Dealerships recalled

[Stude4x4]

I'm too young to remember the dealership in our town. But there was one right in Placerville, CA where John started making wheelbarrows. My Grandpa went to work there after the war in 46 then he bought it in 56 and sold it in 66. Now where the Studebaker dealership once stood is a big parking lot and a couple buildings.
Jake

-Home of John Studebaker-
http://community.webshots.com/user/Stude4x4

[CKOT]

Here is an interesting story about a car collector that showed up in the Sunday Nilwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Seems he renovated the former Henry Israel Motors Studebaker dealership in Waukesha into a residence and place to show his cars. Too bad it does not mention whether he owns a Stude or not. http://www.jsonline.com/homes/buy/jan06/383051.asp

[2R2]

I remember Harry Israel Motors in Waukesha, having lived there as a child. He was the Studebaker/Trimph dealer. I recall going there with my dad in '68 to look at Toyota's as by that time, he had taken on that line. At the time, you could still see the Studebaker name painted on the side of the building.

Another dealer I recall is Gregg Motor Sales in Joliet, IL. He was also the Lincoln/Mercury/Edsel dealer, and is still in business, though in a different location.

Does anyone remember Bob Butcher Studebaker in Yuma, AZ? They were located at 325 First Avenue, and were a Studebaker dealer from 7/5/62 until 2/14/63. This is where my '63 Lark was sold new. The owner, Bob Butcher is still alive (or, at least he was a year ago), but was not interested in talking to me about his dealer days.

This is a great thread, and I for one would also like to see more dealership articles. Please keep the information coming!

Eric
1949 2R5 truck
1963 R2 Lark

[MikeW]

If you are driving through downtown Joliet, IL going west on Jefferson, as you cross the river look back to the right and you will see a building with PACKARD still painted on it. That was the Packard dealer's building. I don't believe they ever sold Studebakers there but I could be wrong.


Mike
www.packardhawk.com

[Studedude1961]

The lone Studebaker dealer in Omaha, Nebraska was Chick's Morton Motor Co. just west of downtown on Farnam St. I recall Chick's handling the Avanti II in the early 1970s and perhaps Mercedes-Benz for awhile. The dealership building is in good condition and remains standing. It has changed hands often in recent years. I had the opportunity to tour the building about 5 years ago when it was for sale. It has a large basement garage service area, a smallish showroom in the middle of the building and two large display windows with room for one car on either end of the building. We were hopeful a few years ago when rumor had it that the building had been sold to a group who wanted to place their collector car dealership inside, but that was not to be. Currently the building is being rented by a company which manufactures large Christmas decoration displays. They moved in last fall when their building farther west on Farnam burned down. Attendees to the 42nd International Meet in Omaha later this year will have the opportunity to at least see the outside of the Morton Motors dealership.

Studedude1961
--1963 Cruiser
(Sold new in St. Joseph, Mo. by ????)

[studegary]

In this section of the Mid-Hudson Valley of New York State, there were quite a few Studebaker dealers. In Poughkeepsie was Pitcher Motors (also sold Mercedes Benz), in Wappingers Falls was Knight's Garage (owned by the Knight brothers, became a Dodge dealer for a short time, now the location of a new Chamber of Commerce building, the solid & unusual showroom was torn down a couple of years ago for the C of C bldg.), DiNapoli & Sallico in Beacon (I bought my '61 Lark VIII Regal sedan there as well as my new '66 Dodge Charger, they became Dodge dealers for quite a few years, the building is now a general repair shop - last I rode past), in Pawling, in Newburgh, in Cold Spring.

[Roscomacaw]

