Anybody else know of any Studebakers that survived the period of just being old used cars, were rescued, got safely within SDC, but were later "lost" anyway?
Reason I ask: I've often reflected on what I thought was a terrible waste of a black 1962 Daytona convertible, 289/225/4-speed. It was understandably sold as a parts car at the May South Bend Swap Meet by used-car dealer friend Rick Crawley of Logansport IN maybe 8 years ago.
Like so many of us have, Rick had watched the car deteriorate alongside a shed by the railroad tracks in Logansport for years, unable to buy it, until there wasn't enough of it left to restore. He finally did buy it and drug it onto his trailer (the tub almost broke in two) for the short trip north to South Bend for parting out. I think someone in Wisconsin bought the mostly-stripped hulk to contribute bits and pieces for another 1962 Daytona convertible being restored.
The heartbreaker about this car Rick hauled from Logansport was that it had an SDC National Meet plaque on the glove box door, indicating it had been displayed at the SDC National Meet in South Bend (in the late 1960s, IIRC). The plaque was thoroughly pitted and deteriorated from open-air exposure to Logansport's north central Indiana climate, as was the rest of the interior, because the top was long gone.
Virtually all extant Studebakers, save a few that have been cared for by original owners or people who bought them "right away" as good used cars and set them aside, went through a period in life where they were just old cars to be used up.
But I thought, gosh, here is what had to have been a nice 1962 Daytona Convertible at one time that "made it" into SDC and was subsequently displayed at a National Meet, yet fell into disuse anyway and was allowed to fall prey to the elements even after it had been in SDC as a nice car...and a collectible Daytona convertible to boot!
That seemed like such a terrible shame, and I've never forgotten it. It seems like once a nice car gets into the club, especially something as desirable as a black, red/white interior 289/225/4-speed Daytona convertible, that it should at least see indoor storage so it doesn't deteriorate too much from that point on...yet this one became a hulk so rusty it was only good for bits and pieces a couple decades after it had been displayed at an SDC National Meet.
Thoughts or parallels, anyone? BP
Reason I ask: I've often reflected on what I thought was a terrible waste of a black 1962 Daytona convertible, 289/225/4-speed. It was understandably sold as a parts car at the May South Bend Swap Meet by used-car dealer friend Rick Crawley of Logansport IN maybe 8 years ago.
Like so many of us have, Rick had watched the car deteriorate alongside a shed by the railroad tracks in Logansport for years, unable to buy it, until there wasn't enough of it left to restore. He finally did buy it and drug it onto his trailer (the tub almost broke in two) for the short trip north to South Bend for parting out. I think someone in Wisconsin bought the mostly-stripped hulk to contribute bits and pieces for another 1962 Daytona convertible being restored.
The heartbreaker about this car Rick hauled from Logansport was that it had an SDC National Meet plaque on the glove box door, indicating it had been displayed at the SDC National Meet in South Bend (in the late 1960s, IIRC). The plaque was thoroughly pitted and deteriorated from open-air exposure to Logansport's north central Indiana climate, as was the rest of the interior, because the top was long gone.
Virtually all extant Studebakers, save a few that have been cared for by original owners or people who bought them "right away" as good used cars and set them aside, went through a period in life where they were just old cars to be used up.
But I thought, gosh, here is what had to have been a nice 1962 Daytona Convertible at one time that "made it" into SDC and was subsequently displayed at a National Meet, yet fell into disuse anyway and was allowed to fall prey to the elements even after it had been in SDC as a nice car...and a collectible Daytona convertible to boot!
That seemed like such a terrible shame, and I've never forgotten it. It seems like once a nice car gets into the club, especially something as desirable as a black, red/white interior 289/225/4-speed Daytona convertible, that it should at least see indoor storage so it doesn't deteriorate too much from that point on...yet this one became a hulk so rusty it was only good for bits and pieces a couple decades after it had been displayed at an SDC National Meet.
Thoughts or parallels, anyone? BP
We've got to quit saying, 
Just a thought…
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