Saw a 1961 Studebaker commercial of lots of hot rodding Larks. I hope
this hasn't been posted before...

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1813546186084600&__cft__[0]=AZV0HXDAZ03rTroG0i6RTLhiH1je1qKZZ4g_5_fAsBB-oWpESQDW_h0GtuttOH9xfM23yoSh6smPc37qs0rrDiizj1FYigCumM-rGa7I_0dgUlXcgheB9eB6Zn-n-eFmcp_AFrqVUViPt5Xy04oeN3PeMRBpmoBOyGW2gi410Eifv6Ezue-bCqRYFqaNf_eX70LyTfyu0HwTEqystI86sgdViGgux0-bhlfIG2UuWWrDUQ&__tn__=,O,P-R

uplanderguy

Someone just the other day sent that to my Facebook page! I hadn't seen it before. The '61's are my least-favorite styling of the '59-66 era, but there were a few significant changes from the year before, most-notably the introduction of the OHV six which had been sorely needed.

Thanks for posting!

uplanderguy

Someone looks proud of their new '61 Hawk.

Color is called "Flamingo" and was supposedly only available on 1961 Hawks and the Lark convertible.

uplanderguy

Guy just recently purchased this barn find, rust-free '63 Lark Custom two-door sedan with factory supercharged Avanti engine, 4-speed, disc brakes. Nice find.

Bought new at Lloyd Pearson Stude-MB-Volvo in Pasadena, which later continued with MB.

uplanderguy

Just stumbled on this pic taken the same day as the one I recently posted here, with me in it. I like this particular pic because I'm not in it, it's taken from the other angle of the car, and you can see the original rear seat back with Lark emblem. People that reupholster these cars nowadays leave that out.

sda

uplanderguy said:

Just stumbled on this pic taken the same day as the one I recently posted here, with me in it. I like this particular pic because I'm not in it, it's taken from the other angle of the car, and you can see the original rear seat back with Lark emblem. People that reupholster these cars nowadays leave that out.

To me, some of the Larks look frumpy, but yours was handsome.

uplanderguy

The styling was somewhat European, 'Benz-like in places. To my eyes it has an elegance other domestic compacts didn't have, not to mention performance options.

fintail

The hardtop really does it for that car, along with the sunroof.

imidazol97

The hardtop model has a juanty, carefree look. Pleasing.

In that particular picture, do other people see a slight pink ting to the car color? Or is it just my
monitor?

uplanderguy

Funny you say that. I don’t see it, but a few years back when I posted a pic here taken the same day on a road, taken from ground level, someone else said the same.

That car stopped Stude people in their tracks at national club meets, mostly due to seeing a Lark with those fender “Avanti Powered” badges was rare enough, but combined with the sunroof, almost never seen.

kyfdx

I get the pink look on my monitor, as well.

imidazol97

I suspect it's the ermine white color. The color chip looks like it has subtle tones of yellows and reds in it, but very light. On my A54, which has camera software like an S24, the rendering shows a light tone of pink behind the color.

I wonder if the original camera adjusted the color of the picture to compensate for the oranges in the pumpkins and red in the tree leaves and made them show up by emphasizing that ignoring the green of the grass.

uplanderguy

It is indeed Ermine White.

The car was ordered by the customer with the no-cost option of 'Matching Inserts', meaning the seat inserts are red as the rest of the seats are. Standard was white vinyl inserts, which I would've wanted more even though two-tone vinyl interiors had largely been considered passe by that time.

uplanderguy

Pic I came across that was part of my for sale ad for my ‘66 Cruiser. It did have a nice interior.

uplanderguy

Sixty-one years ago today, word broke that Studebaker was shutting down the South Bend plant and reducing production significantly to its Hamilton, ON, plant. While Corporate remained at South Bend, and while the engine plant operated a few more months to provide Studebaker-built engines to Hamilton, 7,000 were put out of work. Studebaker production in South Bend existed for 111 years. Avanti, Hawk, and truck production ended at that time and only 'Lark-types' (Commander, Daytona, Cruiser, Wagonaire) would be built in Hamilton.

