Studebaker Dealers

[yekslo1]

Teddy's Service, Bergenfield, New Jersey
Benzel-Busch, Englewood, New Jersey

[Bill Pressler]

quote:Originally posted by yekslo1

Teddy's Service, Bergenfield, New Jersey
Benzel-Busch, Englewood, New Jersey

The President of the Ohio Region SDC, Dale Richmond, owns a black over red vinyl interior '65 Cruiser that was originally sold at Teddy's Service in Bergenfield, NJ. The car is immaculate and used to be owned by former SDC President and Hamilton employee, Stu Chapman. Photos of the car have appeared in "Cars of the Sixties" and Collectible Automobile.

[Lothar]

Lowry-Sandstrom, later Larson Garage were in succession, the Studebaker dealers in Holdrege, Nebraska. Don't know whether they sold other makes.

1950 CHampion
Back half of 1956 TransStar

[Studedude1961]

Kramer Motors, well-known Pontiac-Cadillac dealer late of Scottsbluff, Nebraska sold Studebaker products for a short time after the Lark was introduced for 1959. Another longtime Nebraska dealer was Lundstrom Motors operated by Al Lundstrom in Osmond, Nebraska.

Studedude1961
--1963 Cruiser

[Stu63]

I have a story about Coppus Motor Sales in Tiffin OH. My Heidelberg College roomate, Dave Koffel later of Filntstone Flyer Fame, had bought a 55 prez engine to install in his 51 Commander. He left the old 232 at junk yard in Bucyrus when he picked up the 259 which was part of the problem. When we went to install the 55 it would not fit cause the oil pan was different from the 51. At 11:30PM on a Saturday we called the owner. After explaining our problem he met us at the store and sold us a pan. What dealer would do this today?

Butler, PA
63 Avanti R1 R2899

[jnewkirk77]

Guys, I'm new to the forum but have been lurking around a while and gathering info on dealers to post here.

Bob, you were right on about Lenox in Lebanon, IN selling Studebakers, but only for a short while, late '58 to '62 if I remember right what the late Dick Lenox told me several years ago. My uncle and I used to take care of the yard work for all of his rental properties and his dealership. I didn't find out about their Stude connection until I took Grandma to some garage sales one Saturday and found a black plastic key wallet that reads "LENOX BROTHERS - Lincoln-Mercury-Comet-Lark - Phone 14 For Service - Lebanon, Ind." It was a nickel, so naturally it became mine. I asked Dick about it and he confirmed the timeline to the best of his recollection. He was kind of a difficult person, you might say, but once I got to know him, we got along OK. Still miss our little talks. His sons ran the dealership out of business about 6 or 7 years ago, if memory serves, maybe not that long. They had a couple Larks at the end, but I don't remember what happened to them.

Anyway, on with the rest of my list. I grew up in Rockport, IN, right along the Ohio River about 30 miles east of Evansville. Vogel Brothers carried Studebaker in the '40s and early '50s I know for sure, maybe earlier.

Then we didn't have a dealer in Rockport until '57 I suppose, when Tommy Jessee signed on after AMC dropped Hudson. That would've been in about '56-57, around in there. I have an enlargement of a '59 Lark intro ad around here somewhere out of the Rockport Democrat newspaper. Anyway, he lasted until about '61, then got out of selling cars altogether. He had a filling station too, can't remember what brand. His place was about 6 miles west of town at a crossroads we call Sandridge. Now the dealership building is used for junk storage, don't know who owns it. The old filling station is a video store, has been for probably 20 years at least. He passed away a good 25 years ago or more.

After Tommy jumped ship, Paul Erwin got the dealership (Erwin Services, Inc.) just in time for the '62 models to come out. His place was on the west edge of Rockport, and I think he stayed with Stude until the end. He wound up with Chrysler, Plymouth and eventually Dodge as well, before he retired, which was in the early '70s.

All of the above info came from talking to the people involved and my late grandfather, who was close friends with all of them. Wish they were all still around, because I miss them all. Sure provided this young pup (I'll be 30 in just about a month) with some fine stories and memories!

Nowadays, I call Owensboro, KY my home, which is right across the river from Rockport. I did some research at the library in the old city directories and found A&M Motor Sales. Don't know who owned that, but they showed up in the '63, '64 and '65 city directories. Not there in '66. They must've packed it in around the "end of the ball game." They were located on East Second Street, and if the address is correct, it would appear they operated out of a tobacco warehouse, because that is what stands at that location, and it was certainly there well before 1963! I know that because it sold at auction a few years back, and was advertised as having been built in 1902.

So now you have a long story and a little information. Hopefully this has not been too boring. If so, let me have it!

[Bill Pressler]

jnewkirk77, your information wasn't boring at all! On the contrary, I think most of us enjoy hearing about the old Studebaker dealerships. Most folks never went to South Bend back then; their impression of Studebaker was based on the product itself and the hometown "support" provided by the local dealer.

Thanks for your additional information posted!

Bill Pressler
Kent, OH
'63 Lark Daytona Skytop R1
("Local" dealer here in '63 was called Jim Lee's Studebaker, Ravenna, OH, just on the outskirts of Kent...anybody remember it? My boyhood-hometown Studebaker dealer was Carl E. Filer Co., Greenville, PA)

[quote]quote:Originally posted by jnewkirk77

Guys, I'm new to the forum but have been lurking around a while and gathering info on dealers to post here.

