Counting '55 President Speedsters

[DMB-8]

I don't believe I have ever put my speedster Vin on any list.So here it is now. 7162422 It was restored in 1999 it is still in excellent condition as it has been
kept inside and garaged since completion.Don

[SN-60]

TO: DMB-8,----- Thanks for the info. Your Speedster wasn't on My list, or the list that Bob Johannessen compiled in 1993, so I'll add it. In roster, President Speedster serial #'s jump from 7162398 (6HK7995) to 7162456 (6HK71077).
By the way, Your post shows a photo of a nice '56 Golden Hawk. Is that Your's also? (Adding 7162422 6HK7 ?)

[HAWK64]

Unsure whether you have this one on your list which is presently under a full restoration here in Melbourne,Australia. The owner is Phil Smith & the vital numbers are 7808022, 6HK71672. i believe it is a LA car.

[SN-60]

To: HAWK64,---- Thanks for sending the info on this Speedster. The car was not listed on Bob Johannessen's 1993 list, nor My newer list, so I'll add it. (Adding 7808022 (LA) 6HK71672). My numbers jump from 7807943 6HK71652 to
7808088 6HK71708. By the way, I really like Your '64 GT Hawk. Beautiful color. And I understand You actually helped assemble the car when new!! How many people can say THAT about the cars they own? Take care

[HAWK64]

To: HAWK64,---- Thanks for sending the info on this Speedster. The car was not listed on Bob Johannessen's 1993 list, nor My newer list, so I'll add it. (Adding 7808022 (LA) 6HK71672). My numbers jump from 7807943 6HK71652 to
7808088 6HK71708. By the way, I really like Your '64 GT Hawk. Beautiful color. And I understand You actually helped assemble the car when new!! How many people can say THAT about the cars they own? Take care

To be clear on what you may have heard, I did help in the assembly of the last CKD Cruiser here in Melbourne back in 1965 but my Hawk came off the South Bend line on Dec 16th, 1963 in RHC. I wish you well in your Speedster listings.

[DMB-8]

The 56 golden hawk in the reply was mine for 28 years but I sold it about 2yrs ago.I just have not changed the picture in my postings.My speedster is pimlico grey and ivory.Maybe I
will have to put it on instead.The picture of the 56 was in the northeast classic car museum in Norwich ,New York. I still have six studebakers 2 avanti's 2-57 golden hawks 63 GT hawk and the speedster. Don

[SN-60]

To: DMB-8,------Your garage sounds like 'Studebaker Heaven' to Me! Take care

PS..... Selling that '56 Golden after owning it for 28 years must have been a difficult decision.

[rockne10]

Don,
Just out of curiosity, why so much empty space below your signature photo?

[studelark]

More 6H-K7's...

I've come up with 183 Speedsters that I 'more or less'
know still exist. (139 South Bend cars and 44 Los Angeles, Vernon, cars) I'm sure there are many more still around, but like I said, I'm checking them off as they appear. I should have all 2215 cars
accounted for when I'm around 125 years old. Just a hobby!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

One of my hobbies when I first became a Studebaker nut in the 1960's was to write down every Studebaker body code and serial number with vehicle description that I came across in shows and junkyards. Unfortunately, the years have worn this habit down and I haven't added much in the notebook in the past decade. As you say, "Just a hobby!"

One of the fascinating features that intrigued me when I was taught about Studebakers and Studebaker lore, by the late Sam Miller, were the numbers- serial numbers, body numbers, model codes, data plates. I've never lost that trait.

I pulled out the old notebook last evening and can report to you the four (4) Speedsters recorded. There were not many Speedsters in my part of the country, apparently. As a high school kid, I remember only one, a yellow/green, that was purchased new by my music teacher. I lost track of it, but the teacher's name was Paul Harmon and he lived in the Staunton area of the Shenandoah Valley.

> 1. 6H-K7, 1151 Serial no. not recorded
yellow/white, automatic, needed a lot of help, For Sale- York Swap Meet, 1997

> 2. 6H-K7, 1199 Serial no. not recorded
yellow/green, automatic, beautifully restored, On show ground-Hershey 1992

> 3. 6H-K7, 1205 Serial no. 7164001,
yellow/green, automatic, nice car, owned by friend John Bradel of Badel, PA, SOLD

> 4. 6H-K7, 1370 Serial no. 7807746
black/white, automatic, nice car, advertised on eBay Dec. 2006

I'm sorry I did not get the serial numbers for the first two cars. I was not in a position (gracefully) to open either car to write down the information in the absence of the owner.

