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http://www.flickr.com/photos/whenlostin/4329539354/
Here is a good site to tour the factory and museum today.
http://wiki.worldflicks.org/former_studebaker_auto_plant.html
I agree. I posted a slide show here earlier that shows the buildings being demolished, but I did not want to post it again. Last I heard the foundry was being demolished. It would have been gone long ago if there was not so much asbestos in it, which made demolition very expensive.
Most of the major buildings were was built during the 1920s when mass production of autos was well established and they planned an annual production capacity of 250-300 thousand units which would have served Studebaker well IF they could have sold half that many cars. They
were often called antiquated, but they were actually second-generation production facilities.
Studebaker was able to build new buildings because they had a few fires that destroyed many of the older buildings. The Packard production facilities would have been much better off if they had a few fires before the 1920s to clear out some of the older buildings and if they kept their own body plant. Studebaker body plant shown below and they also made their interiors there. I hope that building is preserved. The water tank is already gone.
I know you have seen this at the Studebaker forum, but I like the two images below very much. One is my grandfather receiving his 30-year service pin in 1951 and the other is him steering a Lark at the loading dock. It is interesting to see Larks loaded in box cars that were modified to
carry cars. Auto carrier cars that carried larger number of cars arrived shortly thereafter.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I have images that are larger, but I reduce them before I post here because I do not want to take up too much space. Reduction makes the images sharper too.
I am not certain what you are asking about the parking lots. There are many images of Studebakers being shipped from the shipping lots, including hundreds of Studebaker trucks awaiting shipment to the Soviet Union during WWII but few people at the time thought that the employee parking lots were worth of making photos. They just happened to be in the photo when the plant was closing.
In 1952 Studebaker made a very good movie called A Family of Craftsmen that is the story of an extended large family that worked at Studebaker. That has many nice factory scenes and is available in DVD. Other movies are available too, but I stated the one I like the best.
Family of Craftsman and Beyond a Promise were made in 1952 to celebrate the centennial anniversary of Studebaker’s founding in 1852 as a blacksmith shop. The movies end with the announcement of the 1953 Lowey coupes to begin Studebaker’s second century. They are very similar and have factory scenes.
The Studebaker Story is a Hollywood production stating the same actor who played Perry White in the Superman TV show as JM Studebaker. There is not much (if any) original factory scenes in it. It is in color, but it is a movie with actors of little historical value. There is a nice scene at the end of a 1953 Studebaker being driven on a Hollywood set with the fake scenes in the background.
Partnership of Faith was made around 1948 and I used part of it here at the bottom of the page because it is about workers who work at Studebaker as a career and because it explains the the images of my Grandfather getting his 30-year service pin. http://stude.net/craftsmen.html I have not figured out how to post audio files here.
http://www.barthworks.com/cars/crawford/photos/64avantig.jpg
There was also a documentary called "Less Than They Promised" which was a critical review of Studebaker in South Bend. They visited some of the Bokon Family, who was the family featured in the movie Family of Craftsmen released in 1952. They had a family reunion, but they said nice things about Studebaker too, as did my Uncle Walter who kept working at the engine plant until June 1964, and did not get a full pension.
Everyone seemed to realize that Studebaker gave it a good try but things did not work out. At then end, Bendix employed more people in South Bend than Studebaker did. The factory was staffed about 1/3 of capacity and average employee age was was over 50 years old. I believe the actual figure was 54 years old.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/62-STUDEBAKER-CHAMP-RESTORED-CALIFORNIA-TRUCK-V8-- SOLID-ORIGINAL-BEAUTIFUL-/220926011985?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3370376a51
I see a bit of the '94 Dodge truck concept in the Champ's big center grille. I do believe the grilles were all chrome and not just the edge as in the one for sale. Still, I like it a lot. A friend has a '64 Champ in Apache Red that is bone-stock and original and I think the styling has stood up well--I think better than a Chevy of the same era. And the Champ was America's lowest-priced pickup, with the greatest payload, and the only one with a sliding rear window (full-width window standard, too...not a little one), and a 5-speed available when no one else was doing that.
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2012/01/05/preservation-effort-under-way-for-- giant-studebaker-sign/
“These pine trees are not the longest living when planted in our area, and because they were planted so close together, they’re now stressed and don’t have the root systems they should,” Kirkwood said. “Any time we get a windstorm or a heavy, wet snow, we do get trees that topple, and because they’re so close together, we get a domino effect going.” Sounds like the car biz, no?
