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  • Studebaker sold list by dealership

    Is it possible to obtain a list of new cars/trucks that were sold by individual dealerships? I know that you can trace back, by serial number, which dealership sold a certain Studebaker but can we now trace forward? I'd like to find one sold by my fathers dealership.
    Lou Van Anne
    Lou Van Anne
    62 Champ
    64 R2 GT Hawk
    79 Avanti II

  • #2
    Originally posted by Lou Van Anne View Post
    Is it possible to obtain a list of new cars/trucks that were sold by individual dealerships? I know that you can trace back, by serial number, which dealership sold a certain Studebaker but can we now trace forward? I'd like to find one sold by my fathers dealership.
    Lou Van Anne
    Lou, I have done this very thing at the Studebaker National Museum archives, but you can only search by dealer starting with September 1963 through the end of production. Also, you need to know your Dad's dealer number. I was able to find all new Studes sold by my hometown dealer from September '63 on, only because I knew the serial number of a '64 car sold there, and on its production order and/or drive-away shipper I was able to find out the dealer code. The forms are filed by month, then by dealer number, at the Archives. This is something I believe is best done by you yourself at the Archives, since your interest level will most likely assure that no forms for cars sold will be missed or overlooked.
    Bill Pressler
    Kent, OH
    (formerly Greenville, PA)
    Currently owned: 1966 Cruiser, Timberline Turquoise, 26K miles
    Formerly owned: 1963 Lark Daytona Skytop R1, Ermine White
    1964 Daytona Hardtop, Strato Blue
    1966 Daytona Sports Sedan, Niagara Blue Mist
    All are in Australia now

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    • #3
      Would that cover only new car sales? I bought a '64 Avanti used in April '66 from a Studebaker dealer in Canton IL and don't have the old serial # to track it down.
      sigpic[SIGPIC]

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      • #4
        Thanks Bill, I guess I'm out of luck as the dealership closed in the early 50s.
        Lou Van Anne
        62 Champ
        64 R2 GT Hawk
        79 Avanti II

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by plwindish View Post
          Would that cover only new car sales? I bought a '64 Avanti used in April '66 from a Studebaker dealer in Canton IL and don't have the old serial # to track it down.
          I'm afraid it's only new cars. However, the form does show what the person traded in on the new Stude, the new Stude's serial number, the purchaser's name and occupation and their street address and town.
          Bill Pressler
          Kent, OH
          (formerly Greenville, PA)
          Currently owned: 1966 Cruiser, Timberline Turquoise, 26K miles
          Formerly owned: 1963 Lark Daytona Skytop R1, Ermine White
          1964 Daytona Hardtop, Strato Blue
          1966 Daytona Sports Sedan, Niagara Blue Mist
          All are in Australia now

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by plwindish View Post
            Would that cover only new car sales? I bought a '64 Avanti used in April '66 from a Studebaker dealer in Canton IL and don't have the old serial # to track it down.
            Where was the dealer in Canton?
            1962 Champ

            51 Commander 4 door

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Bill Pressler View Post
              Lou, I have done this very thing at the Studebaker National Museum archives, but you can only search by dealer starting with September 1963 through the end of production. Also, you need to know your Dad's dealer number. I was able to find all new Studes sold by my hometown dealer from September '63 on, only because I knew the serial number of a '64 car sold there, and on its production order and/or drive-away shipper I was able to find out the dealer code. The forms are filed by month, then by dealer number, at the Archives. This is something I believe is best done by you yourself at the Archives, since your interest level will most likely assure that no forms for cars sold will be missed or overlooked.
              Would Andy Beckman be the person to talk to or would you have to go to the museum for access to this information?
              sigpic
              55 President Deluxe
              64 Commander
              66 Cruiser

              37 Oldsmobile F37 4 Door

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              • #8
                I did this myself by making an appointment at the Archives, but otherwise I guess you could ask Andy to do it. The cost may be prohibitive having Andy do it though, I don't know. I know I didn't make copies of all the 'cards' for each car, as Andy would probably do--I jotted down the information as quickly as I could onto a legal pad as I looked at the cards and then returned them to the Archives assistant when I was done.
                Bill Pressler
                Kent, OH
                (formerly Greenville, PA)
                Currently owned: 1966 Cruiser, Timberline Turquoise, 26K miles
                Formerly owned: 1963 Lark Daytona Skytop R1, Ermine White
                1964 Daytona Hardtop, Strato Blue
                1966 Daytona Sports Sedan, Niagara Blue Mist
                All are in Australia now

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Lou Van Anne View Post
                  Thanks Bill, I guess I'm out of luck as the dealership closed in the early 50s.
                  This is an intriguing topic. I wonder if any old dealership business records are stashed away in some family's attic, barn or warehouse? How fascinating would that be on a rainy day? Would it be possible to work backwards from the dealer's books to build that kind of information? I am sure that the quality of record keeping would be vastly more difficult to decipher than the factory invoices.

