Studes in Roadside Americana photos

[JRoberts]

BP I wish I knew more about this picture there was no explanation about it.

Since the above I came up with this as the site from where the picture in question came. It does not give a name, but other pictures that may give hints as to the location of the picture. http://www.asa1000.com/PortStudebaker.html

Note that in the link it says Port Studebaker.

[BobPalma]

BP I wish I knew more about this picture there was no explanation about it.

Since the above I came up with this as the site from where the picture in question came. It does not give a name, but other pictures that may give hints as to the location of the picture. http://www.asa1000.com/PortStudebaker.html

Note that in the link it says Port Studebaker.

Good additional research, Joe; thanks.

"Upon further review" (i.e., the additional pictures) I do not believe this is the Studebaker dealership at 923 N. Meridian Street in Indianapolis. The showroom doesn't look quite right...and through the showroom window, you can see what is across the street from the dealership. That does not look like what would be the appropriate Indianapolis street scene. Further, there is evidence that the place was once a Packard dealership, and that is not consistent with the Indianapolis building.

Finally, if you take close look at the Lark station wagon with the right rear bumper damage, you can see there is a year tag on the upper right corner of the license plate. Again, that is not consistent with 1960s Indiana licensing practices. Sorry for the false alarm.

That said, take a close look in the foreground of the photo where the guys are all sitting around the break room table eating lunch. It looks like there is a circa 1964 Studebaker F-body front seat sitting there for R&R. Perhaps it was removed from a wrecked car or ??? From the upholstery pattern, can we determine the exact year and model from which it was removed? I'm sure it is a Studebaker front seat.

Great fun, this detective work. Thanks again for the links, Joe. BP

[8E45E]

BP I wish I knew more about this picture there was no explanation about it.

Here is what you get when you click 'Image Information':

"In 1971 I was living in Los Angeles, running a gas station on Hollywood Boulevard for a friend, and taking photography classes at UCLA. I had a small house at the beach in Santa Monica and a darkroom in the garage out back.

In my spare time I'd walk the neighborhood taking pictures of what one of my professors calld 'the social landscape' Then I'd come home to develop my negatives and make prints.

My next-door neighbor was a commercial photographer. We talked pictures a lot. He had done some work for Westways, the LA magazine of the American Automobile Association. He introduced me to the assignment editor for the magazine.

At the gas station I had a Studebaker Lark cvonvertible that needed a part. The Studebaker dealership was just across town.

It was no secret that the Studebaker brand was going out of business and when I got there I could see why. It was a place lost in time. Mechanics, each with an apprentice, a dark garage with an upstairs lunchroom, well worn white coveralls and a million miles of tire tracks back and forth across the floor. I saw it all.

The editor at Westways had asked me for story ideas. The Frost and French Studebaker Dealership in Hollywood California was my suggestion and I got the asignment."

[BobPalma]

Cool beans, Craig. Now we know what the inside of Frost & French looked like in 1971, eh? BP

[JRoberts]

[aarrggh]

[JRoberts]

Buckley Brothers Studebaker, Denver, CO.

[aarrggh]

[JRoberts]

Lost to a Chevelle http://shodell.net/chevelle/

[62champ]

Wow - how was that Commander accessorized to pull that monster...

[BobPalma]

Peek-a-Boo:

[aarrggh]

[aarrggh]

[Greenstude]

This picture reminds me of our accommodations at the SDC International Meet in Marlborough MA in 1990. My wife arranged to rent a huge travel trailer able to sleep 9 people at a campground, for us and our 4 children. One morning I was sitting in a lawn chair in front of it, having a cup of tea. Another camper walked by. After admiring our 1947 Champion sedan, he said to me, "Sir, did you haul that trailer all the way from Canada with that?"

[JRoberts]

Meyers Motor Company, 11 E. Washington St., Iowa City IA, 1947