Automobile imprinting

[Jeffry Cassel]

A couple years ago we stopped to fill up our 64 Hawk with non-alcohol gas A young man walked by and said to no one in partcular "That is the most beautiful car I have ever seen" It brought to mind my imprinting on a 64 Hawk. Mother had dragged us to a big box Walmart prototype store she liked to frequent. Walking into the store I saw my first 64 GT Hawk and my impression was the same as the gas station passer-by. My psychologist friend says it the high hormone levels, but I still believe my car is one of the prettiest models ever made. What is your" imprinting" moment?

[TWChamp]

In the late 60's I was at a mall that had a car show in the center court. When I saw the 55 Speedster, that was an instant dream car for me.

Then when I visited the Studebaker National Museum and saw the 53 White Champion, that became my new dream car.

[StudeRich]

Isn't the term usually "Impressions"?

I thought it was about a 3D Copier! Was hoping to see an "Imprinted" Studebaker!

[jclary]

Isn't the term usually "Impressions"?

I thought it was about a 3D Copier!

I think "Imprinting" is a great word for this purpose. A more common example, is found in the behavior of birds. Chickens, Ducks, and Turkeys are good examples. When I was a kid, I made a crude incubator using a light bulb. I hatched various birds with it. When the little birds first hatch, the first thing they see becomes "imprinted" as their parent. I've had them to imprint on me and follow me around the same as they would a mother hen. The funniest one was where I had some ducks imprint on our Sheppard dog. The dog was reluctant to accept the attention at first, but never snapped at or harmed the little ducklings. She even allowed them to sleep next to her at night.

I was born in 1944, and still have faint memories of pre-war cars. (although I would be 8 years old before our family owned a car) To this day, I am still drawn to them. I even recall being held in the arms of an aunt, while riding in the rumble seat of my uncle's model A roadster. I wasn't "imprinted" on any particular brand of car, but the cars of an era.

[57pack]

I guess for me it would’ve been the day my Dad came home with his new 1946 Champion four door sedan. I was only five years old but remember that day very vividly.
Dad was just home from England and was lucky enough to score a new car after a few months on the waiting list.
He had a 1935 Ford Tudor which sat during the war and my Mom didn’t Drive it so it hadn’t been winterized with new alcohol and subsequently it froze and the block cracked. Dad did trade it in and the Studebaker folks towed it away.

[Jett289]

I was just getting into cars when I was 15 and in particular shared my Dads passion for Thunderbirds .. Grew up in a Thunderbird family .. Visiting my grandparents in Wawa Ontario I seen Car Exchange magazine at the store and it had the most beautiful cars on the front cover .. Yup Studebaker GT Hawks on the front cover .. I bought that magazine and from then on was stuck on Studebakers .. I finally was able to get a 62 GT Hawk a few years back and WOW what a great car .. Its not perfect but I do love it .. THat magazine cover is imprinted in my memory ..

[E. Davis]

I too received my first "imprint" from a picture of a 59 Silver Hawk in an advertisement. The ad said something like "see yourself in the all new Studebaker sport sedan" and I could. Called the nearest dealer 85 miles away and asked if had one in stock. He said he had a new 59 demonstrator that his wife had put a few miles on but it was for sale at a nice discount. Needless to say I drove it home. Finally had to trade it on a station wagon for family reasons but 10 years ago I was able to pick up a nice 61 the same color and with it a chance to relive my youth with the best car ever made in my opinion.

[8E45E]

I wasn't "imprinted" on any particular brand of car, but the cars of an era.

Years ago, I had a customer who was imprinted on the one side of his forehead by a Silver Hawk. I had a picture of one at my desk, when he picked it up a looked it and showed me the scar the rear quarter window latch made when the driver slammed on the brakes. Since they didn't have seat belts in those days, he went forward and stuck it with his forehead.

Craig

[DougHolverson]

I've talked about this before, but being knocked out by a '51 Champion when I was around nine. "Oh my god! That car looks like a spaceship! That is so neato cool" So that got me into Studebakers which then got be into Googie and Art Deco which got me into Atompunk and Dieselpunk back before that stuff had names.

[Lou Van Anne]

Seeing my very first Avanti in person......I was about 16/17 living in Phoenix at the time.....there was a Gold 63 with flames painted across the hood/front fenders in town.....love at first sight!...and still in love some 50+ years later!

[rockne10]

I don't know when I first saw a Maroon '53 Starlight Coupe, but I had to be three, four maybe five years old. Then totally forgot all about it until twenty-five years later when I saw one again at a Burger King and the realization hit me that that is THE car dreams are made of. Saw it again the following year in a used car lot. Forty-two years later and it is still mine !

[raprice]

I've always been a Studebaker "nut." I was born in '37, & my dad bought his Studebaker Commander in '39. I don't know why, but I just loved that car and Studebakers in general ever since. After WWII, my dad took me to the local Stude Dealer to see the new '47s. The car that blew me away was the 5 passenger coupe, which later on was called the Starlight Coupe. I always wanted to own one, and perhaps that day will yet come.
Rog

[bezhawk]

My earliest Studebaker emory is about when I was 4 years old washing the trunk overlay on my Fathers 62 GT Hawk. My most impressionable Stude memory is seeing a white Avanti when I was about 10. Everything after that is a blur

[sals54]

I agree with the "imprinting" term. I had always told folks that I had distinct memories of a 53 Studebaker Coupe from when I was about 4 years old. I have always loved these cars. I built the models of the cars when I was in 3rd grade, 6th grade and again in 9th grade. Then in high school, I found mine in my little town and bought it for $50. I stuck to my story about loving them since the age of 4 because it was a very vivid memory. Then several years ago, my brother was putting some of my dad's old home movies on dvd. And there I was... posing in front of my neighbors 53 Coupe. It didn't surprise me, but did finally validate my memory. That video was from 1958, when I was 4 years old. I bought my car in 1971 and still have it. I would say that i had most certainly "imprinted" on that car. One of my memories was the hood emblem. I don't know why, but I'm sure glad for how it happened. I love my car, even 47 years later.

[63 R2 Hawk]

I was "imprinted" by Dad's bulletnose 4 door when I was about 6. Car had an amazing feature that his old '39 F*rd didn't have, a dome light that came on magically when you opened the door!! We were getting ready to go to Grandma's to show off the new car and I was playing with the door switch when my sister ran up and slammed the door on my thumb!! I remember Dad couldn't get he door open until a neighbor came over to help. Thumb was flat as a pancake, we waited for a while and the blood started to come back into my thumb so we hopped in the car and drove off to Grandma's place.