Male or Female Studebaker

[Flashback]

I was just wondering , how do you tell a male Studebaker from a Female ? Some of us call our Studes by a male name and some female. Just exactly what do I look for to be able to tell ?

[fpstude]

It's attitude.

[candbstudebakers]

Color, wimpy,

[kmul221]

If they are onery & hard to get along with,it's female.easy going & reliable male.Just my opinion.I call mine "The money pit" just to be neutral.

[Roscomacaw]

Pete doesn't mind gettin' greasy or hefting heavy loads. Just like the grandad he's named after.

[jclary]

It depends on whether they are marking their territory....or just incontinent.

[JDP]

R2's are always boy's, as are most "flashy" models for me.

[mbstude]

When the "personality" develops. It's all silly to begin with and just a personal choice, I think. I've met people that name every object they own, and others that don't even name their dogs.

My '58 Commander was Christine based on just how easy it was to get her back on the road after a 35 year sleep. Thankfully she never turned on me.

The '57 President is still nameless, but female. It's too much of a classy car to be a male.

My '94 F150 is "Ole Tom". One of my sisters named the truck after the previous owner. 240K miles and it just keeps on going.

I've never tried to name a car. I let the name find its way to the car.

One that I wrote about in Turning Wheels, was my buddy Matt's '63 Hawk. I left out some details though. Matt's not one for naming cars but when we were in Springfield for the International meet, the name found the car. His Hawk is Ermine White with a red interior. He and Jim McCuan had their '63's (Avanti in Jim's case) side by side in the parking lot. It was around 1 or 2 AM; hoods were up and detailing was being done. I'm standing with my hands in my pocket observing when a young couple walks up to the Hawk and starts looking it over. (I think they were drawn to the highly polished stainless trim). They were both my age, maybe a year or two younger. Matt starts talking them up and learns that she is a "dancer" at the local Pink Pony Caberet. I hear laughing and then, "Alright, so what's your name?" And she replies with "Cupcake". She gave Matt a personal invitation to come watch her show.

The fun came the next day. Jim and I were out making noise in the Avanti and pulled into the hotel for the night. Matt was already in his room asleep, even though he'd told the girl that he was going to go down to the Caberet. I asked Jim for a napkin and a Sharpie, and I tried out my most female-like handwriting. On the note I wrote "Missed you tonight! Come see me! ~Cupcake (with a drawn heart)". Jim is laughing the entire time and I placed the note under his windshield wiper.

To this day, Matt still thinks that the dancer is the one that wrote the note. I almost think he'd be disappointed if he found out that wasn't true.

Long story short, McCuan and I decided that the off-white colored Hawk with the dark red interior looked a lot like a red velvet Cupcake. As I said, Matt isn't much for naming cars, but he has referred to the Hawk as "Cupcake" since.

[S_Ferrell]

Male or Female

Dependability, Stuart has never let me down. His full name is Stuart B. Baker.

[kmac530]

Oscar, my '49 C-cab just became Oscar. He was fighting me a bit at first, then a neighbor girl saw him and his green color with rusty tops and she said he looked like Oscar the grouch from seasame street. Could not imagine a better fit than that name. He looked like Oscar, was grouchy like Oscar, and it just felt right....Oscar it was.

It is funny how an inanimate object that is not a living breathing thing can still take on a personality and sometimes it just fits.

I have never been a person who named my cars and trucks, but Oscar just demanded it. When I was a kid my grandma peggy had a '53 Chevy 2 door Bel Air hardtop that she called Betsy. That name fit ol'Betsy and that was my only experience with a named car. Again in that case, it just fit and came along organically.

[FlatheadGeo]

My cars follow the example of The Bronx, in NYC. The Studebaker, The Valiant, The Sebring and The Saturn.

[kmac530]

PS: Warren and Rich, One of you used to live in Lomita didn't you? You may remember my Grandma Peggy running around in that Bel Air. It was a creamy yellow with a white top. She lived in Lomita was always around 255th street near Pennsylvania. That was back in the 60's and into the early 70's though.

[E. Davis]

I was just wondering , how do you tell a male Studebaker from a Female ? Some of us call our Studes by a male name and some female. Just exactly what do I look for to be able to tell ?

Lift the trunk lid and peek. Hee Hee Hee

[hausdok]

My P.H. is a male.

It was so rusty that I named it Rusty. I've never known any women named Rusty; so Rusty Hawk is a male.

Mike O'Handley
Kenmore, Washington
hausdok@msn.com

[StudeMann]

My current Studebaker is named Elsie because her initials are L.C. (Land Cruiser). My previous car was named Rusty for the same reasons as hausdok's Hawk and I thought of it a a male.

Jim