While not pertinent to Pennsylvania, I've mentioned Switzer & Jordan who were the Studebaker dealers here in Visalia from 1937 thru 1965. They were at 601E. Main St., in amongst what was dealership row during thier time. I was inside that building last Friday. It's now an antique mall as is the adjoining old dealership at 605 which had been the Nash & Rambler dealer for many years.
The fella who leases these two units (and rents spaces therein to antique vendors)is enthusiastic about the building's past. I gave him some rather large copies of photos I have, showing the place as a Stude dealership around 1940. When I was in there Friday he told me that the photos generate endless comments and rememberances from customers of the antique vendors.
I took some time to look at the structure of the building inside again. The back half of the place is pretty much as it was when it was a service area for the dealership. Places where pits and lifts once were are still visible even if they are filled in or have pipes and fittings cut flush with the floor.
The service doors on the sides and at the back are still there and useable. The sign attachment fittings are still on the front of the building as well. Some fresh paint and interior drywall are about all that's readily appearant as dress-up.
I happen to know that the signs (there were M-B and Studebaker signs up when the dealership closed) were disposed of along with lots of dealership "stuff" (records, literature, old advertizing items, etc.) in the early 70s. This was recounted to me by the dealer's daughter a few years ago.
Fact is, there were LOTS of little dealerships thru the central valley. Visalia's was one of the more vigorous ones. That's part of the reason they were afforded the chance to handle Mercedes. M-B sales were only allowed to selected dealers, not just any Stude outlet. So the fact that S & J sold them is proof that they must have done well.
There were Stude dealerships going back to the turn of the century in Visalia. As a point of note, the city of Visalia was founded in 1852 - the same year that Studebaker was founded! And as I've written before, the centennial edition of the Visalia Times-Delta newspaper had a footnote to the Studebaker ad that graced it's pages. That footnote told that Studebaker was THE ONE name that had been advertized in the Times-Delta newspaper for 100 years! That was in June of 1960.
The dealership became known simply as Switzer Motors in 1962 after the death of partner, Grover Jordan.

I have a photocopy of a Times-Delta feature where it shows a lineup of about 20 or so Studebakers in the late teens! This gathering was referred to by the local dealer as a "Studebaker Club". This club would gather on Sundays for group outings in their Studebakers. Imagine that!!![:0] A honest-to-gosh Studebaker DRIVERS Club even before the last Studebaker horse-drawn wagon was constructed! More proof that as has so loosely been bandied about since their demise - Studebaker was, again, ahead of it's time!

Miscreant at large.

1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe
1957 President 2-dr
1955 President State
1951 Champion Biz cpe
1963 Daytona project FS

[rockne10]

WOW! I started this thread in June of last year and I just remembered the name of the owner of McClelland Motors in Washington, Pa was Deik McClelland. We moved to another part of town three days before my ninth birthday in 1959. Are there any smiley faces with long gray beards?

[60studehawk]

I remember seeing an Avanti for the first time at the Colonial Park mall in Harrisburg, Pa. I was only 14 at the time, but I thought it was the best looking car I had ever seen. Maybe some day I'll owne one but for now I'll stick to my Hawk. I was at Palmyra Motors with the Keystone Region Chapter SDC and took lots of pics. I am having trouble into my webshots to post them, but I will keep trying. You can take a look at my other stude pics if you are interested.
http://community.webshots.com/user/60studehawk

[ceecab]

Everyone from Pa. forgot Ponsetta Studebaker in East McKeesport which ,if memory serves me, is where the impetus for this club started and the first SDC nationals was held
It's now a dentist's office

As an aside to Jeff Rice, it's up the street from Nigro's where we go to the Tuesday cruises. Not sure if I mentioned that to you before.

There was also Jordan's Studebaker in McKeesport which is where I took my first ride in an avanti when they were showing them around the country

That was about a mile from Nigros the other direction

And also one in Clairton, although the name escapes me-- but the owner gave me a couple rear quarters - one NOS- for a 63 Lark-- about a year ago

[garyash]

According to the build record, my '65 Wagonaire (assembled 6/23/65) was delivered to Fox Buick, N. Antrim Way, Greencastle, PA, between Chambersburg, PA and Hagerstown, MD, off I-81. There still seems to be a dealer at that location: Hicks Buick-Chevrolet-Volvo, 650 N. Antrim Way. Anybody know that dealership?

Somehow, my car found it's way to Bangor, Maine where it got abandoned in the woods for a few years. The previous owner rescued it and later sold it to me.

Gary Ash
Dartmouth, MA
'48 M5
'65 Wagonaire Commander
'63 Wagonaire Standard
www.studegarage.com

[studegary]

quote:Originally posted by ceecab

Everyone from Pa. forgot Ponsetta Studebaker in East McKeesport which ,if memory serves me, is where the impetus for this club started and the first SDC nationals was held
It's now a dentist's office

As an aside to Jeff Rice, it's up the street from Nigro's where we go to the Tuesday cruises. Not sure if I mentioned that to you before.

There was also Jordan's Studebaker in McKeesport which is where I took my first ride in an avanti when they were showing them around the country

That was about a mile from Nigros the other direction

And also one in Clairton, although the name escapes me-- but the owner gave me a couple rear quarters - one NOS- for a 63 Lark-- about a year ago

Perhaps you are refering to the Keystone Region and not SDC when you state;"...this club started..." when refering to East McKeesport, Pa. SDC started in New York. Keystone Region didn't become an SDC chapter until quite a few years later. The first SDC national meets were held in Rockville Center, New York. The first, and I believe only, SDC national meet held in East McKeesport, Pennsylvania was in 1967. The next SDC international meet held in Pennsylvania was in Gettysburg in 1980. There hasn't been one in Pennsylvania since 1980, but I believe the plan is to have one there in 2008.

