A couple long-standing questions were answered and some new trivia came to the fore as a result of Cari and my traveling to South Bend Friday Evening, April 10. The purpose was to attend The Society of Automotive Historians Annual Banquet at The Studebaker National Museum, per Andy's Beckman's description on Pages 7 and 8 of the March Turning Wheels.
It was a nice evening. The Banquet Speaker was Jon Bill, full-time Curator of The Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum in Auburn IN. Jon's topic was Hoosier Hot Rods, wherein, with a slide show, he contrasted the 1936/1937 Cord 810/812 series cars with Studebaker Avantis. Jon and I had attended Purdue together, both in Industrial Arts Education. We were even in the same IA Honorary Fraternity at the same time. For no particular reason, our paths had not crossed for at least 20 years, so we had a lot of catching up to do. It was good to again see old friend Jon Bill.
Cari and I intentionally arrived at least an hour early because I had permission for Drew Van De Wielle to accompany me to the museum gallery and take a photo of the engine number in 1964 Daytona 64V20202, the famous Bordeaux Red hardtop that was the last Studebaker assembled in South Bend. Due to Production Orders being lost, purloined, mislaid, or otherwise not filled out correctly, it was not known what engine number was in that car. Here it is:
That stimulated some research when I got home, because I wondered if that had been the last JT engine assembled. It was not. In fact, it was one of seven R1 JT engines assembled Tuesday, December 17, 1963. There is no way of knowing which one of the seven it is.
But I did uncover this interesting piece of trivia in the course of that: There was only one R1 JT engine assembled the next day; Wednesday, December 18, 1963. It carried stamping JT N318. JT N318 was not only the singular JT R1 engine assembled that day, it was also the last production-line R1 (or R2) engine assembled for a 1964 Lark or Hawk.
More interesting trivia: JT N318 was installed in 1964 Hawk #64V20166. That was not the last Hawk built, but it was the last JT-powered Hawk built. So if anyone has or locates 1964 Hawk #64V20166, they have the last JT-powered 1964 Hawk built and it is powered (hopefully, still is!) by the last 1964 JT engine built for Larks or Hawks.
Pretty cool that the last R1 engine went into the last R-powered 1964 Hawk, eh?
I also uncovered another interesting piece of trivia in the course of all this: The plainest, bare-bones 1964 Gran Turismo Hawk I've ever seen: 64V20168, built two cars after the subject R1 Hawk. That 1964 Hawk, 64V20168, went to Culver City CA. It was Astra White with blue cloth interior and one, only ONE option: Undercoat...and since undercoat was a delete option on 1964 Hawks, it would have gotten undercoat unless it was distinctly ordered without it. That's right, the car had ZERO options other than mandatory undercoating: cloth seats, straight three speed, and absolutely nothing else!
So even without Paul Harvey, we now know "the rest of the story" on several accounts. BP
It was a nice evening. The Banquet Speaker was Jon Bill, full-time Curator of The Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum in Auburn IN. Jon's topic was Hoosier Hot Rods, wherein, with a slide show, he contrasted the 1936/1937 Cord 810/812 series cars with Studebaker Avantis. Jon and I had attended Purdue together, both in Industrial Arts Education. We were even in the same IA Honorary Fraternity at the same time. For no particular reason, our paths had not crossed for at least 20 years, so we had a lot of catching up to do. It was good to again see old friend Jon Bill.
Cari and I intentionally arrived at least an hour early because I had permission for Drew Van De Wielle to accompany me to the museum gallery and take a photo of the engine number in 1964 Daytona 64V20202, the famous Bordeaux Red hardtop that was the last Studebaker assembled in South Bend. Due to Production Orders being lost, purloined, mislaid, or otherwise not filled out correctly, it was not known what engine number was in that car. Here it is:
That stimulated some research when I got home, because I wondered if that had been the last JT engine assembled. It was not. In fact, it was one of seven R1 JT engines assembled Tuesday, December 17, 1963. There is no way of knowing which one of the seven it is.
But I did uncover this interesting piece of trivia in the course of that: There was only one R1 JT engine assembled the next day; Wednesday, December 18, 1963. It carried stamping JT N318. JT N318 was not only the singular JT R1 engine assembled that day, it was also the last production-line R1 (or R2) engine assembled for a 1964 Lark or Hawk.
More interesting trivia: JT N318 was installed in 1964 Hawk #64V20166. That was not the last Hawk built, but it was the last JT-powered Hawk built. So if anyone has or locates 1964 Hawk #64V20166, they have the last JT-powered 1964 Hawk built and it is powered (hopefully, still is!) by the last 1964 JT engine built for Larks or Hawks.
Pretty cool that the last R1 engine went into the last R-powered 1964 Hawk, eh?
I also uncovered another interesting piece of trivia in the course of all this: The plainest, bare-bones 1964 Gran Turismo Hawk I've ever seen: 64V20168, built two cars after the subject R1 Hawk. That 1964 Hawk, 64V20168, went to Culver City CA. It was Astra White with blue cloth interior and one, only ONE option: Undercoat...and since undercoat was a delete option on 1964 Hawks, it would have gotten undercoat unless it was distinctly ordered without it. That's right, the car had ZERO options other than mandatory undercoating: cloth seats, straight three speed, and absolutely nothing else!
So even without Paul Harvey, we now know "the rest of the story" on several accounts. BP
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