Bob, you were right on about Lenox in Lebanon, IN selling Studebakers, but only for a short while, late '58 to '62 if I remember right what the late Dick Lenox told me several years ago. My uncle and I used to take care of the yard work for all of his rental properties and his dealership. I didn't find out about their Stude connection until I took Grandma to some garage sales one Saturday and found a black plastic key wallet that reads "LENOX BROTHERS - Lincoln-Mercury-Comet-Lark - Phone 14 For Service - Lebanon, Ind." It was a nickel, so naturally it became mine. I asked Dick about it and he confirmed the timeline to the best of his recollection. He was kind of a difficult person, you might say, but once I got to know him, we got along OK. Still miss our little talks. His sons ran the dealership out of business about 6 or 7 years ago, if memory serves, maybe not that long. They had a couple Larks at the end, but I don't remember what happened to them.

Anyway, on with the rest of my list. I grew up in Rockport, IN, right along the Ohio River about 30 miles east of Evansville. Vogel Brothers carried Studebaker in the '40s and early '50s I know for sure, maybe earlier.

Then we didn't have a dealer in Rockport until '57 I suppose, when Tommy Jessee signed on after AMC dropped Hudson. That would've been in about '56-57, around in there. I have an enlargement of a '59 Lark intro ad around here somewhere out of the Rockport Democrat newspaper. Anyway, he lasted until about '61, then got out of selling cars altogether. He had a filling station too, can't remember what brand. His place was about 6 miles west of town at a crossroads we call Sandridge. Now the dealership building is used for junk storage, don't know who owns it. The old filling station is a video store, has been for probably 20 years at least. He passed away a good 25 years ago or more.

After Tommy jumped ship, Paul Erwin got the dealership (Erwin Services, Inc.) just in time for the '62 models to come out. His place was on the west edge of Rockport, and I think he stayed with Stude until the end. He wound up with Chrysler, Plymouth and eventually Dodge as well, before he retired, which was in the early '70s.

All of the above info came from talking to the people involved and my late grandfather, who was close friends with all of them. Wish they were all still around, because I miss them all. Sure provided this young pup (I'll be 30 in just about a month) with some fine stories and memories!

Nowadays, I call Owensboro, KY my home, which is right across the river from Rockport. I did some research at the library in the old city directories and found A&M Motor Sales. Don't know who owned that, but they showed up in the '63, '64 and '65 city directories. Not there in '66. They must've packed it in around the "end of the ball game." They were located on East Second Street, and if the address is correct, it would appear they operated out of a tobacco warehouse, because that is what stands at that location, and it was certainly there well before 1963! I know that because it sold at auction a few years back, and was advertised as having been buil

[jnewkirk77]

Thanks, Bill! As a side note, I forgot to post Tommy's dealership's name ... my mistake. It was Sandridge Garage. Sometimes I get carried away and leave out important info!

[57 Classic]

Here is a multi-make dealer in Briarcliff N.Y. Note the Hillman Sundbeam in the window as well as Fiat.


B.Millette

[Roscomacaw]

Jacob, thanks for sharing. I'm gonna wonder out loud here... why is it that posters feel compelled to apologise for wordy posts??? What are they worried about - wasting bandwidth??? Heh - if lengthy posts were frowned upon, I wouldn't BE here!
It isn't like short wave radio where you try not to hog air time too much and it isn't like sending a telegram, where you pay more for each word. Say what you want to say and elaborate. Nothing paints a better picture than a more detailed account!

Miscreant adrift in
the BerStuda Triangle


1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe

[Retired]

The SNM archives has the 5x8 card file that Studebaker maintained on it's dealers.

[JBOYLE]

quote:Originally posted by n/a

Here's two that I can remember that were Studebaker dealers in the 60's: Madren Brothers--Spokane, Washington. Also sold Toyota.

The building is still there, I drive past it everynight on the way home from work. It's now a beauty school.
BTW: I met a guy at a local chapter sponsored charity show (for the Humane Society) with a nice GT.
His wife is the daughter of one of Madren Brothers, so he went out and found an old dealer plate topper.

63 Avanti R1 2788
1914 Stutz Bearcat
(George Barris replica)

Washington State

[jnewkirk77]

Thanx, Mr. Biggs ... I feel better now! :-)

I'll have to get a scan of my Lenox Brothers key case and post it ... if I can find the scanner, that is. I put it away somewhere when I ditched the desktop and switched to a laptop ... now, wouldn't you know, I can't remember where "somewhere" is. Call it a "junior" senior moment.

Gotta run for now, we're expecting rough weather during the night and I need to round up batteries for the weather radio ... might be a long night.

EDIT: Paul Johnson, if you're reading this, you touched a nerve when you mentioned the dealers in the Iola, Garnett and Bronson areas of Kansas a while back. Ginger (my lovely wife) is an Iola native and we still get back there once or twice a year to visit her family members (the "outlaws" as I call 'em!) who still live in the area. Would be neat to see if any of the old buildings still exist.

Jacob Newkirk - Owensboro, KY

Currently driving an '87 Ford F-150, but I dream of having a Hawk one day. Don't we all?

[showbizkid]

Just found this one, on an eBay auction for some Lark lit: Collier Auto Sales, 888 North Orange Avenue, Orlando, Florida


[img=left]http://members.cox.net/clarknovak/lark.gif[/img=left]

Clark in San Diego
'63 F2/Lark Standard

http://studeblogger.blogspot.com

https://www.studebakersandiego.com

[Swifster]

quote:Originally posted by showbizkid

Just found this one, on an eBay auction for some Lark lit: Collier Auto Sales, 888 North Orange Avenue, Orlando, Florida

Next time I'm in Orlando, I'll see if there is anything remaining of the original building.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom - Valrico, FL

1964 Studebaker Daytona - 289 4V, 4-Speed (Cost To Date: $1755.45)