OUCH! Tough 1963 photo at Indiana State Fair

[BobPalma]

'Spent yesterday at the 2013 Indiana State Fair. 'Always a great time; 'wife and I thoroughly enjoy it.

But I encountered a tough reminder of Studebaker realites in 1963.

In the huge Reynolds Equipment barn promoting John Deere products was a large, perhaps a 4' X 8' color photograph, of a 1963 Farmer's Day new equipment parade in front of the Main Grandstand. State Fair Visitor Parking is in the infield of the track, so hundreds of ordinary cars that were driven to the 1963 Indiana State fair were visible in the top half of the photograph.

The photograph was on a wall over six feet off the floor, with a table in front of it, so it was impossible to take a meaningful photograph of it to post.

But I studied the photograph for several minutes, looking at all the everyday cars my fellow Hoosiers had driven to the 1963 Indiana State Fair, looking for Studebakers. I couldn't find one Studebaker; not a single one in perhaps 200 cars I could readily identify before they became too blurry on the far side (top) of the photograph.

In 1963, in Indiana, at The State Fair! GULP.

'Too often we forget the realities of what Studebaker was up against in the market in their twilight years. 'Sniff.

(But I'm willing to bet that if I had that original photograph on a table in front of me with a magnifying glass, I could locate one Studebaker somewhere...I mean, wouldn't there be at least one 3 or 4 year old 1959/1960 Lark in the lot? Geeze, Louise!) BP

[JimC]

I guess that's part of why I love 'em. I've always rooted for the underdog.

[JimC]

Also, it's entirely possible that Studebaker owners, being of a more refined upbringing, would elect to park far away, outside the scope of this image, so that those needing to park close for health reasons could do so.

Okay, probably not, but you never know!

[jackb]

...I recall a Turning Wheels cover some years back showing a South Bend Police wagon with red light atop the roof.. ... behind that car was along wide line of cars parked in a large public lot....only 1 Stude in 50...IN SOUTH BEND...!

[starliner62]

when I made my first trio to South Bend some eighteen years ago, I imagined seeing a few Studebakers around. The only ones I saw were at the museum.

[stude dude]

I remember seeing a few Studes on the road in South Bend in the 90's. But they were usually super rusty old hacks just being driven until they died.

Chris.

[BRUCESTUDE]

In the movie "Hoosiers" with Gene Hackman, there are some street shots supposedly in South Bend where his team went for the state playoffs. It is very unrealistic, as I know that in the early 50's there were a lot of Studes driving around town, and there is not a one to be seen!!!

[Chris_Dresbach]

I spent part of the evening at the State Fair tonight, Bob. Did you see the restored Studebaker wagon sitting in the barn near the tractors?

[fpstude]

This is the reality of what we need to have in mind when we see articles about automotive history and it doesn't include Studebaker. I remember car hunting in the late '50s with my dad and being afraid he would suggest a Studebaker for me. The one we drove had a bad gear or something in the transmission.

[clonelark]

I went to Niles Mi to help move a friends friend To Tulsa in 2004, We went through South Bend and i was looking for Studebakers, only saw 1, and it was for sale, It was a black 63 Lark HT, so rusted i'd never own it. Looked like it had been drag raced.

[BobPalma]

In the movie "Hoosiers" with Gene Hackman, there are some street shots supposedly in South Bend where his team went for the state playoffs. It is very unrealistic, as I know that in the early 50's there were a lot of Studes driving around town, and there is not a one to be seen!!!

Bruce, I hope you don't mind a gentle correction on that, because none of the movie footage was purported to have been shot in South Bend, either "for real" or as part of the script.

I consider myself a bit of an expert on that wonderful movie because I followed it closely while it was being filmed. Most of it was shot within a 60-mile radius of my home in Brownsburg NW of Indianapolis in central Indiana. Scenes where the ficticious Hickory Huskers played the Deer Creek Bulldogs were shot in the old Brownsburg College Avenue Gymnasium. It was demolished about ten years after the movie was made in 1985.

That gymnasium was barely two blocks from my home here in Brownsburg, where I am typing this. It was an exciting time when the film crew, Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, etc, were in Brownsburg. I have a collection of filming memorabilia from one of the girls who played an extra in the movie during the scenes filmed here. She experienced an untimely death soon after the movie was finished. Her family, friends of ours, gave me her momentos as they knew I'd care for them.

