1966 TV ads?

[Scott]

Does anyone know if Studebaker did any TV advertizing of the 1966 models? If they did, does anyone have a tape of the ad? Does the SNM keep advertizing material like this or could it still be had by the original advertizing company (D'arcy?).

Thanks.

[showbizkid]

I believe all media ads for Studebaker ceased after South Bend shut down. It was then that the board decided the car company was no longer viable and shifted manufacturing to Hamilton... and you don't advertise a product that isn't viable. (Having spent a considerable portion of my life in radio, I can tell you that for a fact.)

In any case, good luck tracking down any Studebaker radio ads from the original agency. D'Arcy McManus ceased to exist years ago through the endless series of mergers that created Leo Burnett Detroit, the agency which still handles the bulk of GM's accounts. Perhaps there's some wizened little old man in a dusty basement archive somewhere in the Motor City that still has this stuff, but agencies' memories are notoriously short, and ad materials for a client that no longer exists are most likely to be round-filed.

You're more likely to find dubs in the hands of ex-employees or private collectors. Good luck in your search!

---------------------------
Clark in San Diego:

Proud new owner of a '63 Lark!

[avantilover]

quote:Originally posted by showbizkid

I believe all media ads for Studebaker ceased after South Bend shut down. It was then that the board decided the car company was no longer viable and shifted manufacturing to Hamilton... and you don't advertise a product that isn't viable. (Having spent a considerable portion of my life in radio, I can tell you that for a fact.)

In any case, good luck tracking down any Studebaker radio ads from the original agency. D'Arcy McManus ceased to exist years ago through the endless series of mergers that created Leo Burnett Detroit, the agency which still handles the bulk of GM's accounts. Perhaps there's some wizened little old man in a dusty basement archive somewhere in the Motor City that still has this stuff, but agencies' memories are notoriously short, and ad materials for a client that no longer exists are most likely to be round-filed.

You're more likely to find dubs in the hands of ex-employees or private collectors. Good luck in your search!

---------------------------
Clark in San Diego:

Proud new owner of a '63 Lark!

There was at least one print ad in '66 - I have it in my collection.
The New Studebaker
1966's Big Surprise Package!
"Photo goes here"

etc etc, they're still available on Ebay, just search for 1966 Studebaker

John Clements
Avantilover, your South Australian Studebaker lover!!!
Lockleys South Australia

[showbizkid]

You're right, John, print ads continued on a reduced basis until the end. I meant to say "radio/TV ads", not "media" [B)]

---------------------------
Clark in San Diego:

Proud new owner of a '63 Lark!

[studegary]

About 15 years ago, I had a friend whose daughter had a good job at D'Arcy. I wasn't able to get any Studebaker items then.

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY
1954 Commander Starliner (restomod)
1959 DeLuxe pickup (restomod)

[Scott]

Well, if they didn't make any TV or radio commercials either the management was deliberately sabbotaging the company or nobody cared. I had read that Grundy really wanted to make a go of it. Didn't he have a say in anything at all?

I suppose Stu Chapman would be the man who knows for sure. Does he ever visit this forum?

[showbizkid]

From what Langworth's book says, when the board shut down South Bend, they had decided that the car division was dead. Hamilton production was their way of using up parts inventory.

If you look at the pure bottom line, by the end of '66 production, Studebaker's car line was making more profit on less volume than it had in years. Even with the abbreviated '66 model run, that year's revenues were the best since '62. Had they made the '66s for a full model year, they may have reached $1M profit for the year! But the board shut 'em down anyway - they'd decided the car line was dead, and that was all there was to it.

---------------------------
Clark in San Diego:

Proud new owner of a '63 Lark!

[Guest]

They did have a radio ad for the 1965 Model year. It was based on the "Common Sense Car" theme they used in print. I have a CD of a California Radio Station that played the ad.
[8D]

Restore it, don't replace it.Keep the Studebaker reproduction industry going

[Scott]

So radio ads made it into 1965. If the board decided Studebaker was dead in 1964 why would Grundy have taken the position in Canada, and why would he have been working to keep it going? Why would he waste his time? Do the board minutes specifically say that sometime in 1963 the board decided (without telling someone like Grundy) that they would just use up inventory and close down in 2 years or so? That's too incredible to believe and also requires that Grundy either had been kept in the dark or was a willing stooge.

By the way, where was the CANADIAN government when Studebaker decided to quit? We hear about the loss of pensions to US workers, but what were the rules in Canada? I don't even think a board could've gotten away with closing the plant like they did anymore (pensions aside). I can imagine now there would have been all sorts of lawsuits aimed at forcing the board to continue, or the government getting involved.

Calling Stu Chapman! Does he ever read the forum?

[Studedude1961]

I had always read that Studebaker transferred production to Canada mainly to avoid lawsuits from Studebaker dealers who would no longer have cars to sell if everything shut down in December, 1963. As far as using up spare parts, I have never read that and that would make the front and rear re-design of the Studebaker for 1966 at odds with that statement. From all accounts Gordon Grundy hoped to make a go out of the truncated "Automotive Division" of the Studebaker Corporation and by pure bottom line figuring, he did. The fact that Studebaker had no engineering or styling staff after December 1963 however pretty much tells us that long-range plans for Studebaker, at least at the boardroom level, was nil.

Studedude1961
--1963 Cruiser

[Roscomacaw]

Yeah, I've heard that "Common Sense Car" ad a time or two. (in recent years).
It's amazing they made it past '57 in my opinion. If it hadn't been for Churchill's vision of the Lark.........[V]

Miscreant at large.

1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe
1957 President 2-dr
1955 President State
1951 Champion Biz cpe
1963 Daytona project FS