Mr.Truman's Studebaker dealer

[rkapteyn]

http://www.examiner.net/entertainmentlife/20161019/ted-stillwell-my-old-uncle-tom

Robert Kapteyn

[t walgamuth]

Cool! When Truman left the presidency he was a relatively young man. He intended to return to his simple life in Independence and have some fun. He bought a new car...it was a mopar...dodge, desoto or plymouth I can't remember which and intended to drive around seeing the country. He and Bess decided a few months after leaving the whitehouse to drive to DC and visit friends.

Well, Harry did not drive too fast so people saw him on the road and after a while they were unable to continue to travel that way because of the rock star fame of the president, so they regretfully returned home and parked the car.

[Dwain G.]

Interesting story. As far as I knew, HST was always a Chrysler man. Approximately 8 years ago his last car was still sticking out of the garage at his home in Independence, MO. It was a green (I think) '70s Chrysler. Don't know if it's still there or not.

[Bill Pressler]

Truman was actually an old man (for that time) when he left office. He was born in 1884 and he was president until January 1953.

[Gary1953]

Anyone that would like to know the rest of the Truman road trip story should read "Harry Truman's Excellent Adventure The True Story of a Great American Road Trip" by Matthew Algeo. The book is published by Chicago Review Press. The hardback was printed in 2009. This is an excellent read of a fun story. Truman bought a Chrysler New Yorker in Feb of 1953. The dealership listed in the book was Haines Motor Company in Independence, MO. He bought the New Yorker because the top of the line Imperial "sounds a little too swanky for me." He and Bess did make the trip to Washington and back and it was the only time in history that a President made such a road trip.

Truman's New Yorker was owned by a collector in NE Kansas in 2010 according to the Afterword in the paperback issue.

[Dwain G.]

I remember a TV news story from when I lived in MO. TV reporter interviewed HST and Bess while sitting in that '53 Chrysler at a gas station. All I remember about the interview is Harry saying this car wasn't as big as the one he had been used to.

[rkapteyn]

I googled Harry Truman and Studebaker and it only came up in The Starliner.
It has a picture of Mr.Truman and a 1929 Studebaker.

http://www.studebakerclubs.com/blackhawk/StarlinerPubs/1999/March99/StarlinerMarchFramepage.htm

The only other reference was by Dorris Day about a Studebaker car when talking
to Mr.Truman and a picture of a business coupe at his house but it mentioned that the car was not owned by Mr.Truman.

Robert Kapteyn