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http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?55365-Studes-in-Roadside-Americana-photos/page180
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
I very much miss the white '63, and my wife even admits that she does, too. The '64 was a good color, modestly equipped (V8, auto trans, no PS or PB, split bench reclining seats) and sold new in my hometown. I wish I had had the money to fix it up as it deserved.
The font on that Filer dealer sign is very 30s, must have been kind of a quaint anachronism by 1960. How long was that sign there? You need another old car, uplanderguy
Sounds like that archive is amazing to have material like that. The building (not originally built as a Stude dealer, I think) and lot that used to be a Stude dealer about 5 blocks from me is now worth a healthy 7 figures.
When googling for any cool pics, I found this unusual anecdote:
Note: Do not sit in cab during launching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c06E9ectN9w
Not to wish myself older, but I think I'd have fit in maybe a bit better in those times, who knows.
My Stude dealer friend said his Dad chose to build his new building where he did, so he could get the drive-by traffic from the Bessemer and Lake Erie railroad car shops just down the street. As he said, those guys could buy a house and a new car every few years, and without a college degree.
Aren't most of those old robber barons still in control of some wealth?
I suspect a lot of money out there is still relatively dynastic - a lot of exceptions, but where there's smoke, you know.
Valiant effort, though, from Studebaker. They died swingin'.
Even when they did things right, it went wrong. The '59 Lark was the product of great timing, but within a year the Big Three crushed it. The Avanti was a very unique car, and people loved to look at it, but nobody bought it because they really didn't know what it was supposed to be---and neither did Studebaker. It wasn't a "sports car" and it wasn't a T-Bird and it wasn't a Riviera.
I think the Avanti II people tried to make it a T-Bird, but by that time the T-Bird train had left the station.
Even today, luxury coupes are a pretty hard sell.
Sadly, it has been noted repeatedly that many, many early Avanti orders were cancelled because of loonnnnggg production delays--same as with the '53 coupes.
Studebaker made the greatest profit in its (then) 107-year history in 1959...no doubt a relief after the $43 million loss of '56, followed by $11 million and $13 million losses the next two years. The auto division also turned a profit in 1960.
Just today on Facebook, people were posting pics of the cool old Newman and Altman parts place in South Bend. The county jail was built on the property probably a decade or so ago. The place was awesome--built in the late 1800's and I remember still being able to see "Studebaker Carriages and Harness" painted between upper-floor windows. There was an old Studebaker big truck parked on the west side of the building, and a trailer with "Studebaker" painted faintly on it. Looked like it was just parked there, and left.
Smithsonian magazine did an article on that business in the late '80's or so. They likened it to an archeological dig, and I'd agree. The parts are far-more organized and catalogued now in the old Studebaker aircraft plant south of town, but the old Newman and Altman on Sample St. was truly stepping into a time warp.
In my small hometown, when the Studebaker dealer hung it up in Dec. '68, the Chrysler-Plymouth-AMC dealer immediately signed up for the Studebaker authorized Parts and Service franchise, and held it though 1972 when Studebaker got out of the parts business.
Here's the outside of the museum:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/South-bend-studebaker-museum-new.jpg
Avanti production got all fouled up. Just about everyone who wanted one was put on a waiting list, and well, they mostly didn't wait. They had a lot of fit issues with that glass body. You'd think the people who built the '53 Corvette would know how to do this.
Meanwhile Chevy sold almost 24,000 Corvettes in 1963.
LeMay seems to be going strong, no doubt because the namesake had plenty of money. Such places with more than one or two dozen cars seem to be uncommon.
I used to lobby our local club to donate to the museum yearly. We can afford to. Most people had blank expressions about it, never having been there. I'm a member of the Studebaker National Museum so support it myself instead. It is one of only three auto museums in the U.S. that is accredited.
There was originally talk of moving the museum into a refurbished Studebaker Administration Building. The funding for that never happened, and the costs were too high to make it climate-controlled in the ways a museum should be. There are still some folks sore about that decision. But hey, it's life, not everybody gets what they want!
The multi-story body building is being refurbished into an information hub of some kind, and the Administration Building is empty but protected from demolition. It is amazingly intact inside--lots of wood, marble, and the "Mural of Transportation" that rings the entire inside of the building is still there and in excellent shape.
https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/top-10/top-10-automobile-museums.html
I think the ball was dropped by not having Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg on that list. It's located in their old offices and showroom. Talk about stepping back in time.
Museums in general face this challenge. They are seeing the need to become much more theatrical and inter-active.
Car museums are, in my experience at least, very static. At best you'll see a dusty diorama or an endless loop video. And these museums are usually run by car people who regard them as their own little fiefdom. I think it would be better if the Board of Directors knew less about cars and more about entertainment and outreach.
Consider how Jay Leno does things on YouTube. But alas, theatrics cost money.
Car museums need more live events for sure, and more "related" exhibits to bring non-car people in to visit. And the cars themselves have to go out into the community.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F22usdIoJkc