That said, the State Finals game in which the Hickory Huskers defeated the big-city "South Bend" team was not scripted to have been played in South Bend, either in the movie or in real life. Rather, it was played at Butler Fieldhouse on the near northwest side of Indianapolis. Butler Fieldhouse, now known as Hinkle Fieldhouse, was chosen because it was, in fact, where the legendary 1954 Milan / Muncie Central State Championship Game was played. That game was more of an inspiration for the movie Hoosiers than a factual account of tiny Milan High School's Cinderella 1954 season.

(Some people, particularly those in Milan, complained that the story line was not accurate, but it was not intended to be. Truth is, The Milan Miracle, as it is known in Hoosier-land, only inspired the movie. Hoosiers was never intended to be a historical account of Milan's 1954 Basketball Season.)

Hoosiers has been called the greatest sports movie ever made, and I agree. I've seen it at least 20 or 25 times and still choke up upon every viewing. Truly "the way things ought to be!" BP

[BobPalma]

I spent part of the evening at the State Fair tonight, Bob. Did you see the restored Studebaker wagon sitting in the barn near the tractors?

'Dang, Chris; I missed that!

A friend of mine is a principle among the workers doing the threshing and such at The Pioneer Farm exhibit. I spent too much of an hour talking to him and getting caught up, so didn't see as much of the antique farm machinery as I usually do.

'Glad you saw the Stude wagon.

(One thing I miss in the Pioneer Farm Building is the sign that hung in the rafters for years):

Hey, diddle-diddle,
while I. U. fiddled,
Purdue put a man on the moon

'Gotta love that. BP

[8E45E]

But I studied the photograph for several minutes, looking at all the everyday cars my fellow Hoosiers had driven to the 1963 Indiana State Fair, looking for Studebakers. I couldn't find one Studebaker; not a single one in perhaps 200 cars I could readily identify before they became too blurry on the far side (top) of the photograph.

Bob,

Seems to me you did mention a simialar scene some three years later at a raceway in Indiana that didn't have a single Studebaker parked among all the spectators' cars here: http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.c...to-and-Telling

Craig

[BobPalma]

Bob,

Seems to me you actually did post a photo of a simialar scene some three years later at a raceway in Indiana that didn't have a single Studebaker parked among all the spectators' cars. Craig

Correct, Craig. It was a period photo of many spectator cars at Indianapolis Raceway Park, the drag strip home of the NHRA National Drags. Not a Stude in sight! BP

[Corley]

"But I studied the photograph for several minutes, looking at all the everyday cars my fellow Hoosiers had driven to the 1963 Indiana State Fair, looking for Studebakers. I couldn't find one Studebaker; not a single one in perhaps 200 cars I could readily identify before they became too blurry on the far side (top) of the photograph."

Bob,

When you are basically building a 1953 car in 1963, at a time of fast moving innovation in automobile design, you have to expect trouble, and lagging sales. Charging more than the later designs of other brands hurts possibly even more. Further, being saddled with a stogy sounding 100 year old wagon builders name doesn't help matters.

I remember walking the yard and seeing row after row of late '40's and early '50's Studebakers at Doc Kennedy's wrecking yard, back in the late '50's. Some were in great shape, just dumped because they were not worth fixing a minor problem. ALL of them, having faded, ugly paint already, after only 7-8 years. Most of them with enough blowby to need an engine rebuild. ALL of them already looking old fashioned next to the GM, Ford, and Chrysler cars. By today's standards, they were almost new cars, being less than 10 years old, but already dumped.

Add onto that, the piles of chrome, fins, and other modifications to American's most beautiful car ever, most of which did not please those who fell in love with the '53 C/K cars, and you get a real turn-off to buying new Studebakers at that time. The Lark was a great idea, but based upon too little change to the basic '54 sedan shell, so it came out just a bit "off" in looks. Just enough to not look as modern as the other offerings of the day. And then, the rumors started. "Studebaker is in trouble and may close down operations". The death sentence had come. Even the Avanti (which cost too much, and relied too heavily on previous Studebaker parts bins), could not turn the tide. The rest is history. No one wanted to be seen as making the mistake of buying / driving the "Stupidbaker". More to the crushers. Fewer on the roads, until they finally became "collectables".

Sure, always a few holdouts, but by enlarge, you know I'm right. It was not until it became fashionable to own / restore / drive an older "strange" automobile that Studebakers have had their rebirth as a collector car. Except for one model: The '53/'54 C/K, with it's sleek styling and aerodynamic slippery body, has always been a favorite of the go fast crowd. Sure, the bullet nose has had a great resurgence, but that came later. The '53/'54 C/K has had it's fans all along. It's amazing that you can still find them that haven't been butchered by the race crowd.

Well, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it...

JMHO