                  Pouring over 60 to 80-year-old books would be interesting seeing what employees earned. How commissions were paid to salesmen, cost of promotions, signs, shop equipment, and of course the "deal" of what was traded for the new car. Payment arrangements, cost of newspaper ads, broadcast media expenses, and all the other cost of doing business that most of us either overlook or take for granted. It would be an interesting walk back in time, but time-consuming and difficult to forensically organize such records into an understandable narrative.

                  Several years ago, while I was doing a "house cleaning" and going over some old records, I was puzzled to see that my wife and I had written checks for five dollars worth of gas. Then I realized that even back then, five dollars was a lot of gas and would fill up a pretty large tank when gas was less than fifty cents a gallon.
                  John Clary
                  Greer, SC

                  SDC member since 1975

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by jclary View Post
                    This is an intriguing topic. I wonder if any old dealership business records are stashed away in some family's attic, barn or warehouse? How fascinating would that be on a rainy day? Would it be possible to work backwards from the dealer's books to build that kind of information? I am sure that the quality of record keeping would be vastly more difficult to decipher than the factory invoices.

                    Pouring over 60 to 80-year-old books would be interesting seeing what employees earned. How commissions were paid to salesmen, cost of promotions, signs, shop equipment, and of course the "deal" of what was traded for the new car. Payment arrangements, cost of newspaper ads, broadcast media expenses, and all the other cost of doing business that most of us either overlook or take for granted. It would be an interesting walk back in time, but time-consuming and difficult to forensically organize such records into an understandable narrative.
                    John: I have most of those very records for the years Palma Motors was in business: 1953-1956. In good shape, too.

                    It is interesting reading, especially following a given deal from new-car sale through trade-in reconditioning and sale, and maybe even a trade taken on the trade before the entire deal washed out with "X" dollars profit overall.

                    It is true what they say about dealers making their money on used cars. So often, a deal would be shown as a loss just to sell a new car, with the actual profit being made on the trade-in. BP
                    We've got to quit saying, "How stupid can you be?" Too many people are taking it as a challenge.

                    G. K. Chesterton: This triangle of truisms, of father, mother, and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.

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                    • #11
                      Bob, in many ways, I think those records could be even more interesting than the factory invoices. How cool would it be to have them reduced to computer data in a manner that they could be stored as a retrievable data base at the museum. That information could provide some interesting comparisons between dealers, regions of the country, and profitable VS marginal businesses. I'm afraid that most of that information has been lost forever. A feather in your cap for preserving the information you have.
                      John Clary
                      Greer, SC

                      SDC member since 1975

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                      • #12
                        Kurt, the dealer was Associated Motors in Canton. The dealership was located about a block south of the town square and about a block west and south from the buildings Canton Community College used during the mid 60's through the 70's before Spoon River Community College came into being. Associated Motors took on Dodge after Studebaker. I believe the building was torn down sometime in the 80's.
                        sigpic[SIGPIC]

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                        • #13
                          Not Stude related, but I have all the records of the new Ford sales my father made from 1946 to 1959. Not only the new car invoice to the customer, but also the factory invoices. Makes for a very interesting day traveling down memory lane.
                          73, Jim

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                          • #14
                            9echo, this is not related to thread , but I was wondering how the Saturday Cruise Nights are in Pontiac?
                            sigpic[SIGPIC]

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                            • #15
                              I have not attended any, as yet, but I have heard that they are well attended. The weekend of July 21 to 24 should be a real blow out. The (excuse the expression) Pontiac - Oakland Automobile Museum is opening and we are expecting a really large gathering. Check their site: http://visitpontiac.org/webpages/index.php?art=961.
                              I expect it to be a really grand time.
                              Hope to see you there. I will be at the Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum most of Saturday.
                              73, Jim

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