The Lamberti papers #21

[Studebaker Wheel]

[56H-Y6]

Hi

"......Dr. Lamberti suggested that reports be obtained from owners describing the driving conditions at the time the window blew out. Mr. Challinor said it will be impossible to tell whether the “fixed” cars have been corrected because the driver may not yet have encountered the same condition which existed when the back glass blew."

Nothing would undo customer satisfaction with their expensive, exotic new Avanti quicker than the embarassment and trouble having the rear window blow out at speed..........! Just imagine how quickly that bit of unfortunate news spread throughout that segment of potential customers.....veering them off to the Ford or Buick dealers in pursue of a Thunderbird or Riviera!

Steve

[starliner62]

Your not supposed to drive at 100 mph with the windows down!!!!....

[jclary]

"INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

1. Richards-Davidson Discharge Case

[Blue 15G]

Regarding the proposed plant shutdown for Friday, May 31: I recall that Memorial Day used to be observed on May 30, not the last Monday of May as we do today. (Unless the 30th happened to fall on a Monday, of course.) So apparently they were going to be closed on Thursday, May 30 and considered giving everyone a long weekend, but decided against it. I wonder if it really would have made much difference financially?

[ddub]

The discussions of oil leads are amazing to me. The V8 was introduced in 1951, the 6 in 1939 and they hadn't solved the oil leaks by 1963. I don't think they were trying to hard.

[Jim B PEI]

"5. 185” Engine

A new 185 cu. in. engine has been installed in a 1963 Station Wagon and another will be installed in a 4-door Sedan for road performance evaluation."

I wonder if there is any engineering details or further information anywhere about the 'new 185 (OHV) engine'? They obviously made some up.

[Jeff T.]

RE item 5.

I wonder if the six that Bob Palma and his cousin George saw all those years ago in one of their unauthorized tours was one of the factory 185s with a two barrel manifold?

Jeff T.

[9echo]

A question for you knowledgeable Studebaker folks.
Mr. Bender estimates that at new model announcement time, dealer inventories will be approximately 7,200 Larks and Hawks and 1,100 Avantis, excluding retail store inventories.
What is the difference between dealer inventories and retail store inventories of cars?
I guess what I am asking is what is a dealer and what is a retail store?
Thanks.

[Retired]

My WAG is that the retail store was at the factory containing those units that were returned to the factory for "fixing" and then being sold as executive driven units. along with actual ex-drivers and production units with faults that were repaired. Some one with actual knowlwedge. jump in. as I said "just a WAG".

[StudeRich]

It appears to me that logically "Retail Stores" would be Factory or Corp. owned Dealerships, but I never heard of any existing.
I know they did not want to compete with the 2 quite successful local Dealerships, Freeman/Spicer and Newman/Altman, so South Bend would be off limits.

So much for logic!

[BobPalma]

There was at least one "factory store" in Indianapolis by mid-model-year 1963: Studebaker of Indianapolis. It had been Charlie Stuart Studebaker but Charlie Stuart was making so much money with his Oldsmobile dealership 6 blocks north of his Studebaker dealership, that he bailed on Studebaker when things started going south during the 1963 model year.

Studebaker of Indianapolis was a glamorous facility right on Indianapolis' North Meridian Street, "automobile row" at the time. I'm sure Studebaker didn't want that to go under, so they kept it open themselves. 'Good thing they did, too, because George Krem's Plain Brown Wrapper 1964 Challenger V-8 2-door was shipped to Studebaker of Indianapolis! George and I found it stored in their gravel lot around back in July, 1964.

In fact, if George had been willing to settle for a Challenger Six, he could have had one for $1,629:



Sometime in late 1964, IIRC, Studebaker sold the franchise to a consortium of fellows looking for a tax loss, and those guys kept it open a little longer as Meridian Motors. How much longer I do not remember, but it was closed for good before the 1966 Studebakers were introduced.

The building became Master Glass & Color, an automotive paint and body shop supply store, which has since closed. The building is today For Lease, looking very much like it did in 1963, except that the showroom windows are now painted over. BP

[StudeRich]

That is a really cool old ad, thanks for posting it. Those are the kind of thing, that when I have an old newspaper clipping in my "archives" I usually make some fresh copies because of the yellowing, cheap newspaper getting pretty fragile.

I am sure you have probably "restored" quite a few newsclips, having lived in the "State of Studebaker"!

[avantilover]

In relation to the NHRA request re: the R3 Horsepower rating, and Bob's piece in the latest TW - It almost seems like Granatelli (and factory ?) were gearing up for drag racing in 1964 hence his "Your concerns are almost over" remark. Mr Dredge's comments re: "I'm sure you'll see Studebaker on the dragstrip next year" leads me to believe there were intentions of doing so, hence the power rating releases but the Board (due in no small part to Egbert's illness) were able to (A) get rid of Egbert (Perhaps the keenest proponent of keeping the Auto division) - (B) close the factory and (C) promote the move to Hamilton as "Keeping us in the Auto business" without the trucks, high power or (eventually) any Studebaker engines or the Avanti, let alone the design and engineering staffs required for progress to a modernised vehicle.

As many no doubt suspected at the time, and now known to be true, that was all BS to save the costs of dealer compensation.

Bob once wrote that Studebaker Automotive Division had no real prospects of future success as their sales were too small, let alone the lousy dealers, but if they had stayed in SB until the end of calendar year 1964, I wonder what may have emerged from the factory and how the cars would have fared on the Dragstrip?

I'm still a proud Studebaker owner, albeit with an engine which seems to be running on 7 cylinders and is gutless, and a radiator and rear axle (differential) needing replacement. One of my club mates has offered me a 3.07 (now 3.31) axle (free) and I may take his 259 engine when he installs a 289.

How would the ratio change affect the car? The mechanic (and club mate) said better highway driving - all the different ratios confuse me - from 2 - 4 what's the basics? I mean were 2 something ratios easier to drive and 4 something easier to get cars moving (like the old Packards and 1930s cars)?

Gotta love old cars.
:-)~

[BobPalma]

That is a really cool old ad, thanks for posting it. Those are the kind of thing, that when I have an old newspaper clipping in my "archives" I usually make some fresh copies because of the yellowing, cheap newspaper getting pretty fragile.

I am sure you have probably "restored" quite a few newsclips, having lived in the "State of Studebaker"!

'Glad you enjoyed it, Rich. A couple years ago, I actually ran into the elderly man who was Sales Manager at Studebaker of Indianapolis. He remembered writing that ad!

He stayed on when Studebaker sold the dealership to the consortium I mentioned in Post #12, to become Meridian Motors. He said Studebaker still had some unsold Challenger Six 2-doors (64S-F2s) deteriorating as new cars in South Bend and offered them to the new owners for about $1,270 each wholesale, IIRC!

Now, everyone, a: POP QUIZ:

Under the heading of Truth in Advertising, what is terribly wrong / misleading with this advertisement, also in Post #12?



(I actually expected someone to pick up on this and post fairly quickly anyway.) BP