Would you have bought a new Stude?

[Bill Pressler]

I know we've had folks who have said they bought other brands instead of Studes back in '63 or '64 for a number of reasons, but knowing what we know now, and if you could go back, would you buy a new Studebaker in '63 or '64, as a daily driver?

No one in my family had a Studebaker, but if I could go back, I'd happily buy a new '63 or '64 Lark-type as a daily driver!

We have discussed their perceived shortcomings compared to the other domestics available at the time, but here's what I see as their benefits:

1) Styling
2) Compararive rarity on the street
3) Perfect exterior size (IMHO)
4) Roomy interior for size
5) Many trim levels and appearance, comfort, and performance options
6) Sliding-roof wagon and disc brakes exclusively
7) Dealers tended to be smaller places--I'd have been pleased and proud to have bought a new Stude from our friendly local dealer, now that I know him well! His dealership and his employees were long-lasting (if that's the right word...they stayed with him a long time).
8) I notice this today about my Lark...I love how you don't climb up or down into it, and the seats are chair-height...my elderly mother has no trouble getting into it like my other cars.

Nice to dream. I'd be pleased to have bought a new Studebaker in their waning years.

Bill Pressler
Kent, OH
'63 Lark Daytona Skytop R1

[JDP]

I bought a new 63 GT in Sept of 63 because of the discount. If I knew then, what I know now, I would have bought the Ford I was looking at. By the time I paid it off, the resale was terrible after the companies quitting the car business.

JDP/Maryland
"I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."
Thomas Jefferson

[Dick Steinkamp]

quote:Originally posted by Bill Pressler


1) Styling
2) Comparative rarity on the street
3) Perfect exterior size (IMHO)
4) Roomy interior for size
5) Many trim levels and appearance, comfort, and performance options
6) Sliding-roof wagon and disc brakes exclusively
7) Dealers tended to be smaller places
8) the seats are chair-height

I was in high school in those years (Tacoma, WA) and keenly interested in cars. Studebakers were not on the radar...primarily because of reasons 1 and 2. The only person I knew that drove a Studebaker was the old, spinster English teacher (Lark 4 door). I knew all about 409 Chevys and 406 Fords, but nothing about high performance Studebakers. The brand Studebaker was generally mentioned by peers and parents with a giggle. I went to the drags most every weekend (Puyallup Valley) and NEVER saw a Studebaker run...stock or otherwise.

I understand and appreciate 3-8 now. Maybe that's because I have become an old f@*t? [^]

Dick Steinkamp
Bellingham, WA

[Gunslinger]

Back then I was still a kid, but my Dad did buy a new '63 car. He owned a local newspaper and wanted to give business to his advertisers, and I'm not aware of any Studebaker dealer advertising in his newspaper. In fact, I'm not even aware of any Studebaker dealer local to us at the time.

My Dad wanted the new '63 Buick Riviera, but the Buick dealer didn't advertise with him either...so he ended up buying a new '63 Grand Prix from the local Pontiac dealer. It was the first new car my Dad ever bought...it lasted only about 2000 miles before being demolished in a head-on collision. It was replaced by a '64 Pontiac Bonneville, which stayed in the family until the 1990's...it was without doubt one of the best cars ever assembled by anyone, anywhere. It took getting run off the road to put it to pasture.



Poet...Mystic...Soldier of Fortune. As always...self-absorbed, adversarial, cocky and in general a malcontent.

[Bill Pressler]

I know folks are always ga-ga over the Grand Prix of that general era, and I like them too, but I always preferred the Bonneville hardtop coupe, when equipped with the very-rare buckets and console option. That way, you got the woodgrain dash like the Grand Prix but unlike the 2+2, and also got that great console with woodgrain and the handle on the passenger side of the dash. Unlike the Grand Prix, you didn't get the 'faux taillight' look, and I like the fastback roof of the '65 and later Bonnevilles better than the Grand Prix.

Some will dispute the benefits/non-benefits of the Bonneville's longer wheelbase, however.

Bill Pressler
Kent, OH
'63 Lark Daytona Skytop R1

[lstude]

I was in high school in 64 so I couldn't buy a new car. My family had always bought Studebakers, and I was the only guy in my high school who had a Studebaker except that a coach had a 58 Silver Hawk, V8,stick shift.

