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From the Archives #61 (Parts availibility 1963)

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  • #1

    From the Archives #61 (Parts availibility 1963)



    This article and photo appeared in the December 1963 issue of the employee newspaper The Studebaker Spotlight. I was scanning the paper to post it on Ebay and thought the article was interesting enough that some might like to read it. If you have an interest in the entire newspaper it is now running at: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=310211487457 I would also be glad to email a higher resolution copy of this article to anyone who contacts me directly thru the forum.

    Richard Quinn
    Editor emeritus: Antique Studebaker Review
    Richard Quinn
    Editor emeritus: Antique Studebaker Review
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Interesting piece Richard and woth the posting. Thanks
    sigpicSee you in the future as I write about our past

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    • #3
      This "dye storage yard" appears to be located next to the foundry, right? So is this the east side of the building? If so, this view can still be seen today- but for not much longer.

      Comment

      • #4
        Glad you brought that to my attention, Gary. I'm sure you never had a typo in your 6000+ postings. Now, I remember why I don't read (this forum) or post here that often any more.

        Comment

        • #5
          quote:Originally posted by Radsman

          This "die storage yard" appears to be located next to the foundry, right? So is this the east side of the building? If so, this view can still be seen today- but for not much longer.
          Yes, Don; to confirm your suspicion: That storage yard is east of the foundry.

          That was a frustrating area for cousin George Krem and I when we used to slink around Studebaker facilities in the early 1960s. There was simply no public access or even roads / streets close to that area, so we were never able to sneak in there.

          It became much more exposed to view from Franklin Street when they demolished the Allied Stamping facility (former Studebaker Assembly) a couple years ago. [8D]BP
          We've got to quit saying, "How stupid can you be?" Too many people are taking it as a challenge.

          G. K. Chesterton: This triangle of truisms, of father, mother, and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.

          Comment

          • #6
            "Obsolete Service Division" got suddenly more important in the month of this publication. On Dec 10, 1963, when I asked my dad what would happen to all the people who had Studebakers, he told me there was a law that said they had to provide parts for at least seven years. According to this article, it was not law but "mutual agreement." I'll just bet we have a couple of experts on the legal and cultural history of that policy, and I for one would like to know more.

            It didn't comfort me much at the time, although I was then ignorant of Messrs. Newman, Altman, and Reynolds. I got to know them all much better as the decades went by.

            Comment

            • #7



              Chris Dresbach

              1940 Champion two door.
              Parts of the 1952 Model N
              1960s Prototype cart
              Chris Dresbach

              Comment

              • #8
                quote:Originally posted by comatus

                "Obsolete Service Division" got suddenly more important in the month of this publication. On Dec 10, 1963, when I asked my dad what would happen to all the people who had Studebakers, he told me there was a law that said they had to provide parts for at least seven years. According to this article, it was not law but "mutual agreement." I'll just bet we have a couple of experts on the legal and cultural history of that policy, and I for one would like to know more.
                [}] Well, Mike, as you know, "law," with the implication that any resultant lawsuit, adjudicated by an all-knowing and all-wise government "makes the companies do such-and-such" is far more dramatic than a simple manufacturer's agreement, so it makes a better story.

                Realistically, how would you ever enforce a law that "all manufacturers have to provide every part for every vehicle they've ever manufactured, for a period of seven years out?" Does anyone really believe that, in 1971, Studebaker's factory SASCO Division would have been able to supply the owner of Nelson Bove's 1964 R3 Lark Commander, every unique R3 engine component, over the SASCO counter, that said owner would need to keep that R3 engine running? Or some obscure trim piece used in the first 157 Avantis? (Hypothetical, you understand...)

                So the manufacturer's agreement, as stated in the article, was (and maybe still is) the agreement in force, although it admittedly lacks the awe-inspiring shock of it's a law![:0]

                The seven-year parts availability "law" was an urban legend before the term was coined. [8D]BP
                We've got to quit saying, "How stupid can you be?" Too many people are taking it as a challenge.

                G. K. Chesterton: This triangle of truisms, of father, mother, and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.

                Comment

                • #9
                  Thank you Bob for the explanation and Chris for the aerial photo. That really helps.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Bob,
                    I often wondered why such an unenforceable law would be put in place. If the company is gone, who would pay any penalties for breaking that "law". I would venture a guess that the majority of the population of car guys believe the legend of the law.

                    Jim
                    Often in error, never in doubt

                    ____1966 Avanti II RQA 0088_______________1963 Avanti R2 63R3152____________Rabid Snail Racing
                    Jim
                    Often in error, never in doubt
                    http://rabidsnailracing.blogspot.com/

                    ____1966 Avanti II RQA 0088_______________1963 Avanti R2 63R3152____________http://rabidsnailracing.blogspot.com/

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      The really sad part is that NONE of the dies seemed to have survived. Was the destruction deliberate on the part of the company? Or, was it just that the 300,000 lbs of steel were worth a few bucks for scrap? There are a whole bunch of people wishing that the dies for the C-K front and rear fenders survived, as well as a number of other key die sets. Seeing the size of these dies, it is understandable why no one has reproduced these items.

                      [img=left]http://www.studegarage.com/images/indy/gary_indycar25_vvsm.jpg[/img=left] Gary Ash
                      Dartmouth, Mass.
                      '32 Indy car replica (in progress)
                      '48 M5
                      '65 Wagonaire Commander
                      '63 Wagonaire Standard
                      web site at http://www.studegarage.com
                      Gary Ash
                      Dartmouth, Mass.

                      '32 Indy car replica (in progress)
                      ’41 Commander Land Cruiser
                      '48 M5
                      '65 Wagonaire Commander
                      '63 Wagonaire Standard
                      web site at http://www.studegarage.com

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        quote:Originally posted by garyash

                        The really sad part is that NONE of the dies seemed to have survived. Was the destruction deliberate on the part of the company? Or, was it just that the 300,000 lbs of steel were worth a few bucks for scrap? There are a whole bunch of people wishing that the dies for the C-K front and rear fenders survived, as well as a number of other key die sets. Seeing the size of these dies, it is understandable why no one has reproduced these items.

                        [img=left]http://www.studegarage.com/images/indy/gary_indycar25_vvsm.jpg[/img=left] Gary Ash
                        Dartmouth, Mass.
                        '32 Indy car replica (in progress)
                        '48 M5
                        '65 Wagonaire Commander
                        '63 Wagonaire Standard
                        web site at http://www.studegarage.com

                        43 dies for a set of '58 front fenders.

                        I worked in a metal fabrication shop for a while. We had old dies sitting around. Nothing remotely close to this size. But even our small dies were incredibly heavy. You could never stack these Studebaker dies, but our smaller ones were stacked on industrial racks to save space. Over the years once in a while one would collapse the racking and crash down to the next level.[B)]

                        KURTRUK
                        (read it backwards)




                        Nothing is politically right which is morally wrong. -A. Lincoln
                        KURTRUK
                        (read it backwards)




                        Nothing is politically right which is morally wrong. -A. Lincoln

                        Comment

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