Purchase order

[GhostMuppet]

Hey folks I have the purchase order on a car (53) that i would like to decode. Any gurus out there feel like helping. This car has had one family from 57 to the present and I would like to see if I can put together a well defined history from the factory order. E.I. See if I can trace what it left the factory as, what dealership it went to and any other info I can put together from there to when it came into the family that now owns it. Having found both my biological parents 40 years after my birth I figure if I can get the core information I can find the rest of the info. The owners are a wonderful couple and this car is now going to see at least another 50 years thanks to the folks at Street Rod Concepts. Thanks for any help and Happy Holidays

[Dick Steinkamp]

Scan it and post it here. I'm sure someone can help.



Dick Steinkamp
Bellingham, WA

[barnlark]

Your answers are still at the Archives in South Bend, too. Bill Pressler was kind enough to pull my original sales card and associated paperwork with that extra information for my car one day. It's great to have those and the purchase order for a file. That service can be paid for and received there at the SDC Museum and/or Archives. Good luck with your mission.

[Bill Pressler]

quote:Originally posted by GhostMuppet

Hey folks I have the purchase order on a car (53) that i would like to decode. Any gurus out there feel like helping. This car has had one family from 57 to the present and I would like to see if I can put together a well defined history from the factory order. E.I. See if I can trace what it left the factory as, what dealership it went to and any other info I can put together from there to when it came into the family that now owns it. Having found both my biological parents 40 years after my birth I figure if I can get the core information I can find the rest of the info. The owners are a wonderful couple and this car is now going to see at least another 50 years thanks to the folks at Street Rod Concepts. Thanks for any help and Happy Holidays

Hi! I'm a bit confused, do you or don't you have the purchase order (production order) for the car? It should detail where the car was shipped to and what options, color, etc. it was built in. I do know that some of the '50's production orders show options with code nos. instead of (good) descriptions, so if you have the order if you scan it here or list the code nos., I feel certain someone here would be glad to help.

If you don't have the production order, for a '53 they are $40 from the Studebaker National Museum. They are more than an order from a '60's Stude because the earlier production orders are on microfilm. We are lucky to have such information for our cars...I think for most other marques, this information has been long-lost.

The Studebaker National Museum also has dealer information for each city and town...in other words, if your production order shows a "Ship To" location of Frostbite Falls, Minnesota, the museum can provide copies of dealer contract cards to show the name of that dealer in 1953, when they started being a Stude dealer, when they quit, the street address, and who were the officers of that dealership. My best guess is that this dealer card info would cost no more than $26.00--minimum research fee of $25.00 plus a few photocopies for them to send to you.

Is it worth a total of $66.00 to get this information? Some may not think so, others do. I know it's a unique benefit of enjoying Studebakers.

If we can be of any help, please post again.



Bill Pressler
Kent, OH
'63 Lark Daytona Skytop R1 (sold new by Cordell Motors, Moorhead, MN)
'64 Daytona Hardtop (sold new by Carl E. Filer Co., Greenville, PA)

[GhostMuppet]

Thanks for the info Mr Pressler. Yes, I do have the production order. At this point my scanner and I are not speaking terms. Now that the holidays are past I will figure it out and post the P.O. this coming week end. Stan

[Bill Pressler]

quote:Originally posted by GhostMuppet

Thanks for the info Mr Pressler. Yes, I do have the production order. At this point my scanner and I are not speaking terms. Now that the holidays are past I will figure it out and post the P.O. this coming week end. Stan

Stan, if you want, you could post some of the information from the P.O. here, without scanning it, and I'm certain someone on this forum would be happy to help you interpret the information.

Good luck!



Bill Pressler
Kent, OH
'63 Lark Daytona Skytop R1 (sold new by Cordell Motors, Moorhead, MN)
'64 Daytona Hardtop (sold new by Carl E. Filer Co., Greenville, PA)

[GhostMuppet]

In the Destination block is #22 stock. is the #22 the dealer code? if so how do I find that dealers info? Also, how would I find out how many Automatic champions were made that year? How many 53 hardtops were made? Would the Line Sequence Number be useful? In the Model and Body Type block it reads 14g-K5 BUNT. What does the BUNT stand for?

[Studebaker Wheel]

[studegary]

There were 13,058 1953 Champion Starliners (hardtops) built.

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

SDC member since 1968
Studebaker enthusiast much longer

[GhostMuppet]

Thanks Mr.Quinn and studegary. Now that I know what does not work, I can can start off on another line of logic. I know the area the car was at in 55. Does anyone have a listing of Dealers in Colorado in the 50's. The only one I know that would have that info is Mr Harold Snearly. That wonderful rascal passed away many years ago.