What was Studebaker interested in selling?

[JDP]

In hindsight I wonder what would have happened if they'd promoted the Avanti powered cars better. Say a 63 2 door sedan package with the R1 standard, optional R2,3 and 4, maybe some special graphics like the later GTO, Road Runner.

JDP/Maryland
"I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."
Thomas Jefferson

[556063]

Studebaker suffered, particularly in 1958, with the rest of the industry. And, with the Big Three companies producing cars and selling them to dealers who sold them "supermarket style", the problems that would later snowball and claim the company really hurt sales volume. Studebaker Dealers could not floor plan inventory. Dealers ordered cars one at a time, often only when they were sold. The company could not force cars on dealers because banks wouldn't lend the money to allow the dealers to put them in inventory. 1958 was a recessionary year, and remember, even Ford had trouble getting their new division, Edsel, rolling. Studebaker got rolled over as the better financed organizations kept their lines running as best they could. This all makes the story of the Lark just a year or so later even more miraculous.

I think most two door sports models have a higher survival rate than their sedan counterparts. The Hawk was quite a special car compared to it's contemporaries. It's styling and appeal made it more than just a transportation appliance to it's owners. Even back then.

Kevin Wolford
Plymouth, IN

55 Champion
60 Lark VI Conv.
63 Avanti R1

[BobPalma]

quote:Originally posted by 556063
I think most two door sports models have a higher survival rate than their sedan counterparts. The Hawk was quite a special car compared to it's contemporaries. It's styling and appeal made it more than just a transportation appliance to it's owners. Even back then.

Kevin Wolford

True, Kevin, and the reality is that the first owner of a higher-priced car (say, a supercharged 1958 Hawk, or even a President hardtop), generally had more money and took better care of the car during its first several years, than the buyer of a low-line sedan, who might not even have a garage. BP