Any idea why Stude never offered power windows in any of the Larks, etc.?

[1962larksedan]

Being that power windows were an option on the mid 1950's cars and were still offered on the Hawks till the end; any idea why Studebaker deleted that feature starting 1959 for the Larks? Especially in light of the same front door shell still being used as late as 1962 so the tooling was already available.

[8E45E]

Being that power windows were an option on the mid 1950's cars and were still offered on the Hawks till the end; any idea why Studebaker deleted that feature starting 1959 for the Larks? Especially in light of the same front door shell still being used as late as 1962 so the tooling was already available.

I asked that question in 1988 at the Technical Seminar held at the International Meet that year in South Bend. The answer I got was 'too expensive' to tool up for the amount that would have been sold. Until the GM 'A' body got them in 1964 (which were 'intermediates' starting that year, and no longer 'compacts', anyway), the only other compact to have them was the Ambassador, and Studebaker must have been looking at their sales figures, and came to that conclusion.

Craig

[Mr. Bill]

I thought power windows had been eliminated from even the latter day Hawks and the last cars produced by Studebaker with factory power windows was the Avanti.

Wasn't there a situation with famed newscaster Walter Cronkite wanting a new '64 Cruiser with power windows? It was a "make or break" deal with Mr. Cronkite, so Studebaker built a Cruiser especially for him equipped with power windows. Also, I think I recall Mr. Palma recounting that he found a set of 62-63 door panels that clearly showed cutouts for power windows or either the switches were still attached.

I always thought the power window switches in the Avanti mirrored the ones Ford Motor Company used in its cars for the period 1954-64. The driver's master control had a rounded look and the individual switches were circular in shape. Nice looking in my opinion. If I was going to retrofit a Studebaker of the '60's, I would use the switches from a Ford Motor Company vehicle of this time period.

Interesting that Studebaker did not offer power windows on its later cars (Avanti excluded) due to projected low volume. From 1955 1/2 through 1958, did they sell that many vehicles with power windows, enough to justify continuing to offer them through 1958? While I will admit that I have seen quite a few (mostly '56 Presidents) with power windows, I can't help but think there were not than many cars so ordered. Perhaps low sales of this option during this period made Studebaker decide to quit offering them.

My opinion is that Studebaker would have appealed to a lot more people if they had built more cars nicely equipped and not so many plain ones. I realize cost is a factor here but can't help but think they would have attracted the attention of people who wanted a "fully loaded" automobile.

Mr. Bill
Hamlet, NC

[JeffDeWitt]

Mr. Bill has a point.

Plus people might have come into a showroom and drooled over that nice Cruiser with all the goodies early 60's tech could give it... and then drive out in new more basic car.

They could have also come out with a real luxury package... how about a factory Cruiser with R1, powershift, FM radio, leather, AC, power windows, disk brakes, all the cool goodies Studebaker could have thrown at it. Maybe call it a President Cruiser.

I don't know how many they would have sold but I bet it would have gotten some attention, and would certainly be a very collectable car today!

[bezhawk]

I had a 56 Golden Hawk with power windows and seat, and have seen many 55-56 Presidents so equipped.
I always though that they could be adapted to a Lark easily. I think a good doner vehicle would be a Jeep Grand Wagoneer from the early 80s, as they had flat side glass also.
Of course there are now companys that offer retrofit to older vehicles.

[candbstudebakers]

power windows

I have a 1957 Golden Hawk with power windows and power seat, but have never seen a GT Hawk with power either seats or windows, has any one?

[Anne F. Goodman]

Bobby's 1955 President state sedan has power windows. WE also had the remains of a 1957 SilverHawk that had power windows and a power seat. WE found homes for all of the power stuff. And the Hawk frame was saved donated to another.

[Dan White]

I don’t believe any Hawks after ’58 had a power window option.

[1962larksedan]

I asked that question in 1988 at the Technical Seminar held at the International Meet that year in South Bend. The answer I got was 'too expensive' to tool up for the amount that would have been sold. Until the GM 'A' body got them in 1964 (which were 'intermediates' starting that year, and no longer 'compacts', anyway), the only other compact to have them was the Ambassador, and Studebaker must have been looking at their sales figures, and came to that conclusion.

Craig

Funny about the small GM cars; many years ago I saw a 1962 Buick Special convertible with factory power windows and 4 spd behind its 215 aluminum V8................

[candbstudebakers]

Bobby's 1955 President state sedan has power windows. WE also had the remains of a 1957 SilverHawk that had power windows and a power seat. WE found homes for all of the power stuff. And the Hawk frame was saved donated to another.

Ya Anne, I know Bobby's 55 has the windows because I used to own it, and the power seat you had is now in my 57 golden hawk, we keep them moving.

[alanahasan]

I installed power windows on my 1950 Land Cruiser about thirty years ago, and am about to do it on my current 1950 LC. The process is so easy! I did not have to ciut any sheet metal; the only permanet changes were the three holes I drilled in the door panel to hold the power window assembly [plus the holes for the wiring, the switches, the relays . . .]

I used 12-volt GM power window mechanisms, which worked fine on 6 volts. When I get around to installing power windows on my current car, I will take photographs so you can see how it is done.

The GM power window mechanism used an arm that rotated about 80 degrees; I fastened a link from the arm to the parallel arms; the link pushed the window [p and down. GM has since changed their design, but there are still old ones available. Ford also used a similar mechanism on some pickups, and Hundai on some of their cars, but the GM unit looked most robust. They come oin left and right hand, so buy them in pairs appropriately. I'm not sure how the units would fit Larks, etc., but they sure fit the 1950 easily.

If I could figure out how to post pictures, I'd show you what I mean.

I never did get around to installing those power vent windows - and my car has four vent window . . .

Alan Hagan

[Bordeaux Daytona]

There was an article in Turning Wheels a few years back about a dealer installed setup that could be added to Studebakers. It might have been about Champ trucks. I'll have to check my index.

It was sold by AMT, the same company that made model car kits and promos.
I bought one of these setups off of ebay. It had a different companies name on a sticker covering where it had said AMT so they must have sold it off.

I think it looks like a white box that contains a motor with switches on the drivers side that control both sides and there's another switch on the right side unit. It screws on outside the door panel to the regulator where the crank whould have been but requires a couple of holes drilled in the door panel to keep it from rotating. There's various plastic adapters to fit different vehicle's window cranks.
I don't know if I want to drill holes in my panel though.

Ed George(Mr. Speed 53) told me that Mack offered something like it(dealer installed) for their trucks on the passenger side so the driver wouldn't have to reach way over to roll down the window. It had a switch you could add to the driver's side door panel besides the one on the unit .

I guess there's kits like this for newer cars because I've removed a couple at work after one of the motors had failed and just put cranks back on them. They usually hide the motor inside the door using a cable. One even had an emblem on the motor that looked like the Lazy S but it was reversed. I think I still have it, I might post a picture of it.
John V.

[wolfie]

I posted pics about a 1 1/2 year ago of 2 junk 57 Hawks with power windows and seats. The R1 GT that was with them is still local but I dont know if he got the 57's or not. Steve

[65cruiser]

Power windows are a cinch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxEU7ll-N18

[8E45E]

There was an article in Turning Wheels a few years back about a dealer installed setup that could be added to Studebakers.

There was a '64 convertible that was shipped to France with instructions stating "Universal Power Window Kit to be Shipped in Trunk" on the Production Order. It did not state if window cranks were installed on the car or not, however.

Craig