Postwar Studebakers

uplanderguy

If I had the money (I know, what a BS line!). This is by far the most-original 1963 Studebaker four-door sedan I have seen in at least 25 years. It passes my 'fussbutt' authenticity test outside and in. Gorgeous original broadcloth seating, rarely seen on a Cruiser ($72 option when new). 15K miles. It's bid to $8,300 with four days to go, well worth that IMHO. I'll be curious to see what it ends up for. In two-doors I like '64's better, but in four-doors I like '63's better. I think the M-B influence is most evident here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Studebaker-CRUISER-Gorgeous-Original-1963-lark-cruiser-unrestored-totally-original-ultra-low-mileage-/111606337439?forcerrptr=true&hash=item19fc418f9f&item=111606337439&pt=US_Cars_Trucks

A friend recently sent me an ad for a red '64 Daytona Hardtop with 55K miles in southern OH, a nice original car except for a repaint, and beautiful original factory cloth and vinyl bucket seats and Powershift (Avanti) floorshift automatic. Buy it now $13.5K. I'd have to pull a kid out of college to buy either, sigh.

I'm actually way-wowed by the first car, the four-door. The Green Mist color and green interior doesn't exactly wow me, but I'm thinking that may keep the price down a bit. I'd love to own this car. They're only original once. I've only ever seen the broadcloth interior in person, in a parted-out '63 at the restoration shop that did my white '63 Lark Skytop.

berri

IIRC Mayberry's Aunt Bea's personal car was a Studebaker of around that vintage. I may well be wrong, but I was thinking it was green?

fintail

Buy it and ask the kid to take out a loan - or just take out a loan to buy the car 13K probably isn't a bad deal for someone who likes that specific style, as you won't put a beater into that condition for the money, and they are only original once.

MBs of the era could be ordered with kind of a woolcloth interior, but it is very rarely seen, and wasn't as durable as leather or tex.

bhill2

uplanderguy said:

If I had the money (I know, what a BS line!). This is by far the most-original 1963 Studebaker four-door sedan I have seen in at least 25 years. It passes my 'fussbutt' authenticity test outside and in. Gorgeous original broadcloth seating, rarely seen on a Cruiser ($72 option when new). 15K miles. It's bid to $8,300 with four days to go, well worth that IMHO. I'll be curious to see what it ends up for. In two-doors I like '64's better, but in four-doors I like '63's better. I think the M-B influence is most evident here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Studebaker-CRUISER-Gorgeous-Original-1963-lark-cruiser-unrestored-totally-original-ultra-low-mileage-/111606337439?forcerrptr=true&hash=item19fc418f9f&item=111606337439&pt=US_Cars_Trucks

A friend recently sent me an ad for a red '64 Daytona Hardtop with 55K miles in southern OH, a nice original car except for a repaint, and beautiful original factory cloth and vinyl bucket seats and Powershift (Avanti) floorshift automatic. Buy it now $13.5K. I'd have to pull a kid out of college to buy either, sigh.

I'm actually way-wowed by the first car, the four-door. The Green Mist color and green interior doesn't exactly wow me, but I'm thinking that may keep the price down a bit. I'd love to own this car. They're only original once. I've only ever seen the broadcloth interior in person, in a parted-out '63 at the restoration shop that did my white '63 Lark Skytop.

The only deficiency that I can see on the '63 is that one would think that a "Little Limousette" in Phoenix would have A/C. Just saying.

uplanderguy

I'm impressed bhill2; they did in fact use the term 'limousette' in their advertising for this model!

From the license plates, I believe the car was sold new in Michigan, which would cause some concern. I know exactly where to look on these cars though; too bad it's so far away. The build sheet, shipping certificate, and retail sales card are all available at the Stude Museum for '63's, although the retail sales card file for '63's is incomplete. With this mileage, he may have some of the original paperwork but on the other hand, if he did, he'd have probably included some photographs. With that serial number, and comparing it to my old '63, that car was probably built in October of '62.

uplanderguy

fintail, the story is that broadcloth isn't all that durable, but it sure looks nice in this Cruiser.

berri, Aunt Bee's Stude was an Algonquin (pea) Green '66 Daytona two-door Sports Sedan, same model as the last Stude I owned. It was used in one episode of Mayberry RFD and I can actually remember that, but there aren't any vids of it on you tube. She traded in a '62 Lark for it, and a guy who posts on our club forum said he worked at an LA dealer and remembers her bringing her '62 in for service. She's actually listed in the 1972 Studebaker Drivers' Club roster, but apparently did not renew after that.

