Dubious Distinction Studebaker Avanti and Wagonaire

[Avantict]

Video this morning on AOL 5 Worst Cars ever made. Obviously this guy is an idiot.

http://autos.aol.com/article/five-worst-cars-ever-made/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmaing5%7Cdl13%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D345298

[warrlaw1]

I don't believe those sales numbers. Many factors affect sales. Doesn't make them bad cars.

[brian6373]

Ford sold millions of Pintos, does that make them a good car? When was the last time you saw a pinto?

[53k]

Video this morning on AOL 5 Worst Cars ever made. Obviously this guy is an idiot.

http://autos.aol.com/article/five-wo...6pLid%3D345298

He didn't say worst cars, just worst selling cars. Yes, he is still an idiot.

[raprice]

Yes, he's an idiot. Both the Avanti and Wagonaire were very innovative. I don't believe the sales figures he quotes. It's interesting that General Motors copied the Wagonaire idea a few years ago. It must have been a great idea.
Rog

[Gunslinger]

The problem with the Wagonaire was not the concept but the execution...water leaks. The same can be said for the Avanti in some ways. Great ideas and concepts poorly carried out don't necessarily doom that concept.

[deco_droid]

I don't know anything about Avantis really, so I don't know if he's right or wrong. It just seems to me at that point in time, Studebaker was in financial straights, wasn't the Avanti's fault. Maybe just bad timing?

As far as the Wagonaire, someone school me -- did the roof leak badly? If so, then the guy is probably right. Doesn't mean it wasn't an interesting idea. I actually think it's a cool idea, but if the implementation was shoddy, then sales would reflect this.

One final thing, his #5 is the Plymouth Prowler, and I loved that car back in the late 90s. Ford was doing their "retro" T-Bird, the VW Beetle was reborn, and then this Prowler comes out. It was a great design, but I thought the same thing as this guy -- a flippin' V6 and automatic on a modern hot rod car? It's no wonder Plymouth went down in flames soon after...

[showbizkid]

You know what they say about opinions

[Son O Lark]

Yes, the roofs do leak on Wagonaires. But did the general public know this in 1962-3? If the wagon was brand new, it probably didn't leak much. It couldn't have gotten a bad rep that fast.

[Bob Andrews]

I love my Wagonaire- today. It's odd and different, and fun with that slider. And it's not a daily/bad weather driver for me, so the (sometimes disgusting) roof leak isn't a problem. But when I think of it in the context of the times in which it was released, I have to wonder like the narrator- what was the intended purpose? I've seen the videos, but how many people were planning on hauling around refrigerators and assembled playground slides in their family car? As novel as it is, I picture most people shrugging it off and looking at other cars- same as buyers did in 2004 when the GMC Envoy offered the same option.

As for the Avanti- I don't think he was that far off on that either. Again, they are beloved today as collector cars, but with all the negatives I found in real life when I had one- hot inside, steering wheel too close to the seat, sketchy door window regulators and hinges, barely existent seats, etc.- combined with production delays and questionable fiberglas panel fit- it's hard to picture the average non-Studebaker fanatic opting for one over the other choices in the segment. And that's before you get to the not-universally-loved styling- and the relatively high price.

The narrator comes off as a bit of a tool, but if we set our obvious prejudices aside for a minute and look at what he said objectively, he's not completely wrong.

[Bob Andrews]

Yes, the roofs do leak on Wagonaires. But did the general public know this in 1962-3? If the wagon was brand new, it probably didn't leak much. It couldn't have gotten a bad rep that fast.

It seems that I have heard that the roof leak problems DID come to light pretty quickly.

[SN-60]

Wow,----He lists five cars that He considers duds...and two of them are Studebakers. I don't like this man!

[Roscomacaw]

The new Bugattis must be real duds!

[plwindish]

It is kind of strange that with all the cars that were duds, he puts two Studes in the top five. I read his bio and it stated he has a collection of Fords from what he considers Detroit's finest era, the late 60's. I wonder if he knows two of Ford's duds, Edsel and Pinto. A horse collar front end for the Edsel and a flaming rear end for Pintos in collisions wasn't enough to put them on the dud list????

[KenS]

The narrator asked "what would you carry in a wagonaire" Well Dad moved several refrigerators,a cast iron table saw (on the cabinet) and my favorite was a 13 foot plum tree that a friend of his "gave us" if we dug it up! We did it, went on what would have been a three mile ride normally,but turned out to be about a ten mile ride through Chicago due to planning a route that did not have underpasses in the way! Did they leak? First time was a cold rainy day in November. Only the passenger side leaked, but on that cold November day in '67 was enough to make my MOM call the zone office, next day Dad & I took the car to Studebaker on Western and the zone rep( I think his name was Homer) had that roof fixed and never did leak again in the next 6 years Dad owned the car!