Here's a nice local news segment from 2023 talking about it:

https://www.wndu.com/2023/12/08/60-years-later-south-bend-moves-forward-after-studebakers-departure/

uplanderguy

Last U.S.-built Studebaker down the assembly line was built this day, Dec. 20, 1963 in South Bend, Indiana, ceasing 111 years of vehicle production in the U.S. It's a '64-model Daytona Hardtop, a compact sized and priced along with Falcon, Chevy II, Valiant, etc. This particular car had the Avanti R1 engine, disc brakes, and 4-speed transmission, all desirable options.

Studebaker was continuing production of a truncated line of cars (no more trucks) at its smaller Hamilton, Ontario plant, which lasted until March 1966. Since management didn't want the impression out there, that Studebaker was completely going out of business, the edict was "No pictures of the last car going down the line at South Bend".

I'd always heard that somehow someone got in the plant and took video of the last car which was shown on NBC's "Huntley and Brinkley Report" that night.

Probably twenty years ago, Kelsey and I were in the Friday's restaurant in Stow, nearby. I had a "Studebaker National Museum" sweatshirt on. A handsome older fellow came over to our table and said he had worked for the NBC affiliate in South Bend as a young man and got into the plant and took the footage of the last car. I told him I had always heard that story and he was surprised. He was not a car guy, had never been to the Stude Museum, but had been back to town for an occasional Notre Dame game.

I think the chance of that meeting was miniscule!

His name was Walt Heeney and he graciously accepted my offer of speaking at our next Ohio Region Studebaker Drivers' Club meet.

He said the NBC affiliate in Chicago had sent a small spy camera to South Bend's station. He went a few days without shaving, paid a guy $10 for his employee badge the day before the last day, and on the last day, walked into the plant with the throng. Got the video, and it was rushed to Chicago where it aired on the NBC national news that night.

This car had been ordered by a customer in central Pennsylvania. At the last minute Studebaker decided to keep the car and give it to the City of South Bend. It currently has just under 24 miles.
The company took a similar unsold car in inventory and added and deleted optional equipment to fill the order. The dealer had no idea.

uplanderguy

I've posted this before, but here it is again, LOL. The last magazine ad for a Studebaker Avanti, in Dec. '63's National Geographic:


I still like that late-Studebaker symbol, and font. Both look modern for calendar 1963 I think.

uplanderguy

2012 photo of last South Bend car down the assembly line, in profile:

fintail

Photo I took of that car at a visit to the museum several years ago:

uplanderguy

Thanks fin; that's better than either of the pics I posted.

It always bugged me that for a long time, that sign mentioned that the car "has less than 50 miles on it". Way less, 23.8, LOL. Current signage indicates that, but I think whomever made that first sign was winging it on memory, LOL.

That car hadn't always had the best storage over the years. I remember hearing that for some time, it was stored in the basement of the water company in town. The one pic I posted shows the top of the instrument panel is warped, and also shows red overspray inside the RR wheel opening. The car is supposedly all-original, so who knows.

Personally, I love that car. Among Stude buffs, that model is desirable anyway, with only 2,414 Daytona hardtops built for the '64 model year between South Bend and Hamilton. Add in the 4-speed and R1, ultra-low mileage, and provenance, and I'd say it may well be the most valuable car in the collection.

I've heard from the museum, that it is one of the cars most requested to be viewed up close by people restoring a '64. I totally get it.

benjaminh

Here's a pic I took at the museum, which I think is the interior of that car. 23.8 miles showing on the odometer.

uplanderguy

Thanks. I remember you were talking about going there; didn't remember that you did. I'm a member there. It's not huge, but I'm a bit proud of the place!

imidazol97

I notice there's a 1950 Studebaker above the trunk of the Daytona.

Amazing, because it's bright red. I cannot remember seeing a 50s something RED Studebaker during my youth in eastern Indiana/W. Ohio. Blue, green, black, aqua, green, green. The other red 1950 I recall is in the Collection 21 antique cars in Erlanger, KY (northern KY near Cincy).