Here are some production order codes you won't see very often

[53k]

This was for the right-hand-drive GT I bought from England some years ago.

[jwikstro]

That was rear, RH-D 64-GT:s are rear birds. Is the car still alive and kicking?

[clonelark]

The Engine # 42=PH329, Would the 42 be for the destination?

[62champ]

Wow - 3.73 and automatic - must have just been the "around town" car - would really be up in the RPMs out on a dual carriageway...

[Skip Lackie]

The Engine # 42=PH329, Would the 42 be for the destination?

The 42 indicates that it was the 42nd engine built for export on August 29, 1963.

[53k]

That was rear, RH-D 64-GT:s are rear birds. Is the car still alive and kicking?

Alive- yes. Kicking- I don't know. I sold the car in about 1990 to a man in Detroit who wanted it for a museum he was building. Unfortunately, before he did so he died and I lost track of the car- couldn't find it even with checking with SDC members in the area. I had heard that it was sitting in a field somewhere, but couldn't get any more detail. Then several years ago a Studebaker man from Kentucky found it on a Detroit Craigslist. It was garaged, but partially disassembled. He bought it and I sent him a bunch of information about the car, but I haven't heard from him in some time. When I sold the car it was an excellent running and driving car with a mint cloth interior. I drove it from West Virginia to Detroit to deliver the car.
Before I bought the car the original owner took me for a ride in it in downtown Birmingham, England- quite a thrill. It was set up to burn either gasoline or propane which could be switched seamlessly while driving. Propane was great for starting when it had been sitting for some time. When I took delivery of the car at the Port of Baltimore it hadn't been run for two months. I got in it and followed the instructions for starting on propane. Four turns of the starter and it was purring happily. Gas tank had been drained for shipment so I drove it several miles on propane before I saw a gas station where I could fill it.

[53k]

The Engine # 42=PH329, Would the 42 be for the destination?

I never noticed that and I don't have the codes. Maybe BP can break it.

[SScopelli]

Alive- yes. Kicking- I don't know. I sold the car in about 1990 to a man in Detroit who wanted it for a museum he was building. Unfortunately...

Pardon me for asking, but if you went over the pond to get this GT, and it invoke such a fond memory, why <snip> did you let it go?

(Again pardon me, but I really had to restrain my words in the last part of the question above..)

[53k]

Wow - 3.73 and automatic - must have just been the "around town" car - would really be up in the RPMs out on a dual carriageway...

When I drove it Detroit from WV I drove on interstates most all the way and I held 65 - 70 and it seemed very comfortable at those speeds. I guess the Flightomatic doesn't have as much slip as a Powershift because 65 in an Avanti with Powershift and a 3.73 is painful.
I still remember a funny experience on the trip. On I-70 I passed a tractor-trailer rig and the driver must have been traveling with another truck ahead of him. I was carrying a CB radio and after I passed the first truck the CB came on- "Hey Jake, there's an old Studebaker coming up on you fast and he's sitting on the wrong side of the car".

[BobPalma]

I never noticed that and I don't have the codes. Maybe BP can break it.

I bet whoever retyped that took what was supposed to be a suffix and made it a prefix.

It could have been the 42nd EXPORT engine built that day. Look at Item #3:





UPDATE: It is supposed to be a prefix, not a suffix.

Dwain Grindinger just sent me a PM. My answer to Dwain follows. (Thanks, Dwain):

---

Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2014 10:07:38 -0800
Subject: forum post: 'production order codes you don't see'
From: jdwain@gmail.com
To: bobcaripalma@hotmail.com

Hi Bob!

Regarding your post about the suffix used for export engines. It actually is a prefix. I made the same mistake a few years back, and I think it was Bob Kabchef who corrected me.
The problem is a mistake in the book. You have the September 1963 edition no doubt, but apparently not with the updates.

The very bottom right of that page should say 'Revised 3-64'. DG


Thanks, Dwain;

That's funny. I actually have two copies of that Parts Book; one in my library and one I keep by the computer for quick reference. Both are originals; not reprints.

I just checked the copy in my library and it does have the update, referencing the number as a prefix, not a suffix. But the copy near the computer, here, does not have the update in it.

I'll post a correction.

Thanks. Bob

[53k]

Pardon me for asking, but if you went over the pond to get this GT, and it invoke such a fond memory, why <snip> did you let it go?

(Again pardon me, but I really had to restrain my words in the last part of the question above..)

It wasn't easy, but at the time I had nine Studebakers and I was under....some pressure from the "higher command" to reduce that number. And, the buyer approached me. I wasn't actively selling it. I have bought and sold a fair number of Studebakers over the years. I always intended to keep each one, but sooner or later came to my senses. I still regret selling most of them. Only once did I deliberately buy one to "flip". That was a '64 GT that I got very cheap from a poorly written eBay listing with no pictures, very terse description, three-day auction and it was less than 100 miles from me.

[Skip Lackie]

I bet whoever retyped that took what was supposed to be a suffix and made it a prefix.

It could have been the 42nd EXPORT engine built that day. Look at Item #3:





UPDATE: It is supposed to be a prefix, not a suffix.

Dwain Grindinger just sent me a PM. My answer to Dwain follows. (Thanks, Dwain):

---

Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2014 10:07:38 -0800
Subject: forum post: 'production order codes you don't see'
From: jdwain@gmail.com
To: bobcaripalma@hotmail.com

Hi Bob!

Regarding your post about the suffix used for export engines. It actually is a prefix. I made the same mistake a few years back, and I think it was Bob Kabchef who corrected me.
The problem is a mistake in the book. You have the September 1963 edition no doubt, but apparently not with the updates.

The very bottom right of that page should say 'Revised 3-64'. DG


Thanks, Dwain;

That's funny. I actually have two copies of that Parts Book; one in my library and one I keep by the computer for quick reference. Both are originals; not reprints.

I just checked the copy in my library and it does have the update, referencing the number as a prefix, not a suffix. But the copy near the computer, here, does not have the update in it.

I'll post a correction.

Thanks. Bob

Bob- I guess you missed post #5 above . . . . .
:-)

[BobPalma]

Bob- I guess you missed post #5 above . . . . .:-)

That I did, Skip; which is easy to do as follows:

When I went to the forum, I clicked on most recent new post for this topic (however that is worded) among the list of topics having new posts. By doing that, you are immediately sent to the newest post in the topic, by-passing any intermediaries.

At the time, the newest post was #7, which had Paul's suggestion that maybe I could decode it, so I did...or thought I did. BP

[Skip Lackie]

Hate to admit it, but I also miss responses, especially short ones, all the time. And then go and post something that is either duplicative or (worse) wrong.

New subject (parts book updates): Not to hijack the thread, but I made a major effort about ten years ago to get all of my parts books updated. Most of the left-over copies sold by N&A back in the 70s and 80s did NOT include the updated pages, and a lot of dealers didn't make the effort to include them either. Back in the 70s, I found a pile of the update packages in one of the upper floors of N&A and bought a couple of each for a few dollars apiece. Some of them, like the ones issued to correct the 59-64 chassis book, were pretty thick, and they DO occasionally make a difference.

[HAWK64]

This was for the right-hand-drive GT I bought from England some years ago.

Paul, my production card is identical to yours except the paint color, the blue vinyl interior & high compression heads. Like yours, it was originally bound for London in England but along with four other RHC '64 Hawks came here to Melbourne in 1964. Final assembly date was 16th Dec 1963. I did see your Bermuda Brown Hawk for sale many years ago on one of my International Meet visits.