Mystery of the missing NOS C/K front fenders

[Dan White]

While on one of the tours of the SI South Bend facility today the tour guide told us, while looking at the racks and racks of sheet metal, that the most requested piece are the front C/K fenders. As we all know they are not available, and I always assumed it was due to demand, well according to him that is not the reason. So goes the story Newman and Altman felt that there would be little interest in them and they were scrapped. Wow, how did they come to that conclusion, while keeping 50's sedan fenders as well as others???? We will never know probably, if the story is true. Perhaps many of you knew this but I sure did not.

[JimC]

Maybe that's where all the 59-61 Lark fenders went, too

[Andy R.]

Little interest in a body part used in one form or another from 1953-64?
For a design so iconic that even the NY MoMA declared it a work of art?

Scrapped?
I can't believe it - unless they rusted out their vertical "racing stripes" on the racks!

[PackardV8]

AFAIK, that C/K fenders were scrapped is just another Studebaker urban legend. The parts guys knew even then the C/K were the most requested models for all replacement parts.

Back in the day, I stopped in to N&A/SASCO to confirm there were no more C/K front fenders and was told, "That's the number one part we wish we had asked two or three times as much for, because they sold out so fast. We'll probably have sedan and Lark fenders forever, because nobody builds those."

Your results may vary.
jack vines

[Dan White]

Well they also have more Zip Van parts than surviving Zip vans as well!

[clonelark]

Seems someone would repop them. 1932 thru 34 Ford fenders got repopped when Street Rodding took off. True There are more Fords than Studebakers, but there are enough of them (C-K's) to make someone a ton of money. Are you listening Ed?

[DEEPNHOCK]

Well they also have more Zip Van parts than surviving Zip vans as well!

Hmmm. I was told they sold those Zip Van parts off about 5 or 6 years ago.
There was a list of Zip Van stuff available from the later owner of those parts.
Mostly bits and pieces...

[DEEPNHOCK]

Seems someone would repop them. 1932 thru 34 Ford fenders got repopped when Street Rodding took off. True There are more Fords than Studebakers, but there are enough of them (C-K's) to make someone a ton of money. Are you listening Ed?

I dunno about that...
They made more of that Ford in 4 months than all the years of C/K's combined.
Gearing up for a compound stamping of that size would require some big volume numbers...
Either that ot some serious purchase point dollars...
Desire does not pay the bills.....

[52-fan]

The C & K body cars being popular would have lead to those front fenders going fast. Also, years ago when parts were cheap, many people just bought new sheet metal and trashed repairable fenders.
I read years ago that Hurwich Iron had a stash of Studebaker parts they bought as surplus when the plant closed. Many people bought cranks and heads from them years back, but they also had glass and sheet metal. A fire at their facility destroyed the glass and the C & K sheet metal along with other items.

[ivorydan]

I remember visiting Standard Surplus around 1969 or 70 and seeing a huge pile of fenders and other sheet metal, at least one or two stories tall, I think outside the north side of the building. When I asked, I was told they were dented or bent pieces and were being scrapped. Don't know what specific pieces they were.At that time, Standard Surplus still had hawk left front fenders and the rear fenders. The right front fenders were NLA. Dan

[Bo Markham]

I remember visiting Standard Surplus around 1969 or 70 and seeing a huge pile of fenders and other sheet metal, at least one or two stories tall, I think outside the north side of the building. When I asked, I was told they were dented or bent pieces and were being scrapped. Don't know what specific pieces they were.At that time, Standard Surplus still had hawk left front fenders and the rear fenders. The right front fenders were NLA. Dan

That's about right, Standard Surplus and then Newman and Altman scrapped hugh piles of sheetmetal in the late 60's and early 70's. That was when you could buy an NOS front fender for about $25.00 and a rear one for about $15.00. Among others, Bill Fennessey used to tell of the days when there would be piles of stuff thrown out the windows from all floors of the #58 building. Just about all of it made it over to Hurwich Iron, and it wasn't all sheetmetal, either. Ask Jim Bahr, Wisconsin Studebaker, and he will tell you that even to this day he will be going through one of the many trailer loads of stuff he purchased from Hurwich Iron and find chrome, stainless, and other odds and ends. About 10 years ago he showed up with a pile of Hawk wheel well mouldings.

[JRoberts]

Hmmm. I was told they sold those Zip Van parts off about 5 or 6 years ago.
There was a list of Zip Van stuff available from the later owner of those parts.
Mostly bits and pieces...

I went on the tour twice and it was quite an experience. Chris pointed out the Zip Van stuff. I am not sure how much of what there is, but there are probably 25 or so front windsheild glasses. There was almost a whole rack or section of Zip Van stuff. We all need to remember that SI still has stuff they are sorting through and figuring out what much of it actually is.

[SN-60]

The stories of stacks of fenders, etc., piled one, - two stories high after being heaved out the windows, are true. If they only realized back then! ( of course, that's easy to say with benefit of hindsight)

[gordr]

Frankly, I doubt there were ever any stacks of C/K fender just "thrown out". Even before Studebaker closed their doors, it was generally recognized that coupes and Hawks were desirable cars, and had a following. I suspect it's more a case that there never were huge stocks of C/K body parts to begin with. They'd have had the normal quota of factory repair panels to sell into the body repair business, and that's it.

Those huge stacks of Lark and sedan fenders were for the production of cars that were never built. Remember that when the C/K's were introduced in 1953, they made what was it, two sedans for every C/K, and the market demand was more like 2 C/K's for every sedan?

I doubt we will ever see affordable steel front fenders for C/K cars again, unless somebody invents a rapid replicator that can work in sheet metal. But there are perfectly good fiberglass fenders out there, and they can be made to look good on a car.

[avanti76]

Word to the wise, when and if you get a chance to buy any C/K front or rear fender at a reasonable price buy it! I have a 63 Gt and have a set of front and rear skins just in case! The cost of tooling to repo these fenders would be huge! Not a enough demand to make repo-ing profitable. Most surviving C/K panels can be repaired using repair panels from Classic Enterprises.