I hope this information will shorten the 125 years to trace all Speedsters. If you have any other questions or different info on these cars, please let me know. I appreciate the work you are doing and bless your efforts.

Frank Drumheller
Locust Grove, VA
60S-Y6
M16-52 '48 Studebaker-Boyer fire truck

Also keeper of the
STUDEBAKER SCOTSMAN TRUCK REGISTER
STUDEBAKER 4X4 TRUCK REGISTER
STUDEBAKER C9 CAB TRUCK REGISTER
STUDEBAKER DIESEL TRUCK REGISTER
STUDEBAKER- FIRE APPARATUS TRUCK REGISTER

[SN-60]

To: studelark,----- Frank, Thank You, I enjoyed reading Your letter. I have a close friend who lives in Waynesboro, And I remember passing through the Staunton area---Blue Ridge Mts.--Absolutley beautiful country!! On Your list of
four President Speedsters, one indeed turned up in the 1993 Johannessen roster. This was Your car #2, 6HK7 1199. It's serial is 7163657, and was owned by a fellow from New York in '93. Condition as described. I'm adding the other
three Speedsters, (one an LA car), into there proper sequence in the roster index, and listing them as all presently existing. Thanks again for taking the time to write this up! (Looks like Your a busy Register keeper also)

[BobPalma]

This Speedster count reminded me of something I've been meaning to do. ('Prolly been afraid to do, truth be known).

Photographed March 2007, as this photo appeared in the August 2007 Turning Wheels' Co-Operator masthead:



Central Indiana SDCer John Kern and myself had traveled maybe 65 miles south of Brownsburg to investigate what I knew had been a Speedster lanquishing on flood-plain property. It was among dozens of cars, including other collectibles such as a 1958 Chrysler 300D hardtop with last-year, first-generation 392 hemi still under the hood. The cars were owned by an eccentric Bloomington IN used car dealer who steadfastly refused to price them even remotely reasonably, and who I believe is now deceased.

Instead, they sat and rotted down into the ground. They were also subject to extreme vandalism in this remote location, and almost annual flooding from a nearby creek.

I got the numbers off the Speedster because it had overdrive. Andy Beckman at The Studebaker National Museum confirmed that this car was indeed one of the 151 Speedsters built with overdrive...and here it sat, unavailable due to the obstinance of a dealer who would likely never sell or restore the car.

So today (March 9, 2012), exactly five years later, this thread stimulated my return to the site on a pretty spring day.

I was greeted by this open field where the cars had been:



Every one of them gone; every single one.

Plastics and tires and general trash were accumulated near the back of the property....





....but there wasn't a trace of a complete vehicle to be found anywhere.

There was confirmation that a used-car dealer had occupied the area, for who in the business could forget the daily neccessity of our old friend, a can of R-12 Cold Shot:



Dang it; the overdrive Speedster got away. It had its engine and transmission intact, too.

Not a happy day in Monroe County IN, to be sure. BP

[Studedude]

I think I'm gonna cry.

Sad, sad situation, and all too common.

[(S)]

There were at least 5 Speedsters in Washington State that I do not have numbers for, Maybe James can recall Don K.'s car, or the numbers. James may have some numbers of his that he owned/owns.

[SN-60]

To; Bob Palma,----- I was having a pretty good day until I read Your post Bob!! MAJOR Bummer!! I took notice of this stickshift Speedster when this photo was first published in the 'Turning Wheels Co-operator' column.
I think it was in more than one issue. I figured someone would recover this car for sure and re-body it, really just because the stick o/d models actually are quite rare (151). Now I'm looking at a photo of an empty field,
meaning the car has been SCRAPPED!! (And a '58 300D also??) I have to say this again: MAJOR Bummer!! Oh well, do You happen to still have the numbers? If You do I'll list it as MIA. I wonder if You can tell Me What the
colors were (white/black/white?) and possibly can You remember if the car had p/s or p/b.? I believe that all Us 'car nuts' have met guys that own these desireable vehicles, and will let them sit outside and rot before They'll
sell to someone who would do the vehicle some good, on the pretense They'll "get to it someday" or "I wont give You a price because You'll think it's too much." Years ago, I too watched a really nice '55 President Speedster
go from solid original car to derelict because it was owned by one of these characters. Thanks for Writing this up Bob, and please post numbers if available.

[MChance]

I can account for the demise of three Speedsters all in the late 70's, two LA cars and one mild custom (blue one) , Unfortunately I did not keep record of the serial numbers... I Also owned the Custom Speedster that Dick Steinkamp pictured in 1975. (I was responsible for removing the built 289 and 4 spd from it)