I championed Studebakers in my high school, except that I was always buying and selling used brand Xs. In 65 I went to college and I talked my Mother into letting me have her 61 Lark, and she was going to buy a new car.

At that time, I had felt that Studebaker was going out of business, and I didn't consider a Studebaker for her. We went to a Buick dealer and she bought a 65 Buick Special.

While I was in college a friend told me that his father had just bought a 65 Studebaker Daytona coupe. I thought that was really odd.

A guy in our club now has that car!

After my first year in college, I traded the Lark for a 62 GT Hawk in August of 65. I fantasized about buying a 65 Daytona coupe with a 283 and stick shift, but it was too expensive for my budget. The 62 GT Hawk I bought was only $1,060.00.



Leonard Shepherd

http://leonardshepherd.com/

[Roscomacaw]

I'd like to think I'd buy one. I think the 63-4s were good-looking and certainly gave good service. The minus would've been from the horror stories I've heard about 2-year old Larks with their front fenders flapping from the road salt that was used where I grew up.[V]
Orphan (or less popular) cars weren't totally foreign to me. My dad owned a '53 Nash for several years and always bragged on it's ride. So much so that my grandparents bought a '56 Nash and friends of ours bought a '57.
Another family friend owned a Kaiser and I got to ride in it quite a bit as well. Then in high school, a close pal of mine was always driving one of his family's two Rambler Americans. He and I beat those two cars unmercifully and they just kept on running.
But no one in our family owned a Stude that I know of. Just before my mom passed, she sent me a letter she'd found. She had written it to my dad during WWII and in it she tells him that HIS dad was considering buying a used 1935 Studebaker. He never did tho.

But to the question of whether or not I'd have bought one if I had been in a position to (and technically, I was since I joined the service in Feb of '63). I'd like to think that if I HAD bought a new car, I'd have considered the Studes on the points that Bill lists. I've always run a bit different from the mainstream (I'm HERE, ain't I???)and I probably would've had that fact influence me as to what sorta car I bought.[^]

1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe
1957 President two door

[studeclunker]

The year Studebaker went out of business, I was in sixth grade. Roll that back two years and I was in fourth grade. My Future Father-in-law however, was a loyal Studebaker owner. He had owned Studebakers almost exclusively since the early forties. In early '64 he bought a new Wagonaire. When the company closed in '66 he sold it, at a considerable loss, and bought a Ford pickup. I remember his saying how much he regretted selling that car. He said it was one of the best he'd ever owned. Keith never told me which model it was, other than it was a sliding-roof Wagonaire, but did describe the options. With what I now know, my guess would be that it was a Daytona. He said that the car was "my first top-of-the-line car,". He said, "the darned(sic) thing would peel the rubber of the rear tyres like a ripe orange (LOL)," and then go on to say, "... the car had no trouble towing our travel trailer. The only problem it did have was that the trailer out weighed it, causing a problem with sway..." He said the car was equipped with power disc brakes, power steering, airconditioning, power back window (which he didn't like, saying the dealer snuck it in), roof rack, and some kind of trim package. Keith never mentioned it, but I would assume he had a radio as well. The car was white, as I recall... My wife (being about ten years old at the time) loved the car and dreamed of driving it in High School. Studebaker died, the car went bye-bye.

Now, as to myself. Had I been ten years older, I would most certainly have bought a Studebaker. Probably would have talked Mum out of Gram's car and either have driven that or used it as a trade in (this would have been about 1964). Thing is, in 1964, that '62 wagon would have been like a new car. So it's unlikely that I would have bought a new car till the fateful year of '66. All of this assuming of course, that I wasn't drafted, sent to Vietnam and returned in a bodybag, like about a third of my big brother's High School chums.[B)] So, I suppose, even if I was ten years older, it's likely I wouldn't have had a chance to purchase a new Studebaker.

Perhaps if I had been twenty years older... but then that would make me in my seventies now...[xx(]


Home of the famous Mr. Ed!
K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Studebaker!
Ron Smith
Where the heck is Lewiston, CA?