uplanderguy

The seating in this era Stude is nice (even discounting the broadcloth in this particular car). No ducking to get in, no dropping down in the seat, pretty-flat floors. My elderly mother could get in and out easily when I'd take her for a ride in my old hardtop, from her nursing home. Sure couldn't say that about either my Cavalier or van at the time.

uplanderguy

Auction ended early because "the item is no longer available". I'd like to think my wife bought it to surprise me, but I know that didn't happen. Weird, because there wasn't a "Buy It Now" on this car.

fintail

Maybe someone made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

I bet that car has excellent headroom too, just like a fintail.

uplanderguy

They do...chairlike seating and good view of the road, IMHO.

fintail

Just like my car. My friends remark about the headroom when they ride in it, much different than a modern car. I tell them the car is from when men still wore hats, so it isn't an accidental feature. And just like the Stude, the car isn't huge, just roomy inside.

berri

I remember looking for a car while I was in college. Even though Studebaker was out of production by then, no one seemed to be offering any big discounts on used ones. Thought I might snag a bargain, but nope. Ended up with a used Oldsmobile.

uplanderguy

No one in my family had a Studebaker, and I never even heard the word mentioned in our house. Our town had a small but long-established (40+ years by the same family) Stude dealer and I have to say I saw a fair amount of them around town and that's where my appreciation began...even as a kid, I remember thinking, "That's really different".

What Olds did you buy right out of college? A friend who went to GM school in the sixties still claims Olds had the best engines and overall engineering of all the GM divisions then.

The Service Manager at our local Stude dealer had a new '64 (squarer styling than the green one above) Cruiser 4-door sedan, supercharged, disc brakes, black with red cloth bucket seats, Powershift automatic (PRND21) on the floor, rear-seat speaker, no power steering, and optional 'Certified' speedometer! I've seen the build sheet but don't remember the car. What a sweetheart that would be to have today. I even know the serial number. He didn't know this, but it came out later through build sheet research at the museum that only eight supercharged '64 Cruiser sedans were built, and only two of those with the complete "Super" package. His was one of the two. When South Bend shut down in Dec. '63, all Avanti engines were dropped in the '64's built in Canada from that point on.

uplanderguy

In fact, someone who was doing research at the Studebaker National Museum archives called him probably a decade ago..saw his name and address on the retail sale card there, asking if he still had the car. The caller was amazed that he lived at the same address all those years later!

uplanderguy

fintail, re.: headroom--I remember years ago seeing a '63 Consumer Reports where they show a guy with a hat getting it knocked off while climbing into either a Buick Special or Olds F-85, and show the hat clearing the Lark door opening.

isellhondas

There was a Studebaker Dealer in Los Angeles that kept it's parts and repair shop open for quite a few years after Studebaker went under. Frost and French.

uplanderguy

I've heard of Frost and French. In fact, that's the dealership "Aunt Bee" supposedly took her '62 Lark to for service.

uplanderguy

From today's South Bend Tribune--repurposing of the huge old Studebaker body plant:

http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/local/renovation-of-old-studebaker-plant-under-way-in-south-bend/article_e494617a-6017-54de-91bb-862e8f7c3fd4.html

uplanderguy

I haven't been able to find out who bought that Green Mist '63 Cruiser with the broadcloth interior and 15K miles that was on eBay last week. In my mind, it'd have to be a Studebaker guy, but nobody's claiming any knowledge of it over on the Studebaker Drivers' Club forum.

uplanderguy

It seems like most of these cars were salmon with white top, but I love this all-white '53 Studebaker Starliner hardtop in the Studebaker National Museum. It's as stunning in person. I wish it were a V8, mostly since the V8 emblem looks nicer than the "S" emblem on the rear-quarters. Styling-wise, I think it has perfect proportions and if I owned this car and took it to a show, I'd ask to be parked by other 1953 domestics with a back seat! LOL

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8508/8506300926_f28b057a7a.jpg

uplanderguy

Nice pic and article on the current "Four Wheeler" blog about this 1958 Studebaker four-wheel drive pickup.

http://www.fourwheeler.com/features/1504-1958-studebaker-transtar-3e6d-4x4-backward-glances/

BTW, the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum they mention is awesome--in a small town but in the building the cars were engineered and sold in. The truck museum is behind it in an older, more run-down building (at least as of eight or nine years ago, when I was last there) but had some cool vehicles inside--at the time I was there, leaning heavily on International-Harvester as they were built just down the road in Fort Wayne, IN.

