Finding Studebaker things in old boxes

[BobGlasscock]

More than a year after both my parents died last year, I have finally started going through the boxes of things that they had collected and put aside. Every sort of paper 'thing' that you can imagine that have no meaning to me or anyone else after 40-70 years. But there have been some interesting things.

I have some clippings that my dad saved about all sorts of Studebaker 'news'. Articles about collectors, father/son employees of Studebaker, and survivors including wagons and cars. There was a framed ad for a '40 Champion which I don't remember ever seeing. He owned one.

The real reason for this post. May God bless those who have passed on who planted the Studebaker bug in us.

[BobPalma]

Amen to that, Bob. BP

[DEEPNHOCK]

Sometimes I wonder.....
For example.
My father ordered a new Studebaker in '61 when his growing baby boom family needed a second car.
He wasn't really into cars for more than transportation, but I think he liked the style of the finned Hawk
(and it would seat three kids in the back).
So, he supported the struggling South Bend company, and had a swoopy sports (looking) car in their middle class neighborhood.
Then, 5 minutes after the 5 year rustproof warranty ran out, the car rusted through....everywhere.
So he 'gave' the car to his young punk teenaged son.
Now.... 40 some years later....
If he had lived long enough to see his kid obsess over the marque for all these years...
I wonder if he would have approved...

[sweetolbob]

The real reason for this post. May God bless those who have passed on who planted the Studebaker bug in us.

My father and grand fathers would not have known a Studebaker if it snuck up behind them and kick 'em. But they did install a work ethic, a love of motor vehicles and all things mechanical and value of a good education in all of their children. It was the style that led me to Studebakers.

I'm not trying to steal your thread Bob, but just use it as an opportunity to say thanks to my forebears for the same reasons you expressed.

Bob

[MRHawkes]

Amen to that, Bob. BP

I'll second that.

[STEWDI]

And a third (fourth?) one here!

My parents lived long enuff to marvel at the Studebaker hobby and our family's involvement. They even came along with us to the 1990 IM in the Boston area (Dad went to the Boston Conservatory of Music in '39 to '41 and he wanted to see the place again). Dad drove a couple of my Studes, just for nostalgia's sake, and at one time even entertained the thot of getting an Avanti II. But he was a musician, NOT a mechanic and it never came to be. He bought the Studes that I grew up knowing and loving (3 in a row, the last two being a '57 and a '62 Hawk) because of their excellent mechanical service from (all 3), and he just loved the styling.

And, Mat, I was privileged to know your Dad. I'm sure he's looking down, very pleased that you are still enjoying his '59 Hawk - that a Guelph body shop told him he should scrap, I remember him telling me!! It is a former BC car with an excellent frame and good body!! Hope to see you around .

[coyote]

My Dad bought a brand new 1950 Champion convertible, yellow with red upholstery long before I was even on this planet. Later, in the mid 60's, he got bit by the bug again hard. I was a young kid, and my fondest childhood memories were sitting with him in the garage, while he worked on his rotation of Studebakers. He had a 50 Business Coupe, a 53 Champion hardtop, and finally a 63 Avanti that he bought in 1966. He always wanted a finned Hawk, and we made many trips all over the Southern California area looking for one, but they were never quite right for him. Fast forward to the mid 70's, I was in High School, and looking for my first car. The $400.00 I had to spend wouldn't go far, but I found a non-running 49 C cab truck. My Dad helped me drag it home, and together we got it running and driving well enough that I could use it for school. My Dad passed on about 10 years ago, and I'm in the middle of a frame off restoration of a finned Hawk he never got the chance to own. I've already got the "Made Especially For" dash plaque with his name on it that will be the very last item I install.

[Lou Van Anne]

Ya, I got the Studebaker bug from my father, a Studebaker dealer. EVERYONE in my family drove Studebakers at the time.

[pegaleg]

Sometimes I wonder.....
For example.
My father ordered a new Studebaker in '61 when his growing baby boom family needed a second car.
He wasn't really into cars for more than transportation, but I think he liked the style of the finned Hawk
(and it would seat three kids in the back).
So, he supported the struggling South Bend company, and had a swoopy sports (looking) car in their middle class neighborhood.
Then, 5 minutes after the 5 year rustproof warranty ran out, the car rusted through....everywhere.
So he 'gave' the car to his young punk teenaged son.
Now.... 40 some years later....
If he had lived long enough to see his kid obsess over the marque for all these years...
I wonder if he would have approved...

I am sure he is looking down with smiling approval!!

[MRHawkes]

And a third (fourth?) one here!

My parents lived long enuff to marvel at the Studebaker hobby and our family's involvement. They even came along with us to the 1990 IM in the Boston area (Dad went to the Boston Conservatory of Music in '39 to '41 and he wanted to see the place again). Dad drove a couple of my Studes, just for nostalgia's sake, and at one time even entertained the thot of getting an Avanti II. But he was a musician, NOT a mechanic and it never came to be. He bought the Studes that I grew up knowing and loving (3 in a row, the last two being a '57 and a '62 Hawk) because of their excellent mechanical service from (all 3), and he just loved the styling.

And, Mat, I was privileged to know your Dad. I'm sure he's looking down, very pleased that you are still enjoying his '59 Hawk - that a Guelph body shop told him he should scrap, I remember him telling me!! It is a former BC car with an excellent frame and good body!! Hope to see you around .

Thanks for that, Roger. And thanks to Bob who started this thread. When I read it this morning I thought it may be nice to share a photo that Mom gave me with an envelope of stuff related to the car. This came into my hands just last week. Here is my Dad and I when I was only seven, and The Silver Hawk was brand new into the family. I still had the B.C. plates my uncle put on for the drive back to Ontario. Yes, for those who know me, it's pretty white for a black car.

[kmac530]

If we need to follow our parents and grandparents automotive legacys, I need to sell my Stude and start buying Buicks and a 1967 Caddy ElDo.

[R3 challenger]

It's great to hear about all those family connections from much-loved people who helped us all along in our Studebaker interests. As for me, my dad's first new car was a black, 1940, Champion 3-passenger business coupe. A year later, he sold it to my aunt and bought a new red '41 Champion 3-pass. business coupe ($785)....he brought me home from the South Bend hospital (built with Studebaker dollars!) in that car.

Thanks, dad, and all those other dads, for all you did. 'Wish they could all be with us now to enjoy the hobby.

George

[Bob Andrews]

Mine's a little different. I grew up in the used car business. I remember in the late 60s my father would not touch any Studebaker. They had a rep of being odd, unreliable, and stodgy old people's cars; plus it was thought there would be no parts availability. Didn't really matter, since in central NY they were all rusted and scrapped by the early 70s.

I often wonder what my father, who died in '84, would think of my love for and collecting of them now.