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Good old days- another Frost & French story

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  • Good old days- another Frost & French story

    StudeRich should like this one.
    In the fall of 1967 I was moving my wife and kids back from Hawaii to be near family while I went to Viet Nam for a year. I had gotten my Wagonaire shipped back to the mainland at government expense, but gov only allowed one car to be shipped at their expense so I was about to lose my other car, my nice '53 Commander Starliner. However, I lucked out and got the '53 a free ride on a Navy ship going to Oakland. My plan was to store it in Los Angeles for a couple weeks then drive it to Coronado for my three-week survival training. Our two car caravan south from the SF Bay Area was kind of hard because the Wagonaire wasn't running well and the '53 was getting hot on the highway. While passing through Burlingame (just south of San Francisco) I saw a big Studebaker sign, turned off and back tracked to the sign hoping I could get a dealer to work on the cars. Turned out it wasn't a dealer, but was the Western Zone Depot. Obviously they didn't work on the cars there, but the kind lady at the desk gave me a list of all the dealers in that zone and, learning that we were headed for Los Angeles, recommended we go to Frost and French in Los Angeles. We did just that and they took in both cars and gave us a beautiful '56 President Classic as a loaner for the day. When we picked up the cars late in the day, the thumbnail below is the invoice I received. I found it in looking at papers in my file on the Commander in preparation for the sale last Tuesday.
    Attached Files
    Paul Johnson, Wild and Wonderful West Virginia.
    '64 Daytona Wagonaire, '64 Avanti R-1, Museum R-4 engine, '72 Gravely Model 430 with Onan engine

  • #2
    Yep, the service Manager Ray Gries wrote that work ticket up. That was a bit before 1970-'71 when I would have pulled the Parts and added them to the ticket. Great history, thanks for posting that.

    I was recently visiting the Classic Car Museum "The Automobile Driving Museum (ADM)" in El Segundo, CA where you can Ride in the Cars on Sundays.
    The '56 Packard Caribbean Convertible that Howard Hughes bought his "girlfriend" Jean Peters was there and reminded me of when we had that beauty in for Service at Frost & French and after it was finished, they were not sending the driver to get it for a while, so it was placed in the showroom with the new Avanti II and reconditioned GT Hawks for over a week.

    Now THAT'S a Car! It is kept in the glass sealed Room for display, where NO ONE goes, probably partly because they do not own it, not to mention it's priceless value.

    My Son Dave and I had a chance to visit with an old friend and Senior Docent/Director, Car Organizer, Charter Member Dan Skidmore. I am sure Dan is responsible for the extremely high Studebaker and Packard count there.

    We got the Royal Treatment when they discovered we were friends of Dan's.
    I highly recommend it when you are in the L.A. Airport area (LAX).

    Here is their Website:
    http://www.automobiledrivingmuseum.org/
    StudeRich
    Second Generation Stude Driver,
    Proud '54 Starliner Owner
    SDC Member Since 1967

    Comment


    • #3
      My dad dealt with F & F a lot during the 60s and had nothing but high praise for them. They were the go too guys for parts and advice on doing repairs if one chose to do them oneself. They were they guys who did the research on his '57 GH and discovered that it was a rare car. Dad would have spent weeks or more doing that kind of research himself. They did not charge him a dime.
      Ed Sallia
      Dundee, OR

      Sol Lucet Omnibus

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      • #4
        Paul it is called the good old days, to bad a lot of our member are to young to know the good old days.
        Candbstudebakers
        Castro Valley,
        California


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        • #5
          Originally posted by candbstudebakers View Post
          Paul it is called the good old days, to bad a lot of our member are to young to know the good old days.
          Know what you mean...
          But...
          I believe that these are the good ol' days right now....
          (Meaning...... it is not going to get any better than it is right now...only worse)
          HTIH (Hope The Info Helps)

          Jeff


          Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please. Mark Twain



          Note: SDC# 070190 (and earlier...)

