Met a former Studebaker dealer today...

[Gunslinger]

At a car show in Middletown, MD today, I was sitting by my Avanti when this older fellow walked up and said he and hid dad used to have a Studebaker dealership in Middletown. This fella was 89 and still spry...good for him. He said he and his "daddy" sold Studes for twenty years before changing to Fords in 1957. The name of the dealership was Reed Studebaker.

I live only a few miles from there and told him I never knew there was a Studebaker dealer in Middletown...there used to be a Ford and Chevy dealerships. He said the Ford dealership was his family's until they sold it and the name was changed.

I mentioned that years ago I saw a building in Frederick not far away where you could read the fading paint on the bricks that said "Studebaker". He said there was a Studebaker dealer in Frederick..."nice guy, too. Can't remember his name but he owned a couple of whorehouses in Frederick as well!"

I thought I was going to fall off my chair at that!

The old fella told me about his great-grandpappy who fought in the Civil War for the South, etc. He even showed me his great-grandpappy's photo at 92 years of age.

The old guy was a treasure!

[Corvanti]

and that's another reason why i went to every car show i could with the '40 last year - you'll never know who you'll meet!!!

[Guido]

Bruce,

At one time I began to compile a listing of all the Studebaker dealers in Virginia as taken from the VADA roster put out each year. It was amazing how many dealers changed from year to year and some of the obscure brands that were handled. Some day I may finish it up and give the data to Dwight FitzSimons so he can publish it in the Greater Virginia newsletter.

[53k]

Bruce,

At one time I began to compile a listing of all the Studebaker dealers in Virginia as taken from the VADA roster put out each year. It was amazing how many dealers changed from year to year and some of the obscure brands that were handled. Some day I may finish it up and give the data to Dwight FitzSimons so he can publish it in the Greater Virginia newsletter.

One of the interesting ones is Kern Motor Company in Winchester (VA). I don't which they handled first, but over the years they were a Studebaker dealer, a Kaiser-Fraser dealer, Hudson dealer, White Truck (I believe), AMC dealer then a Pontiac-Oldsmobile-Jeep-GMC dealer. When I had my '01 Bravada in for service one time I mentioned seeing a "Hudson Dealer of the Year" plaque on the wall in the service area waiting room. I mentioned this to our salesman and he said "yeah, we have handled a lot of losers over the years". If course Olds was dropped then Pontiac and in the bloodletting several years ago they lost the Jeep franchise. At that point the original Mr. Kern was still running things. I'm not sure of their status right now, but last year they still had a car show on their premises for all brands they had sold over the years.

[Gunslinger]

There was another thing the old fella said that makes you wonder. He remembers they bid on a contract for something like twenty-three school buses for the county...and won the contract. I don't know if they were all Studebakers or maybe a mix of brands, but he said he remembers he and his dad going to South Bend to drive two of them back. He said the bus he drove ran perfect the entire way but the windshield wipers on the bus his dad was driving quit working.

I wonder what ever happened to those school buses...probably recycled into Toyotas or something by now.

[cruiser]

Because I was not able to get to the just finished Studebaker International
Meeting in South Bend , one of the things that I kept an eye on was the
local newspaper , The South Bend Tribune , Web Site . Over the last couple
of weeks there have been numerous Studebaker related articles that showed
up and can still be accessed if you 'type' Studebaker into their search area .

A few times I found myself going to various parts of the Papers Web Site
and found stuff like , birthday of 103 year old lady who worked at Studebaker
for 18 years : the death of a 97 year old gentleman who worked at Stude -
baker all the way through WWII , well you get the idea . There are still a lot
of people out there now who have first hand Studebaker experiences that
relate to themselves or relatives or friends . It would be great if some of
those experiences could get documented . Get to know some old people !

One of my current favourite car books is " Fun At Work , Hudson Style " ,
written by a Harry F. Krause Sr about 'Tales from the Hudson Motor Car Co'.
It would be great if Studebaker had something similar gathering stories
from ex-employees and people at then new car sales and service outlets .
Yes I have got a copy of Stu Chapman's excellent book "My Father The Car"
a 'Memoir of my life with Studebaker' . I guess I want more . Any takers ?

CRUISER

[BobPalma]

One of my current favourite car books is "Fun At Work, Hudson Style," written by a Harry F. Krause Sr about 'Tales from the Hudson Motor Car Co'. CRUISER

That is a great book, isn't it? Sadly, I believe Mr. Krause Jr. has since passed away. But it is one fun read. BP

[Doug Bowen]

Reading the above string, I couldn't help having a flashback about the Studebaker dealer in my home town of Berwick, PA. It was owned by a gentleman named Roland Brown. He sold the heck out of the mark. If you lived in Berwick and didn't own a Stude...your BROTHER or UNCLE did!

He used to have bill boards around that stated, "You can buy a Brown car in any color!" I just loved it!

D

[Scott]

It's off topic, but when is the last time a Studebaker dealership was owned by a Studebaker?

[studegary]

Reading the above string, I couldn't help having a flashback about the Studebaker dealer in my home town of Berwick, PA. It was owned by a gentleman named Roland Brown. He sold the heck out of the mark. If you lived in Berwick and didn't own a Stude...your BROTHER or UNCLE did!

He used to have bill boards around that stated, "You can buy a Brown car in any color!" I just loved it!

D

I notice that your name is almost Brown and that your Studebaker is brown.

I remember stopping in a large garage in Berwick to buy gasoline for my new 1987 Avanti. I remember that the guy was very interested in the Avanti and called his son out to check my Avanti out. I wonder if that large garage building was previously the Studebaker dealership. It was on the east side of Route 11 (? - main north-south road) in Berwick (south of town IIRC).

[Doug Bowen]

Gary,

Brown Motors was kind of off the beaten path...not on Rt 11. Either Pine or Walnut street if memory serves me. I moved out of Berwick in 1971 and don't get back there very much anymore. But, sadly, you can no longer buy a Brown car in any color. Although, I now own a Bowen car in brown color.

Boy, we better stop this right away! Its getting bad.