'61 Studebaker Images from Mister Ed

[dixiana]

There's a 64 Daytona hardtop and a GT Hawk in this episode called Mister Ed: Ed the Chauffeur. Ed rents a panel truck and goes for a drive. The copy I have might be longer. I bought some homemade dvds off of ebay. I thought he talks to a couple in the Daytona at a stop light. They must have cut it for time.

Aired originally on Sunday April 12th, 1964
I don't know if this was after the sponsership ended. I'm sure it was filmed a lot earlier than when it aired. Maybe Studebaker still provided some cars for the show later. Anybody know?

Studebaker's sponsorship of Mister Ed ended with the third season (1962-63). The company continued to supply cars to the show throughout the fourth season. This was the only season that carried the credit "Automobiles Furnished by Studebaker Corporation". The last example of a Studie in a Mister Ed episode would be in the fifth season show, Ed the Pilot. That show aired January 6, 1965 and featured Wilbur frantically pulling up at an airport control tower in a Wagonaire. It seems to be a different one from the one featured in Ed the Donkey. Later in the fifth season the series began to carry the credit "Automobiles Furnished by Ford Motor Company" with the episode The Bank Robbery aired April 14, 1965. The episode The Dragon Horse, aired March 31, 1965 used a portion of a third season episode (Ol'Rocking Chair) featuring a 1963 Wagonaire, and that could probably be called the last episode to feature a Studebaker, but as it utilized this old footage, I credit Ed the Pilot with being the last new footage of a Studebaker in that series. I have 50 episodes of this series on DVD, but none from the third season, which had several episodes featuring the Avanti. There were several episodes that showed the Addisons owning an Avanti. Ed and the Allergy, aired October 25, 1962 is one that comes to mind. Wilbur In the Lion's Den, aired November 8, 1962 has character actor Charles Lane (best known as Homer Bedloe on Petticoat Junction) as a pill-popping potential client of Wilbur. He is shown driving a prominently placed Avanti in one scene, and there is some discussion of his having a phone in his car in this sequence (up to the minute for 1962). As a small child, I was a fan of this show and watched it every week. I was also a fan of Studebaker cars, even though in those days, small boys were usually Ford or Chevrolet fans. The combination of a talking horse and Studebaker cars in the show and the commercials were irresistible to this eight-year-old. I have an excellent book, now out-of-print titled "The Famous Mister Ed" by Nancy Nalven. She includes a chapter of how the Studebaker dealers in 1960 agreed to contribute $25.00 from the sale of every car to finance and sponsor the first season of Mister Ed. (The show was rejected by all three networks and went into syndication that first year, it's success resulting in James Aubrey picking up the series for CBS the following season.) This book helped me with the airdates of the episodes, along with my memory as a car-spotter on many old TV shows.

[jackb]

there is a similar Champ truck to be seen in the Lassie special that aired around this time....I believe it was filmed in Oregon/Wash State...but probably CA

[Commander Eddie]

The Champ pictured is a '61. I guess I should know this........but was the P2 bed available in '61?

Yes. I own a '61 champ with that bed. It came from the factory with it.