[Skip Lackie]

quote:Originally posted by Dick Steinkamp

quote:Originally posted by Bill Pressler


1) Styling
2) Comparative rarity on the street
3) Perfect exterior size (IMHO)
4) Roomy interior for size
5) Many trim levels and appearance, comfort, and performance options
6) Sliding-roof wagon and disc brakes exclusively
7) Dealers tended to be smaller places
8) the seats are chair-height

I was in high school in those years (Tacoma, WA) and keenly interested in cars. Studebakers were not on the radar...primarily because of reasons 1 and 2. The only person I knew that drove a Studebaker was the old, spinster English teacher (Lark 4 door). I knew all about 409 Chevys and 406 Fords, but nothing about high performance Studebakers. The brand Studebaker was generally mentioned by peers and parents with a giggle. I went to the drags most every weekend (Puyallup Valley) and NEVER saw a Studebaker run...stock or otherwise.

I understand and appreciate 3-8 now. Maybe that's because I have become an old f@*t? [^]

Dick Steinkamp
Bellingham, WA

Dick's experience was almost exactly like mine, except that I didn't know a single solitary soul in either my neighborhood or school who owned a Studebaker. They simply weren't in my consciousness at all. Everybody I knew owned a car from the Big 3, except for one Packard and one VW.

I lived by the dictum "There's no substitute for cubic inches," and 289 wasn't enough. I wanted a Chevy 409, but couldn't afford one and settled for a used 62 Impala with a 327. Still own it.

While I NOW appreciate many of the attributes on Bill's list, the only one that mattered to me at the time was #1 (styling), plus one that's not there -- horsepower. I had always liked the looks of the Hawk, and also found the 64 Lark types to be quite attractive. But by that time it was too late -- I had just bought the 62 Chevy. Nevertheless, I remember how disappointed I was when I read that Stude had gone out of the car business. Stude was idiosyncratic enough that it demanded admiration.

Skip Lackie
Washington DC

[WCP]

I bought a '63 Hawk in July '63 when a deal on a Corvair Spyder fell through. Drove the car coast to coast but put it away each winter. I loved the car. I sold it a few years back, unrestored and well maintained. I would do it again.

[studegary]

I didn't and wouldn't have bought a new Studebaker in the 1960s. I was into Studebakers, but only bought used ones then because the depreciation was so great. I bought my 1957 President Classic after the original owner used it one year. For a second car, Cathy had a 1961 Lark Regal sedan with 259 & AT that had been used two years by the original owner. No one in my family owned Studebakers before me, but friends and neighbors owned Studebakers and there were several Studebaker dealerships within a 15 mile radius.

In 1963, my sister considered an Avanti, but bought a new Thunderbird for less. She kept the Thunderbird for one year. A friend ordered a new 1963 Avanti, but got tired of waiting for it and bought a 1963 Corvette coupe.

In 1964, my father and I both bought new Plymouth Fury hardtops. Mine was a hipo 383, Torqueflite and more. It cost less than any Studebaker with near the same equipment.

In 1965, I bought a new Plymouth Sport Fury hardtop with a hipo 383, four speed and more. Same reason as in 1964.

In late 1965, I ordered a new 1966 Dodge Charger with 360, Torqueflite and more. I took delivery on January 23, 1966, the month that they became available. I saw the Charger II show car at the World's Fair and figured that they would make a street version and pestered the Dodge dealers until I could order one. I traded in my nine month old '65 Sport Fury with 27K miles on it. I kept the Charger for nine years and 150K miles. I saw it many years later and it still looked and ran good (the owner thought that it had 85K miles).



Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

SDC member since 1968
Studebaker enthusiast much longer

[Jessie J.]

I was absolutely Studebaker-crazy from about 9 years old on, I used to run down to the corner just to hear my neighbor's baby-blue '51 Commander Starlite as it accelerated through the gears, and I was absolutely fascinated with its unique styling.
Thankfully Dad and his brothers were all dyed-in-wool "Studebaker men", and very proud of it! between them there was always a newer Studebaker in our driveway, they were however, all extremely conservative family men, and never bought anything except 4 door sedans. Of course being a "hot-rod" kid, I just knew 4 doors were not cool! (at least at that time), and I endlessly pitched for a "cool" 2 door, but to no avail.
Dad special ordered all of his cars, (never knew him to ever accept anything from dealer stock) He got a kick out of placing his "special" order, and then anticipating its arrival, like a kid awaiting Christmas morning.
I was 16 when we went to a Studebaker dealership for the final time, and dad placed his order for a new '66 Commander 4 door.
Of course I spent a lot of time that day out on the showroom floor admiring and checking out that sharp bucket-seat equipped, 283 Daytona coupe.

