Newman & Altman Trucks tooling?

[DougHolverson]

Was there any reason why Newman & Altman never made trucks with the tooling they got from Studebaker? My guesses are that the stuff was really showing its age and rotten ROI. I'm also guessing the tooling went to the salvage yard way back in the '60s too.

[Gunslinger]

My understanding is that it was all the truck parts they purchased...never read or heard anything about tooling beyond Avanti tooling. Nate was very astute to know he needed cash flow while getting the Avanti II into production. Selling truck parts supplied the cash flow.

[Skip Lackie]

Agree with Gunslinger. I seem to recall that Studebaker essentially "threw in" the rights to build Studebaker trucks along with the rights to build Avantis. It was a right that was essentially valueless. They may have gotten some of the truck tooling, but probably scrapped it right away.

[StudeRich]

Nate Altman and Geof Newman had many good, Capitol producing "Tools" in their Toolbox!


There were Several businesses, one was a Radiator Repair and Sales Shop IN the Standard Surplus Building.
Avanti Motors, Avanti Parts Corp., Newman & Altman Studebaker Dealership etc.

[studegary]

Newman& Altman Inc., Avanti Motors Corp. got all of the tools, dies, jigs, fixtures, etc.,etc. relative to the 1964 Avanti and the 1964 truck (June 1964).

The Studebaker truck line was outdated by 1964. There was not any point in trying to continue it. I doubt that the public would have bought them in any numbers to make it profitable. Keep in mind that Studebaker only made 7K to 8K of all truck models in the years of 1958 through 1962 (I don't have figures handy for 1963-1964, but I imagine that it was less.).

[8E45E]

Newman& Altman Inc., Avanti Motors Corp. got all of the tools, dies, jigs, fixtures, etc.,etc. relative to the 1964 Avanti and the 1964 truck (June 1964).

The Studebaker truck line was outdated by 1964. There was not any point in trying to continue it. I doubt that the public would have bought them in any numbers to make it profitable. Keep in mind that Studebaker only made 7K to 8K of all truck models in the years of 1958 through 1962 (I don't have figures handy for 1963-1964, but I imagine that it was less.).

I suspect it was to provide replacement parts for some rather "important" customers of 1963 & 1964 Studebaker trucks including the Navy, USMC, and the USPS, not to mention, various other Public Services who bought late-model trucks, including Caltrans, National Parks Service, etc.

Craig

[qsanford]

I wonder if Studebaker would have allowed them to update the Champ with a 1964 style front end treatment? That would have been salable for a few more years I would think.

[fastjohnll]

A man named Bill Bauman did this back in the 80's. According to the article , it took quite a bit of work to make everything fit properly. The end result looked good.

[studegary]

I wonder if Studebaker would have allowed them to update the Champ with a 1964 style front end treatment? That would have been salable for a few more years I would think.

Studebaker wouldn't have had to "allow them". N&A bought all of the rights to the Avanti and the trucks.

[qsanford]

Studebaker wouldn't have had to "allow them". N&A bought all of the rights to the Avanti and the trucks.

They might have had to agree to let them use the current (1964) style sheetmetal to upgrade the Champ.

[George Gratton]

Studebaker would need to do a lot more than "allow" 64 front ends to be used for trucks. First off, they don't fit! I would take a lot of engineering to do it, and there was no $ to do it, even if some fool thought they would sell well enough. Then they would need Studebaker to send the body parts from Hamilton to So. Bend. Simply was not gonna happen. It was never a viable plan. My neighbor was a S.B. Indiana Studebaker family (and a PHD engineering guy) that told me of a plan (date unknown) to do over the cab using 1961 or 2 Lark parts, making a 4 headlight "modernization" of Champ. Those parts fit and needed no permission at the time., Some more effort was considered for swing pedals and cab enlargement by using 2 dr. sedan doors in T cab configurations, Included was swinging brake pedal and a really dumb looking clutch through the floor, that I believe they (thank God) trashed as an idea. Years ago I recall a 64 Studebaker "El Camino" privately made, and quite professional looking. I believe it had independent fron suspension, but now sure. That is what Studebaker would have needed to do to effectively "modernize" Champ. Way to expensive.

[skyway]

"use the current (1964) style sheetmetal to upgrade the Champ"

Helped a friend do this 30+ years ago.
As I recall the dog house (that is less the hood) was a bolt on at the cowl.
Issue with the hood was the differences in the "line" of the cowls. He solved that by grafting the rear few inches of the Champ hood onto the rest of the '64 hood.
Fresh air to the heater was also an issue.
Lastly, the front of the front fenders was much higher than the truck frame. Solved that with blocks, but you could not make either the truck or car front bumper look right. Bumper bolted to the frame sat too low compared to the front (headlight/grill) sheet metal.
No pictures, but despite all this it look pretty good.

[swvalcon]

How much did studebaker change the actual body shell from 60 to 64? If the body was the same but just a change on the firewall and front clip. Just take a 4dr 64 body cut behind the door post up though the roof and put the champ rear cab panel on it. Only rework would be where it meets the door.

[StudeRich]

This 1 Ton Dually Champ would have been Cool if they had chosen to Produce it.


But at least people would not be able to B**** (complain) about the "Box Width"!

This one is also Cool:
It was built in Uraguay, with local version matching Box.



Or this "Cab Forward" Concept, Compact Truck Prototype, but it needed a bit of "beautification" to become saleable.

If I could find my Old Film Camera negatives or Photos from the Portland, OR International Meet, I HAD Photos of the really Nice Blue Champ with a '64 Wagonaire Cab and Nose welded to a '60-'64 Champ Rear Panel on a stock Champ Chassis.

[Dwight FitzSimons]

Studebaker would need to do a lot more than "allow" 64 front ends to be used for trucks. First off, they don't fit! I would take a lot of engineering to do it, and there was no $ to do it, even if some fool thought they would sell well enough. Then they would need Studebaker to send the body parts from Hamilton to So. Bend. Simply was not gonna happen. It was never a viable plan. My neighbor was a S.B. Indiana Studebaker family (and a PHD engineering guy) that told me of a plan (date unknown) to do over the cab using 1961 or 2 Lark parts, making a 4 headlight "modernization" of Champ. Those parts fit and needed no permission at the time., Some more effort was considered for swing pedals and cab enlargement by using 2 dr. sedan doors in T cab configurations, Included was swinging brake pedal and a really dumb looking clutch through the floor, that I believe they (thank God) trashed as an idea. Years ago I recall a 64 Studebaker "El Camino" privately made, and quite professional looking. I believe it had independent fron suspension, but now sure. That is what Studebaker would have needed to do to effectively "modernize" Champ. Way to expensive.

The rear of the hood changed when Studebaker put cowl ventilation onto the Lark in 1961. That's why one can't put a '61 or later hood on a 59-60 Lark. And, vice versa. The Champ used the 59-60 Lark body shell all the way through 1964. So, putting the 1961-63 quad headlights on a Champ would be quite a chore and would have entailed sheet metal stamping changes for Studebaker. Note that the grille was widened in '61 too, so the hood has a wider bulge at the front.
-Dwight