A South Bend OOOPPPPS!!!

[JRoberts]

I had heard that there were folks in South Bend that were upset because Studebaker shut down, but this is ridiculous (and a bit early).....

[Deaf Mute]

Boy, that is really an OOPS. Do you suppose the '54 ran a stop sign? Where did you find those great photos ? You should send them to OLD CARS WEEKLY "Wreck of the week".

[JRoberts]

Boy, that is really an OOPS. Do you suppose the '54 ran a stop sign? Where did you find those great photos ? You should send them to OLD CARS WEEKLY "Wreck of the week".

Got them from the HAMB forum thread entitled: "Vintage Shots from Days Gone By"

Let me warn you -- you can spend weeks going through that thread. There is another one concerning Black and White pictures before WWII that also is pretty cool and very time consuming.

[Chris_Dresbach]

There are some old photos at the fire dept. from the '40s and '50s that show Studebakers in them. I think one of them even had a '48 that was a chief car. I'll show them these.

[candbstudebakers]

No big deal only a sedan.

[BubbaBear]

[BobPalma]

Anybody know the owner? It looks totaled but there’s at least one grill, two taillight assembly's, a rear bumper, trunk lid, an engine, etc………

It's a safe bet the owner is, well, deceased...and was that very day. That's some hit; whew! BP

[63t-cab]

Gee if we got rid of all sedans I wonder how big the SDC would be then ?

No big deal only a sedan.

[jclary]

It's a safe bet the owner is, well, deceased...and was that very day. That's some hit; whew! BP

That would be a logical assumption from the angle of that hit. Even in todays cars with door supports and side air bags, the survival of a hit from the side like that is questionable.

[2R5]

It would be a safe bet that the driver died in that crash.....I bet the truck ran the red light not the car .

[Pat Dilling]

Perhaps the Stude driver did not yield to the emergency vehicle. Might have knocked him or her right out the passenger door since it was the time before seat belts.

[KJongenburger]

Now would this be an SBFB?

a "South Bender Fender Bender" ?

[62champ]

Maybe the radio was turned up too loud...

Had a relative who got knocked out the passenger door of a '52 Studebaker after getting t-boned back in the 50s - ended up on the street ... front seat and all ...

[barnlark]

I decided to go on a search to see if I could find a story to go with that picture. Since I didn't know the exact year, except sometime after the fall of 1953 when the 1954 models came out, I narrowed it to about a 15 year guess, even though I doubt that fire truck was in service anywhere near that late.

Sadly, I didn't find any mention of this accident. But, this South Bend Fire Department history page is teeming with Studebaker stories!! It's great, check it out. There is a gap between 1958 & 1963.

http://www.centerforhistory.org/learn-history/local-history/south-bend-fire-department-history

One story (without a Stude reference, though) was really great about a ten year coming home from school to find his house on fire and then saved every one of his small siblings with great risk to his own life. Cool story. I always wonder who a child like that turned out to be later in life. A life changing day, to be sure.

One picture can lead to many conclusions... from a bad emergency brake letting loose, then rolling in front of the fire truck without anyone in it, to one of them running a red light and someone dying immeadiately. Who knows.

I'm of the same belief as Pat Dilling; lack of a seat belt could have saved someone, too. Sure wish this one had "the rest of the story" attached.

[rockne10]

Doesn't appear to be a Studebaker fire truck. What's up with that?