Would I have bought a new Studebaker? really there never was much of anything else that ever did appeal to me as much as a sporty Studebaker, but by the time I had graduated and got established with a good job and credit, my beloved company had long since became "history".
When I drove my '69 SS 396 Camaro, I wanted and wished it were a Studebaker, when I drove my '70 428 Cobra Jet 4-speed Cougar Eliminator, I still wanted and wished it was a Studebaker, and the same on and on and on through dozens of otherwise desirable "brand X" vehicles.

And here, 40+ years latter, with of all those others are long gone, a Strato-Blue '64 Daytona 2 door Hard Top sits in my drive, (3 more HT "parts cars", and three other Studes, are out back)
Sad part is though, my "dream car" is far from new anymore, while yet solid, it is weathered and worn, but remains as a reminder of my youth, and as a testament to a lifelong dream.
Will I ever get it restored? After decades of visits to Newman-Altman and latter SASCO, and countless swap meets, and thousands of dollars in parts, I don't know, but it certainly doesn't appear likely anymore.
Would I have bought a new Studebaker? well, I simply wasn't able to back then, and my situation being what it now is, I couldn't today even if that choice were made available.
Me and my old Studebaker's are now just aging together, Yeah, I now am that crazy, and stubborn old coot, you know, that one with all those old Studebaker's sitting around on his property for years that he will will not part with.
Heh Heh! I've managed to actually become a living and legendary joke.

[Mark57]

My Dad bought a new 62 F**d Falcon and it was a piece of crap from the day he brought it home. He probably wished he had bought a Studebaker! As I did not start driving (or buy my first car) until 1973, I could not have bought a new Stude myself.
However, I would have really liked a new 3/4 ton Champ with a 289, 5 spd. OD and a few other bells and whistles. []

<h5>Mark
'57 Transtar Deluxe
Vancouver Island

Are you planning to attend the NW Overdrive Tour in Parksville, BC
May 23 & 24, 2009?</h5>

[BobPalma]

August 1964: At age 18, a new Studebaker was certainly on the radar...in fact, the specific car was right in front of me.

Late July 1964: Cousin George Krem and I had located what would be his Bermuda Brown 1964 Challenger V-8 2-door, The Plain Brown Wrapper, on a new-car storage lot behind Studebaker of Indianapolis. He bought the car in August through our "Salesman-Uncle" Jerry Palma at Snider Studebaker (Snider got the car from Studebaker of Indianapolis.) Snider back-dated the paperwork to July 31 so they could get it on the July sales reports....not that new-car dealers would ever do that today!

There were two more brand new 1964 Challenger V-8 two-doors alongside The Plain Brown Wrapper in that storage lot. Actually, since they only made 274 1964 Challenger V-8 2-doors, George and I were looking at more than 1% of the total model year's production right there in one place!

George selected The Plain Brown Wrapper because it was the only one with a 289 engine. The other two were identical except for color: Both were 180HP 259s with overdrive. One was Moonlight Silver with Red Interior and the other was Golden Sand with Tan Interior.

I wanted to buy one of the other two so bad I could taste it, but didn't have enough money all by myself. And Dad wasn't excited about my buying a brand-new car with 4 years of Purdue University beginning in one month, so that was the end of that.

I've never really regretted it, though, because if I had bought one of them, I would have probably driven it out and used it up in the midwest climate and it wouldn't exist today anyway. Hindsight may be 50/50 when you are 62 years old, but foresight is pretty limited when you're 18. (Remember that, Matthew Burnette....[}])

RIP, Golden Sand and Moonlight Silver, wherever you are![V] BP

[8E45E]

quote:Originally posted by Bill Pressler

I know we've had folks who have said they bought other brands instead of Studes back in '63 or '64 for a number of reasons, but knowing what we know now, and if you could go back, would you buy a new Studebaker in '63 or '64, as a daily driver?

In 1963, I was not car driving age, but was familiar with the product as my mom had a '50 Champion 4 door sedan parked in the driveway. I definitely would have considered looking at one if I was in the market at that time. In early 1963, right after our new house was built, my folks bought three brand new white 'Studebakers' whether they knew it or not. One in the kitchen to cook dinner, and two more parked side by side in the basement that washed and dried clothes while the old one in the driveway burned oil.

Craig