Studebaker Storing Bodies

[TWChamp]

I just saw this picture on ebay. I never knew any factory to store bodies like this. I've seen engines and frames stacked and stored, but I thought bodies were built up and sent right down the line until they met the frame.

[RadioRoy]

Makes one wonder how many bodies got scratched.

[wittsend]

Hummm..., cars seem to begin and end their life in that position. These were what I recall being termed "Obama Cars." The cars that were traded in when the tax payers picked up $4,500 for the wealthy to buy a new car during the financial crisis. To insure these cars never saw the road again glass (silica) was run in the engine and the drivetrain parts were painted in the yards to indicate you could not buy them. This also limited the used car market for some time.

Anyway, junkyards filled up with so many cars that they were stacking them in the same position as the Studebakers in the picture.

[studegary]

I just saw this picture on ebay. I never knew any factory to store bodies like this. I've seen engines and frames stacked and stored, but I thought bodies were built up and sent right down the line until they met the frame.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]73292[/ATTACH]

You are referring to two different time periods - before and after "just in time inventory", that Deming had a big part in introducing.

[Mike Sal]

I think that image may have come from the 1947 Life magazine article they did on Studebaker. You may also recall that chevy vegas were shipped standing on their noses too (complete cars, not just bodies). That's when the sealed battery was introduced.
Mike Sal

[RadioRoy]

You are referring to two different time periods - before and after "just in time inventory", that Deming had a big part in introducing.

We instituted "just in time" parts/sub-assemblies delivery while building medical radiation therapy equipment back in the 80's. Some of the frustrated manufacturing engineers called it "just too late."

[556063]

I had to check the dates that the Los Angeles plant was in operation before I posted this, but I believe this is how bodies were supplied to the Los Angeles plant. I've seen photos in the past of rail cars with the bodies going to LA stacked with bodies in the same position. The LA plant opened in December of 1935, and the first completed automobile rolled off the line on January 2, 1936. The plant operated until June 8, 1954. This photo is definitely in that time range:

https://calisphere.org/item/ark:/21198/zz0025fs45/

[Mike Sal]

My 1956 President Classic was built in LA.
Mike Sal

[62champ]

Not much variety in color... and also a good idea about why the front clips always seem to fade/lose color different from the bodies...

[556063]

My 1956 President Classic was built in LA.
Mike Sal

More proof you can't trust everything in college textbooks. I wondered about that LA close date.

[StudeRich]

You are correct Mike & Kevin, it was 1956. If not, my '56 Power Hawk and the '56 Commander Engine in my '54 Starliner came from another PLANET!

[8E45E]

I just saw this picture on ebay. I never knew any factory to store bodies like this. I've seen engines and frames stacked and stored, but I thought bodies were built up and sent right down the line until they met the frame.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]73292[/ATTACH]

I suspect its from the South Bend plant. Compare the Life magazine photo. The lift trucks are of the same manufacture, and close in unit #.

Craig

[556063]

I suspect its from the South Bend plant. Compare the Life magazine photo.

Craig

Yes, absolutely, this photo likely is at South Bend. My point was this is where the bodies were staged before loading for the trip to LA. I don't know if Hamilton got complete bodies too? If so, there would have been a large holding area to serve/supply both plants at some point somewhere on the grounds.

[wittsend]

... You may also recall that chevy vegas were shipped standing on their noses too (complete cars, not just bodies).

That goes in my "Today I found out" file. Yes, more cars per train car, but the cost to build/impliment that vertical contrivance would seem to be negated by an already established method of shipping.

[8E45E]

Not certain about 1947-52 cars, but later cars seemed to have had their glass, trim and interiors installed in Vernon: http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.c...ked-53s-or-54s

Craig