Fun at the car show!

[Bob Bryant]

Car events, shows, cruise-ins, and museums are always great fun for me. This past week I was gone quite a bit and Carol kindly didn't get upset about my considerable absences. Three cruise-ins and one show.


Yesterday, our 1963 Studebaker Avanti was at Olde Mystick Village the MOPAR & More Show. Olde Mystick Village is just north of the Mystic Seaport. The Studebaker was awarded "People's Choice Award for NON-MOPARS " and "Mystick Village Choice Award" and while it was not Pebble Beach it was a fun day.

Just braggin' and I had to tell somebody!

[SN-60]

To: Bob Bryant,---------It's ALWAYS good to hear stories like that!........and Your 'Showing the Flag'...........Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Pat Dilling]

Way to go Bob! Keep 'em in front of people!

[(S)]

Drive 'em show 'em. They need not be prefect. (screw pebble beach) Exposure is what counts. Good job and congrats!

[Bob Bryant]

Three young fellows were at the car for a long time and were very curious about Studebaker and Avanti. Being second owner I have the story of the car in a looseleaf. Milt Green's name is on the console plaque and I show folks the order form, the delivery invoice, and a photo of Milt getting the keys from the dealer for which Richard Quinn helped me get the photo caption. Also included are photos of the rework in the early 90's, a brochure for what I think is a 2006 Avanti, and someother memorabilia. By asking people who have apparent interest in the Studebaker story if they want to view the history of the car it gives them a way out! Those people seem to genuinely appreciate viewing the history. My wife has health issues and she knows I have great fun any time the Avanti is out of the garage. When it cools down she will ride shotgun at times.

It seems like whenever I park the car conversation starts with curious people. For Carol and I the car was a perfect choice and she was the one who thought of it first. Today, she was asking me how much a Kaiser Darrin costs. I told her don't ask! We must have thing about fiberglass cars, as we had '74 Saab Sonett at one point. Thanks, guys!

A lady who was helping run the show said she had 2 or 3 Studebakers which she lost as part of an ubnfortunate split with her ex-husband. Another couple immediately started telling me about Raymond Loewy. They asked me if I had noticed the red stripe on the side of United States Coast Guard vessels? They insisted that Raymond Loewy created that design for the branch. That was a new story for me, but it may be one others have heard.

[Gunslinger]

Another couple immediately started telling me about Raymond Loewy. They asked me if I had noticed the red stripe on the side of United States Coast Guard vessels? They insisted that Raymond Loewy created that design for the branch. That was a new story for me, but it may be one others have heard.

That's true according to the Coast Guard's website. It was done during the Kennedy Administration. I had also heard that the Walt Disney studios created the stripe for the Coast Guard for one of their movies and they needed something to make the Coast Guard vessel stand out in a group of boats in a scene, and the Coast Guard liked it so much they adopted it. That has to be an urban legend since I would think the USCG official site would have the accurate story. Maybe the Disney movie, whichever it was, might have first presented the stripe in a mass way to the public and the legend grew from that.

[62champ]

A good local friend loves to have kids really experience his 1964 wagon. When ever they walk up and start oohing and ahhhing at how the back of the roof actually opens up, he asks if they want to sit in the 3rd seat. They usually say yes and love the fact there is a cool chrome step to get them there. His love for the car and the smiles on people's face's is pretty priceless.

This is a photo of the "business" end of his wagon last summer. Unless it is raining, the top is open and when sitting still the tailgate is always down.

[53k]

Driving an Avanti is always an interesting experience. Stopping in public always seems to draw a crowd. When we were driving to South Bend for the IM I stopped at a gas station in a small town in Ohio. While I was filling up a young man in a Ford pickup pulled up to the pump behind me. He jumped out and said "Wow! An Avanti! First one I have ever seen in person, but I have a 1/25 scale model of one at home." On the trip home we stopped at a Rodeway hotel in Wooster, OH. As I was unloading a car pulled in and several 30ish people got out. The young man was quite knowledgeable about Avantis and explained the car to his companions (accurately), and showed them the interior (with my permission). He said he checks eBay weekly for Studebakers and will have one some day. Then a "first" for me- as we were traveling east on I-70 in Maryland (holding the speed limit of 65 mph), a SUV pulled along side then moved about a car length ahead and held my speed. The passenger window came down and out came a cell phone camera and whoever was holding it snapped some pictures.
My wife actually knew about Avantis before I did. While I was at sea she had taken our '61 Cruiser in to a small dealership in Rhode Island for service some time in '62. Two brothers owned the business. They had just come back from a dealer showing of the Avanti and they were enthused. They gave her the first Avanti brochure and she gave it to me long before we ever saw the car itself. I hung the brochure in my office on the ship and when I was transferred in September, '62 I kept the brochure. In '75 the Smithsonian Renwick Gallery had a Raymond Loewy exhibit which featured a '75 Avanti and Raymond Loewy was to speak at a special gathering which included the members of the National Capital Area Avanti Owners (defunct chapter). I took the brochure along and got him to autograph it. While my wife isn't always very enthused about Studebakers, she still loves Avantis. That made it easier to sell the beautiful '64 Daytona convertible to buy the '64 we have now.