It was planted by a depression era public work relief program called the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1938. But is that a good reason why it should be saved? I don't believe it's visible from (outer) space no matter what the story says, and I don't believe that would necessarily be a good thing even if that were true!
Just seems like the Studebaker arbor was/is an interesting distraction from the beginning. But the world outgrew Studebaker cars and nature is slowly reclaiming the tree signage. Preservation will always cost more and more money so it needs to be "worth it." Acceptance is less expensive and an opportunity to do things better next time. I accept that the last survivors of the hippie gen will continue to cry out for a Beatles reunion until the last surviving ex-Beatle DNA has slipped away. Fan clamor is like that. But where do the rest of us draw the line with fanatics? On the decline of the Studey arbor I say, Let It Be.
Although the Hemmings article says the trees were poorly planted, the sign can still be read from the air more than 70 years after they were planted. Therefore, they could not have been planted that badly.
There are so many "landmarks" today that are less deserving than that Studebaker sign. Here in Santa Monica, individual trees located on private property are declared landmarks simply because they are large or not common in this area, such as Oak trees or Cedar trees. The home of women’s tennis player Gertrude "Gussie" Moran was also declared a Santa Monica landmark, although she was only ranked as the 4th best women’s tennis player in the world, BUT she was the first woman to wear bloomers at Wimbleton. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gussie_Moran
It is also appropriate that trees are used to spell the Studebaker name because wood from surrounding forests were the reason that both Studebaker and Singer built factories in South Bend during the 1850s and 1860s. Studebaker used the wood for the wagons (and early auto
bodies) and Singer used them for the wooden sewing machine cabinets.
http://www.centerforhistory.org/learn-history/business-history/976-2. There is a lot of South Bend history at this site.
There may come a day when all the Studebaker buildings are gone and only the sign remains. I hope that they save it because Studebaker had such an important role in American history for more than 100 years.
Roll Studebaker....rolll!
I know people who buy at BJ are not 'regular' old car buyers, but so much for Stude high prices being an anomaly. Last year a Golden Hawk was bid to $80K I believe it was, but was turned down by the seller!
It is true that certain Studes are bringing more than long-thought-higher Big 3 cars of the same era.
http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?58729-So-THAT-s-where-they- - -are...
I don't think MB had the "high end luxury" image until the 70s, either. Fintails and Pontons aren't luxurious. In the 60s the brand image was technical, cars for engineers, professors, doctors, etc. The later W108-109 cars (say 1969+) and especially the 1973+ S-class did it - the latter car being tuned with American sales in mind. That's also when the SL became a boulevard cruiser rather than something with sporty pretenses. I also have doubts about overall "finish expectations" and chrome quality, seeing how my own car of the era has aged compared to others - I'd expect finish and build quality to be as good as anything made at the time.
I was surprised that when I went to the archives of the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend a couple years ago and looked at every car my little hometown dealer sold from Sept. '63 and later, there were a few where the car traded in on a new Stude was a M-B. I wouldn't have expected that.
Cars like a W110 fintail weren't terribly expensive, and were also very rugged and simple - might have appealed to some Stude faithful.
Bendix was the second largest employer in South Bend after Studebaker, and and it was No. 1 when Studebaker quit Souith Bend in December 1963, probably passed Studebaker as the largest employer a few years earlier.
BTW, are you planning on coming to South Bend for the International Meet this year? I plan on driving my '66 out. The lady who was in the "Studebaker News" dealer magazine for buying the first new Avanti in North Dakota is thinking about coming out from Kansas with her husband for it, too...especially since the Avanti Owners' Association Int'l. is also having their annual meet there at the same time. My post on the AACA Forums last year about her car resulted in it being found just last week...although without its engine and trans and it's now a different color. The current owner told her "you wouldn't know it". She replied, "That's OK, it probably wouldn't know me, either!"
There was an earlier discussion about this. Studebaker developed its "Automatic Drive" with Borg Warner and used it between 1950 and 1956. Ford wanted to shore it in 1950, but Studebaker wrongly said "No," so Ford developed a similar unit with Borg Warner. In 1956, Studebaker was able to buy the Ford automatic transmission cheaper than the one they they developed, so they sold it and it was sent to England where the very same transmissions were used for Jaguar and Mercedes Benz until the early 1960s. Studebaker then used the Ford transmission until the end of production.
The Studebaker unit was a good one for its time because it has three speeds and could easily be modified to start in first gear (mine does that) it was air cooled and had direct drive in third gear for better gas mileage. (The earliest units started in second gear and did not have direct drive in third gear.)