[Laemmle]

My father and grandfather were Studebaker owners. First one I remember was a 51 Commander, followed by a 56 Golden Hawk 3-speed. They were both serviced at Alymra Packard on Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn...they also went under the name California Studebaker.
Time passed and we had a 64 Avanti, serviced at the former Ideal Sales And Service on Lakeview Avenue in Rockville Center, New York. The parts guy was a bit of an odd duck,(Dan) the head mechanic Earnie Martin was the absolute best I have ever seen...worked on cars till his late 80's! The owner's son Eddie was a hell of a nice guy. When on vacation in Miami we took the Avanti to Trojan Service Center at 511 NW 79th street, Richard Dahl ran the place with his partner Harvey, till Harvey moved back to his home state of Wisconsin.Dick continued to work on Studebakers till 1980 I believe when he sold the business to some fellows who ran it into the ground and sold all the parts as scrap...we all cryed when the news got out.
Eddie DeSilva an Eastern Airlines pilot from Miami had his Avantis serviced at Trojan for years. I have a picture of his son Jim standing next to Ed and the Avanti,which back in the early 70's sported thrush side pipes. In Queens Village New York there was also Leos auto sales...a Stude dealer, which is now a dry cleaning store...you can see where the bays were in the back ...now folks breathe toxic perc there...got to love the dry cleaning industry. Guess it's no better than exhaust fumes in the shop.

[Laemmle]

quote:Originally posted by r1lark

My family (grandfather, father, and uncle) owned Warta Motors on Sunrise Highway in Merrick (Long Island) NY. They also owned Packard Hempstead in Hempstead NY, which was a Packard-only store.

At the Sunrise Highway store, besides Studebaker and Packard, they handled Mercedes, DKW, Simca, and some other makes. After Studebaker stopped building cars in Hamilton, they took on both Toyota and Datsun, until Toyota threatened to drop the franchise if they didn't drop Datsun. Needless to say, they kept Datsun and dropped Toyota.

The dealership was closed in late 1969, by which time my grandfather had retired to Florida, and my dad & uncle had gotten tired of the high taxes, crime, etc in NY and relocated to North Carolina. When they were cleaning out in '69, my dad gave Harry Barnes (who visited the dealership often) all the parts he could carry off.....mainly older parts. A lot of the parts were thrown down an old well in the service department!

All the relatives drove Packards and Studebakers. My grandfather always had Packards. My mother and aunt always had a new Studebaker. When I was a small boy, my Mother had a '60 Lark hardtop (V8) that my brother would 'borrow' at night and outrun the cops in. I was with my mother one day when someone ran a stop sign, and the front of the Lark got crunched. (It subsequently got repaired.) Her last Studebaker was a '64 Challenger 4-door, 6 cylinder/auto with air conditioning! My brother eventually got that car, and it was finally parted out in the early '70s. I have a few parts from it (gauges, ignition switch, etc; wish I had the perfect red dash and the A/C setup!)

My memories of the Studebakers and Packards from when I was a boy is what got me into Studebakers. I have 10, and my dad has one (a '64 Challenger 2-door V8/3 speed) that is in the middle of a long restoration. No Packards yet, but I still want a '55 Clipper hardtop with Torsion Level, or a '56 Executive hardtop.

I am working on a history of the family's dealerships, for either a website or magazine article. A lot of the cars sold at the Sunrise Highway store had pictures taken of the owner/car upon delivery; my dad still has all these slides. He also still has the books that logged the cars sold with purchaser's name, serial number, etc. My dad saved some of the invoices from the interesting cars and well-known purchasers. Another story is the brand new (just off the carrier ) '57 or '58 Golden Hawk that had less than 100 miles on it before it was destroyed (with my dad driving) in an dispute with a garbage truck.....the garbage truck won.

Lots of stories, I know I will remember some more.

If anyone remembers these dealerships, or knows of any cars that are still around that were sold new at one of these dealerships, please let me know.

Paul

Visit The Studebaker Skytop Registry website at: http://hometown.aol.com/r1skytop/myhomepage/index.html

[Laemmle]

Also in Baldwin Long Island next to the famous Rayynors Chicken joint is a service station called Burks...this used to be a mom and pop Studebaker operation.