berri

Uplander, I just got the new hemming's classic car and there is an interesting article in it about proposed new models before Studebaker folded. They aren't the Brooks Steven's new designs, but more updated clays and prototypes for extending the last version. Also, the latest regular Hemming's has an article about a NAPCO 4WD Studebaker pick-up truck. I knew GM used that system, and I think Dodge may have too, but didn't realize Studebaker built any of those.

uplanderguy

Thank you; my HCC mag should be coming soon. What a great buy that mag is! Regular Hemmings, I really haven't bought for quite a while. They printed an article of mine with photos in spring of 2011 (can't recall the exact month), when I met the original owners of my Studebaker and the wife posed for a pic in 2010 like a color 1964 photo they gave me. I should get a scanner; I could post it here. I get so burned out on constantly learning new technology at work, when I'm not working, I like simple and low-tech! LOL

uplanderguy

Regarding the 15K mile '63 Studebaker Cruiser that was on eBay a couple weeks ago and discussed earlier in this thread, someone pointed out to me that it had been converted to silicon brake fluid, an obvious plus. In one of the pics, one could see a little flag with "Silicon" written on the master cylinder. That's a good idea I think, as I had had my '63 converted to silicon and I remember taking it to little local place for oil change and lube and something else small and being worried afterwards if by some chance they may have seen fit to top off the master cylinder with non-silicon fluid.

uplanderguy

Just noticed this online--a '64 Daytona convertible given away by Drewry's Beer of South Bend after the Red Skelton show in town--the "Partners in Progress" event between Notre Dame and Studebaker, only two or three months prior to the shutdown announcement. I know I'm biased, but I think the '64's have stood the styling test of time.

http://www3.nd.edu/~wcawley/corson/studebaker.htm

uplanderguy

People in the Studebaker Drivers' Club were actually able to positively identify that convertible in the post above by serial number, based on the date of the event and red convertibles with black interiors and white tops built prior to that date...there was only one at that time with an "Indiana" destination per the build sheets!

uplanderguy

Today, on March 17, 1966, the final Studebaker was built in the plant in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

http://www.remarkablecars.com/main/studebaker/1966-studebaker.jpg

The above pic was taken at the old Studebaker National Museum--the building had been the Freeman-Spicer dealership in South Bend.

The car was well-equipped with white vinyl top, A/C, disc brakes, transistorized ignition, and 50/50 split front reclining seats. It was given to a Studebaker executive to drive in South Bend (the management of the other divisions still were headquartered in South Bend), where he drove it until 1969 and 19K miles. It was then donated to the City of South Bend.

fintail

A neat old Stude has popped up on "Old Parked Cars", but it isn't postwar

uplanderguy

Looks pretty original, even without the front bumper; thanks for posting. Having a model called the "Dictator" would be seen as a negative in a couple short years.

bhill2

uplanderguy said:

Looks pretty original, even without the front bumper; thanks for posting. Having a model called the "Dictator" would be seen as a negative in a couple short years.

Yup, that's why the Dictator became the Commander.

fintail

Good name for the decade, Charlie Chaplin should have driven one

uplanderguy

I've mentioned that I have a couple color photos of my old white '63 Lark Daytona Skytop from 1964, which the original owners gave me. I don't have a scanner, but a friend posted them on the S.D.C. website for me recently. Go down to post no. 17 in this link:

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?87348-Studebakers-photographed-the-day-they-were-finished

My post which is #18, shows my former '66 Studebaker. A friend set that up in that forum when I bought the car, but I've never taken it down! The current owner, in Australia, said he doesn't mind.

I was very excited to get these old pics of my car. They were taken Labor Day weekend 1964 in Yellowstone Park.

fintail

I'd like to have some old time pics of my car, I wonder how the original owner drove it and what he thought about it. I am pretty sure he was an old guy even then, especially based on the notes he left in the owners manual about things that annoyed him.

berri

Kodachrome and Kodacolor a bit partial to reds, Ektachrome to blues. The old days!

lemko

Check this out! I didn't know the Philadelphia Police Department once used Studebaker Larks! I was aware of their brief fling with Ford Falcons.

Mr_Shiftright

Nice color for a cop car. Easy to spot!

uplanderguy

Thanks for posting, lemko! Those are 1961-model Larks. It's funny that they are two-door sedans. Of course, the Plymouths in the photo are 1962 models.

uplanderguy

From today's Old Cars Weekly, photos and brief article about a restored Studebaker Zip-Van, built for the U.S. Post Office in 1963-64; in fact, built even after other vehicle production had stopped in South Bend.