Do you mean start in first gear from a stop or start as in starting the engine? The weird fluid coupling style unit (the first in-house MB design) in my car allows the engine to be started while in second gear, and it starts off from a stop in second gear as well - unless you manually have it kick down. I don't know of any others like that.
I am seriously considering doing that and I am already trying to talk my girlfriend into it. Maybe we can meet in South Bend, You should contact me be though my web site, Stude.net. Your E-mail address is not posted here.
First gear start makes such a difference in brisk starts and less wear on the torque converter that it should have been done that way all along.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Studebaker-?cmd=ViewItem&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26i- tu%3DUCI%26otn%3D5%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6259903753680563198&_trksid=p5- 197.m7&item=300660665454
Looking at the photos again, I'd have to replace those exhaust extensions with either the expensive NOS if found, or repro, 'exhaust deflectors' as they were called on these cars:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/greggjerdingen/5548872598/
The exhaust actually comes out of the bottom of these 'extensions'.
(Red car in photo is a '64 with '63 wheelcovers.)
The gold '63 on eBay is up to $25,100 with over four days remaining.
http://files.conceptcarz.com/img/Studebaker/64-Studebaker-hawk-R2-DV_11-SJ_014.j- pg
http://www.art.com/asp/View_HighZoomResPop.asp?apn=13840344&imgloc=26-2680-Z00DU- I7H.jpg&imgwidth=670&imgheight=894&artistName=Published+by+Art.com%2C+inc.
I can understand how people might not like the Avanti's styling, but how some folks can say it's dated by '63-64 standards is a complete mystery to me. Look at what Mopar was turning out then...in size, shape, decoration, etc., as a comparison.
Are there any of these floating around besides 1 in the Studebaker museum?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Are there any of these floating around besides 1 in the Studebaker museum?
I seem to remember only 41 production models were built, after ten pre-production 'show' cars were built. I seem to remember reading/hearing that there are a few (very few) out there...in fact, someone found a 'mutt' of one a few years back and I think is redoing it.
Probably a lot have been junked because they didn't say "400" on them anyplace. I have seen one or two regular Golden Hawks painted to look like a 400.
It seems like non-Studebaker folks' memories of Studebaker used to be defined by the '50-51 bullet-nose models. Lately, with auction prices the past couple years, it seems like the '57 Golden Hawk is the car folks most likely link to the name "Studebaker". Someone else posted this observation on the Studebaker Drivers' Club forum and I'd have to agree.
Here's an ad for a '57 Golden Hawk 400:
http://www.studebaker-info.org/Archive/Cars/1957/57GH400/57GoldenHawk400ad1.jpg
Here's a fuzzy shot of the leather interior of one:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/186/402026482_6c13c337d5_o.jpg
My memories of Studebaker include the car my school buddy's parents owned. Sort of like this blue, but I don't remember the two-toned rear fenders; the roof, however, was a different color and I believe it was white.
It was replaced by a red 58 Buick IIRC.
Earlier my own family had a pea soup green Champion 1950 two door.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
It's funny, I drive Chevys as my daily cars, but in old cars, I usually find them too commonplace. I like to not go right down the middle of the road, so to speak, in a car.
The club support for Studebaker is top-notch, and as I've said, there is a lot of NOS for Larks available in South Bend still, reasonably-priced (although less so than ten years ago--parts inventory has changed hands). There is a ton of reproduction--people are often surprised. The sixty-plus page monthly magazine, Turning Wheels, is second-to-none as well.
I think my grandmother's Aunt Nancy, or maybe it was her parents, had a 1929 Studebaker. I remember Aunt Nancy said that they referred to it as a brick S-house. Dunno if that's because it was built really beefy, or just styled really blocky? Looking at pictures of them, a '29 Stude doesn't seem out-of-style compared to anything else at the time? Unless, maybe they had it used, say by the mid/late 30's, when the styles were more rounded.
Whenever I think of a Studebaker, the first image that pops into my mind for some reason is a '56 or '57 4-door sedan. I remember Louie the garbage man, or one of the supporting characters, on "Chico and the Man" having one, and for some reason that always stuck with me. Dunno why it sticks out in my mind though. I don't think they showed it all that much. In fact, it doesn't even show up at all in the imcdb.org database for Chico and the Man.
I do remember one episode where they tried to sell it and weren't getting any interest. Chico said "It ain't easy trying to sell a Stoo-dee-baker in a Chebby neighborhood!"
I bet it was a comment on how well it was built, that's the usual meaning. Not like a '29 anything (mainstream) was 'styled'.
You should begin the search here. http://www.studebaker-info.org/Dealers/studedealersrj.html
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,