Any idea why Stude never offered power windows in any of the Larks, etc.?

[studegary]

According to the 1958 Salesman's Data Book, all 1958s (Studebaker & Packard), except Scotsman, were available with power windows. The power windows were only available in doors (front only or all four).

I had a friend that owned three 1955 Speedsters at one time. Two had power windows. My 1957 Golden Hawk had power windows and power seat. All of these power windows were in the doors only.

[JoeHall]

I have had a couple of 56Js with PW, and installed an aftermarket kit in another one, mentioned above, by NuRelics. Never seen a Lark of any kind or year, with PW though.

[8E45E]

According to the 1958 Salesman's Data Book, all 1958s (Studebaker & Packard), except Scotsman, were available with power windows. The power windows were only available in doors (front only or all four).

Check your book for the 'J' bodies; not just the 'K' body. The 1958 Shop Manual Supplement shows the remove & replace procedure on the '58 rears with power windows. And as I stated before, I did see one Packard hardtop with rear power windows.

Craig

[52-fan]

Did anyone else notice this is a revival of a thread from 2011? Also, the original poster never posted again.

[T.J lavallee]

My two cents: Power windows are prone to failure even to this day. Perhaps Studebaker wanted to keep the bread and butter vehicles dependable. The elimination of this expensive and problematic option would keep the cost down for the consumer and the dependability factor higher for the company's reputation as they introduced their new models.

[studegary]

Check your book for the 'J' bodies; not just the 'K' body. The 1958 Shop Manual Supplement shows the remove & replace procedure on the '58 rears with power windows. And as I stated before, I did see one Packard hardtop with rear power windows.

Craig

Yes, I did include J hardtop bodies as well as all others including station wagons. Those rear power windows must be an option that was added after the Salesman's Data Book was published.

[studegary]

My two cents: Power windows are prone to failure even to this day. Perhaps Studebaker wanted to keep the bread and butter vehicles dependable. The elimination of this expensive and problematic option would keep the cost down for the consumer and the dependability factor higher for the company's reputation as they introduced their new models.

I do not want to jinx myself. I have owned MANY new and old cars with power windows. The only problem was with the driver's door window after 15 years on a car that I bought new. It cost less than $100 for the repair at the dealership.

I think that power windows were not offered on Larks due to the very low expected selection of the option at that time. Remember that most cars did not have A/C at that time and many did not have AT.

[Hoghead]

So what modern kit can fit in a Champ other than Nu Relics?

[jimmijim8]

Mr. Bill has a point.

Plus people might have come into a showroom and drooled over that nice Cruiser with all the goodies early 60's tech could give it... and then drive out in new more basic car.

They could have also come out with a real luxury package... how about a factory Cruiser with R1, powershift, FM radio, leather, AC, power windows, disk brakes, all the cool goodies Studebaker could have thrown at it. Maybe call it a President Cruiser.

I don't know how many they would have sold but I bet it would have gotten some attention, and would certainly be a very collectable car today!

I had a 64 Cruiser with 289 2 bbl Bucket seats and Power shift tranny{floor shifter} as mfg. cheers jimmijim

[8E45E]

I think that power windows were not offered on Larks due to the very low expected selection of the option at that time.

That is basically the answer I received in 1988 at one of the technical seminars at the International Meet that year as per my previous post in this thread. In other words, too expensive to justify the expected low sales. Falcon (in North America), and Chrysler's compact A-body cars never offered power windows, and GM didn't start offering them on their compacts until 1975. (It was offered in 1962-3 on Buick Skylark hardtops and convertibles, but very few were sold with them.)

Craig

[62champ]

IIRC, wasn't there a 62 cruiser that had electric door lifts installed by the engineering department? The doors survived but not the rest of the car...

[studegary]

IIRC, wasn't there a 62 cruiser that had electric door lifts installed by the engineering department? The doors survived but not the rest of the car...

I remember one Lark sedan that was factory fitted with power windows for a "special" customer.
I do not remember the year or model, but you are likely correct.

[57pack]

My dad was a new Studebaker buyer. He purchased Studebakers because they were a good dependable lower cost car.
He wouldn’t ever have sprung for a car with power windows. Heck, he wouldn’t even buy a car with a radio.
His last new Studebaker was a 1964 Commander four door with V8 and OD transmission. Only other option this car had was quad headlamps. I guess he bought this car with a V8 because he received a good deal from Pryzwara’s as this was late December 1963. And of course it didn’t have a radio! I installed a manual tune Studebaker radio with a front and rear speaker a few years later.

[Dwight FitzSimons]

The Lark was a low priced car, so it is understandable that power windows were not offered. Perhaps they should have been offered on the Cruiser, however. It is less understandable that power windows were not offered on the GT Hawks, at least on the doors. The GT Hawk was a middle-price car, so more options would have made sense. And, the hardtop Hawks had them through 1958. Wouldn't the tooling have been the same for the '62-64 Hawks as for the '56-58 Hawk hardtops?
-Dwight

[raoul5788]

My '57 Packard wagon has power windows all the way around.