All these vehicles were Stude's OHV six, Flightomatic 3-speed auto trans, and Twin Traction.

I definitely remember them at our local post office as my Dad was employed there.

http://www.oldcarsweekly.com/car-of-the-week/car-of-the-week-1963-zip-van

berri

Were those old Studebaker mail trucks bigger than some of the other ones at the time? I ask because I recall seeing them in Chicago and some of the large suburbs, but no so much in the majority of smaller suburbs back then. Might have just been how the replacement timing went though I suppose. Got to admit that I didn't know they were Studebakers.

uplanderguy

In my memory, they were a pretty short wheelbase. Supposedly they were designed to be peppy from a stop, which only makes sense, but not very high top speed at all. Built to win a low bid, and they did! The article mentions that the grille was meant to be a Pennsylvania keystone for significance to the body builder in Lansdale, but I always heard (and thought) that was a nod to the typical Studebaker grille which was wider at the top than the bottom. Who knows? I do remember they only had the "Studebaker" nameplate on the right side, and they did have the "S" on the center of the hubcaps. I have read that the Post Office used them 'til 1970.

lemko

Lansdale, PA is not far from Philadelphia.

uplanderguy

I never knew exactly where it was. Probably a decade ago, I heard a Studebaker engineer who was assigned to the project chuckle at how 'backwoods' the building was in Lansdale--I remember him saying the lighting was done by open lightbulbs over the 'line', etc. And Studebaker was still using several buildings from the wagon-making days at that time! LOL Apparently the bodies were shipped to South Bend and the assembly done there, as I've seen a pic of completed Zip Vans just outside the building where other trucks were built.

http://forums.justoldtrucks.com/Uploads/Images/86386ca1-eee7-4e86-8132-5f3b.jpg

uplanderguy

From yesterday's Lodi, CA Sentinel, article about Studebaker's Scotsman:

http://www.lodinews.com/opinion/columnists/steve_hansen/article_4d54f102-dcd9-11e4-b91b-536d55144939.html

I can't say I agree with everything the author states, but I do agree with Studebaker bucking domestic trends at that time. They often did. I really liked their 1964 advertising slogan, "Different By Design", which I believe was at least somewhat true.

lemko

uplanderguy said:

I never knew exactly where it was. Probably a decade ago, I heard a Studebaker engineer who was assigned to the project chuckle at how 'backwoods' the building was in Lansdale--I remember him saying the lighting was done by open lightbulbs over the 'line', etc. And Studebaker was still using several buildings from the wagon-making days at that time! LOL Apparently the bodies were shipped to South Bend and the assembly done there, as I've seen a pic of completed Zip Vans just outside the building where other trucks were built.

http://forums.justoldtrucks.com/Uploads/Images/86386ca1-eee7-4e86-8132-5f3b.jpg

That building is still there and is still being used as a factory.

uplanderguy

Jay Leno spent a couple hours at the Studebaker National Museum and at the Avanti Guest House across the street today, in South Bend. On Facebook, the museum showed a fellow I know there giving Jay a tour. Pretty neat.

uplanderguy

Brief video clip from the NBC affiliate in South Bend, with Jay Leno at the Studebaker National Museum yesterday:

http://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/Jay-Leno-tours-the-Studebaker-Museum-300200561.html

lemko

Anybody up for a challenge? Here's a rather rusty 1954 Studebaker we saw at the Spring Carlisle show this past Saturday.

uplanderguy

Six-cylinder, I don't know.

I think the proportions of those cars is almost perfect...but IMHO, those factory bumper extensions have to go. LOL

uplanderguy

Blog from 5/7/15 about a stock Bordeaux Red '64 Cruiser, nice compact sedan--includes short video:

http://www.forzamotorsport.net/en-us/news/hma_5_7_15

Owner says on the S.D.C. forum that he has since put a new front bumper on to replace the bent one.

uplanderguy

Probably the world's lowest-mileage, most-original '53 Commander Starliner Hardtop sold at auction yesterday for $32,000 plus 10% fees for a total of $35,200:

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?88306-World-s-Best-Most-Original-1953-Commander-Starliner

I always say that if I had a '53, I'd make sure to park it next to Big Three '53's at every show I could, just to show how dramatically different in styling execution it was.