Interesting article about the demise of various auto brands, inluding Studebaker

[Bob Andrews]

Interesting piece, even if it is in an annoying slide show format. Not 100% perfect, but some fascinating stuff anyway.

Triumph, then tragedy: America's great lost auto companies (msn.com)

[ddub]

Not bad, could have used an informed editor.

[Dwight FitzSimons]

The pictured "1956 DeSoto" is actually an early 1950s model.
-Dwight

[Milaca]

The article starts out by stating that there were over 160 American automobile manufacturers in 1919. That's a lot of manufacturers!
There were steam, short-range electric and internal combustion powered automobiles and over 160 American companies were trying their hand at this relatively new creation in hopes of making a fortune.

Jump ahead 100+ years and many companies are trying their hand at manufacturing long-range electricautomobiles, in hopes of making a fortune.
Every week, I find an article about either a new start-up company or a well established company with a new electric automobile that will soon go into production.

My point is, it feels like the early days of automobile production with so many new entries into this new market. Many of these new companies will soon go out of business, some will merge and some will prosper. The present time is a very interesting time in automobile history, it's like deja vu all over again!

[BobPalma]

Not bad, could have used an informed editor.

True. I'm still looking for a Studebaker Hawk in Photo #9...'must've missed something there. BP

[studegary]

Too many errors in the parts that I did read.

[rbisacca]

Isn't the pictured 1956 Clipper actually a 1955?

[Lark Hunter]

^ 'tis a '56

The pictured "1956 DeSoto" is actually an early 1950s model.
-Dwight

It looks like a PlySoto... a cousin to the more common Plodges that were sold outside of the USA. The mishmash of a model name (Diplomat Plaza) points to that too, and sometimes the styling lagged quite a bit behind current USA offerings... seemingly more so in RHD markets like Australia.

[Lark Hunter]

Glad this was shared. Even though the writing quality was like a term paper spat out on the bus ride to school the morning it was due, there were some pictures I haven't seen before

True. I'm still looking for a Studebaker Hawk in Photo #9...'must've missed something there. BP

Did you miss the writer drone opining that Studebaker mighta made the cut if they had been smart enough to have offered performance or something in the Lark, since the Corvair got a turbo and the Rambler got a Marlin? If only Studebaker knew then what we know now, eh.

[BobPalma]

Isn't the pictured 1956 Clipper actually a 1955?

No, Bob; it is a 1956 Clipper Super Panama.

I've seen that photo many times, but never in color. I'm pretty sure it is the reverse color combination of my own 1956 Clipper Super Panama (same model), pictured here in November 1993 with my father (left) and his younger brother Milton, in front of what was their Packard dealership agency building in 1953-1955.

Both men are now deceased; Dad in 2017 at age 100, and uncle Milt in 1994 at age 71. BP

[BobPalma]

Glad this was shared. Even though the writing quality was like a term paper spat out on the bus ride to school the morning it was due, there were some pictures I haven't seen before

Did you miss the writer drone opining that Studebaker mighta made the cut if they had been smart enough to have offered performance or something in the Lark, since the Corvair got a turbo and the Rambler got a Marlin? If only Studebaker knew then what we know now, eh.

Good analogy on the term paper written on the bus ride, T.A.

Yes, I saw the pontification on the high-performance cars and scratched my head, too...and the author quoting 1958 Packard Hawk production as representing the total of all 1958 Packards produced, rather than just the Hawk.

Sigh... BP

[rbisacca]

No, Bob; it is a 1956 Clipper Super Panama.

I based my assumption on the lack of extended headlight brows. So did only the senior 1956 Packards have the extended HL brows and the Clippers did not?

[BobPalma]

I based my assumption on the lack of extended headlight brows. So did only the senior 1956 Packards have the extended HL brows and the Clippers did not?

Yes, Bob; that's correct: Only the Senior Packards had the extended headlamp brows for 1956; 1956 Clippers did not.

(And if you look under the fenders of a 1956 Senior car, you'll see where they had who knows how many metal workers fit, weld, and lead in extended brows over 1955 front fenders to make 1956 "Senior" front fenders!)

BP