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          • #6
            Originally posted by candbstudebakers View Post
            Paul it is called the good old days, to bad a lot of our member are to young to know the good old days.
            I believe Dolly Partin said it best."No amount of money could buy from me,the memories I have of then.No amount of money could pay me to go back and live through it again! In the good old days,when times were bad."
            Neil Thornton

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            • #7
              The old days...both good and bad...make us who we are today...for better or worse. I wouldn't change a thing even if I could, because if I did, I wouldn't have met my wife. Nothing is worth that.
              Poet...Mystic...Soldier of Fortune. As always...self-absorbed, adversarial, cocky and in general a malcontent.

              Comment


              • #8
                I believe that was a 1955 Caribbean Rich.

                Comment


                • #9
                  I think most of the guys on this Forum (including myself) are old enough to remember the good old days, at least back to the '50s. Which brings up the point, we need more young people in this club.
                  Ed Sallia
                  Dundee, OR

                  Sol Lucet Omnibus

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Commander Eddie View Post
                    I think most of the guys on this Forum (including myself) are old enough to remember the good old days, at least back to the '50s. Which brings up the point, we need more young people in this club.
                    That's exactly the same thing they are saying on the Model A forums.
                    The only thing we can do to relive the old days is to keep and drive our old cars. Nothing else can be changed.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by StudeRich View Post

                      I was recently visiting the Classic Car Museum "The Automobile Driving Museum (ADM)" in El Segundo, CA where you can Ride in the Cars on Sundays.
                      You didn't look like you were having any fun at all Dad-

                      Click image for larger version

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                      Maybe V-12s aren't your 'thing', eh?



                      Originally posted by SN-60 View Post
                      I believe that was a 1955 Caribbean Rich.
                      Indeed it was.

                      http://www.automobiledrivingmuseum.o...ble-HH-Car.pdf

                      It's really pretty, too.
                      StudeDave '57
                      US Navy (retired)

                      3rd Generation Stude owner/driver
                      SDC Member since 1985

                      past President
                      Whatcom County Chapter SDC
                      San Diego Chapter SDC

                      past Vice President
                      San Diego Chapter SDC
                      North Florida Chapter SDC

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by SN-60 View Post
                        I believe that was a 1955 Caribbean Rich.
                        Yes, originally owned by Ms Jean Peters Hughes. We can be pretty sure that Howard never drove it!

                        Chris.

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                        • #13
                          I started buying parts at Frost & French in 1966. Bob and Walter were the two gentlemen that I dealt with until their closing in the the late 1980's. Bob was in his constant white shop coat with his ever present cigar near by. Walter was a true gentlemen and always had time to chat, not like today's retail environment . I did search some old invoices today and have invoices for parts going back to 1966 and a repair order from 1975 when they were located on South Bernado for a complete engine rebuild on a R1. Total amount with new pistons, bearing, bolts and assembly $530.66. This invoice was written by Ray.
                          Bob Caser
                          mrbobinc

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                          • #14
                            The museum has it wrong. The 55 Carribean had a 352, not the 374.
                            Bez Auto Alchemy
                            573-318-8948
                            http://bezautoalchemy.com


                            "Don't believe every internet quote" Abe Lincoln

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by bezhawk View Post
                              The museum has it wrong. The 55 Carribean had a 352, not the 374.
                              That's not the only thing they have wrong, trust me...
                              I was quite shocked at some of the misinformation one can find there. I came pretty close to interrupting a docent during my visit. He had just finished telling a Chevy group about how there were only 588 Packards made in 1958...

                              Sadly- the sign right in front of the car tells the actual story~

                              http://www.automobiledrivingmuseum.o...ckard-Hawk.pdf

                              Sort of. They have a similar situation on the sign for their '65 Wagonaire

                              http://www.automobiledrivingmuseum.o...-Wagonaire.pdf

                              Do you see the typos?
                              They are not the only ones.





                              StudeDave '57
                              StudeDave '57
                              US Navy (retired)

                              3rd Generation Stude owner/driver
                              SDC Member since 1985

                              past President
                              Whatcom County Chapter SDC
                              San Diego Chapter SDC

                              past Vice President
                              San Diego Chapter SDC
                              North Florida Chapter SDC

                              Comment

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