Does buying up cheap junk Studebakers and parking them in a field till the day you die do any good?

[rusty65]

Wow! Another 'hot button' topic here.
@ Bob Andrews,Corvanti and TXRebel, your replies were spot-on!
A few sayings come to mind here:
"Your money, your ride."
and in another light:
"It is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all."

[8E45E]

You may not get the cars or parts while they are alive but lets face it, nobody lives for ever and at lease the cars will still be here.

The only 'advice' I'll make on that is if a particular vehicle does capture one's interest, it is not a bad idea to follow up on it regularly! One does not have to knock on the door each time, but look for signs of changes on the property, such as the vehicles starting to disappear, or a 'for sale' sign on it. If someone delays a return visit too long, one could be in for a nasty surprise, with all the vehicles having gone for scrap.

Craig

[Bo Markham]

To: bomarkham,----OK, let's try another example of what I'm trying to get across to You. An example not related to automobiles. I have a '55 "double strike" Lincoln Penny. This coin is somewhat rare, and I own it.
If I put that penny on an anvil, took a 4LB hammer and smashed it into a small copper blob, would that be allright with You? I know I have the 'right' to smash that coin, but would it really make 'sense'? (no pun)
Not to get 'too deep' here, but are We really OWNERS of or CARETAKERS of the past? Think about it!

No, you don't get it and it has nothing to do with being some supposed caretaker of the past. What you do with what you have is your business, and nobody has the right, from any point of view, to tell you what you can and can't do with what you have. I happen to be an avid coin collector and have many rare and valuable coins in my collection. If you want to pound your rare penny into pulp that is your business and I could care less. Your action isn't hurting me, or anyone else so go ahead. While I think your action is probably foolish on your part, it is none of my business. Of course, if you pound yours into pulp mine becomes that much more rare and valuable. Now on the other hand, if I decide to pound mine into pulp that certainly is none of anyone's business, either. Nobody is entitiled to tell anybody else what to do with anything the individual has worked and paid for with the sweat of their own brow.

[Bo Markham]

To me the purpose of the hobby is the preservation of cars (& other artifacts) that are no longer being produced. That pursuit takes many forms and all can be respected, as long as the object is the preservation of the items, not wanton and wasteful destruction. Few reasonable people respect waste. Hunting for food is very acceptable, but a hunter who hunts purely for the enjoyment of killing is not respected, nor is a fisherman who catches good game fish and discards them in stinking piles on the shore. All they are doing is destroying game that others could be utilizing and polluting the environment..That is comparable to buying a well-preserved and usable historic building or home and demolishing it to make room for a convenience store or gas station. There are some in the car biz who represent this type of mentality and they are not respected as fellow hobbyists. We are into preservation & enjoyment-not destruction & waste. If you die without donating your organs to those who desperately need them, you are in the same category.
I have a large collection of parts & builder cars and they sit year after year not because I enjoy watching them dissolve away in this miserable Gulf coast climate but simply because it is not easy to sell a car that would cost more to build than it will be worth when done. Some of these cars get parted out because that is the only way to avoid completely wasting them. Anyone who resents the idea of a buildable car sitting here in the elements is more than welcome to come and buy it! www.studebakersite.com

Barry,

Very well said. The only problem is that most of those that resent the idea of all those cars sitting there and really think you should sell the stuff to them, are often the ones that think you ought to sell that Packard 400 hardtop to them for $500.00, or that Packard Hawk for $750.00. Still though, nobody has the right to tell you what you can and can't do with the stuff you have, any more than they have the right to tell that low life fisherman he has to eat what he catches, or the guy that wants to build a parking lot where once stood a grand old Victorian era house.

[JRoberts]

Geeze...I've been gone for a week and look at what the first thread I come to is......again

I wonder if the idea that people have the right to do what they want with their stuff will ever get across to some folks.

[55s]

Here's what I think:

(1) You guys that are lusting after other person's parts should be very thankful for the hoarders here because Studebaker parts are still really cheap relative to other makes. They are often too cheap to take off! (i.e. the sweat of taking them off is less than the $$$ offered by the CASOs here)

(2) It is true that even a pretty decent Studebaker would cost more to restore than it is worth

(3) Even if you have a rusty old car, it is easy to close your eyes a bit and imagine what it looked like when it was new!

[Kurt]

To: bomarkham,----OK, let's try another example of what I'm trying to get across to You. An example not related to automobiles. I have a '55 "double strike" Lincoln Penny. This coin is somewhat rare, and I own it.
If I put that penny on an anvil, took a 4LB hammer and smashed it into a small copper blob, would that be allright with You? I know I have the 'right' to smash that coin, but would it really make 'sense'? (no pun)
Not to get 'too deep' here, but are We really OWNERS of or CARETAKERS of the past? Think about it!

I don't know about Bo, but yes, if you want to take a hammer to your penny, it is YOUR penny that you bought with YOUR money, and in my opinion it is YOUR right to do whatever you want with your property as long as it is not against the law. Now do I agree with that.... Not really. To me it is a shame to watch vehicles rot away, or destroy things that have value or historical significance.

[r1lark]

There is no compelling reason why he, or anyone else has to sell anything to anyone, just because they think they are entitled to something belonging to someone else. This notion that everybody is entilted to what an individual has worked hard all their life for is part of the problem we have today. Not just in the hobby realm, but every where.

Right on, Bo!

[SN-60]

To: bomarkham,------This is really very simple....Your confusing someone's 'RIGHTS', which of course should never be trampled upon, with right and wrong!.......'RUST IN PEACE'!!!

[Studedude]

Does buying up cheap junk Studebakers and parking them in a field till the day you die do any good?/

Yes, absolutely, undeniably, and, without question!

[SN-60]

To: Studedude,---If You have the time, read posts #'s 27 & 30 on My 'COUNTING '55 PRESIDENT SPEEDSTERS' thread (under General Discussion). Pictures say a thousand words, and if this doesn't help You to 'see'
what I'm saying....I give up! ( Mr. bomarkham..I suggest You also look at this.)

[JBOYLE]

Everytime we restore a car we extend its life and that's good.
Once a car goes to the scrapper, it's gone for good. Unlike Mustangs and F-150s, they aren't making any more Studebakers.

If I didn't pay to restore my car, eventually it would have made it way down the automotive food chain, perhaps ending up as a parts car or worse.

So yes, buying an old Studebaker and letting it sit gives it a chance for redemption. And a chance is better tha no chance at all.

[Chris_Dresbach]

I think we are all "Collectors" Some of us collect nicely restored cars and keep them in climate controlled garages. Some collect drivers and take turns useing them as regular cars. Some collect junk and put them in a field and watch them rust. some folks collect as many DOLLARS as they can and keep them in a bank account.

Whatever makes you happy.

Some, like my dad and I, like to think we are a combination of #2 and #3. We both have our show cars (choke caugh) and we both have our beaters, and both have at least one "pile" out back. I have my hoard, er collection, of stuff and if somebody approched me for a part or something they really needed to finish a car, I'd sell it or trade it. For me though, it's not about the money. I'm a collector and have a deep connection to the stuff because of where it and I are from.

[StudeDave57]

So yes, buying an old Studebaker and letting it sit gives it a chance for redemption.
And a chance is better then no chance at all.

That about sums up my thoughts.

[TX Rebel]

Barry,

Very well said. The only problem is that most of those that resent the idea of all those cars sitting there and really think you should sell the stuff to them, are often the ones that think you ought to sell that Packard 400 hardtop to them for $500.00, or that Packard Hawk for $750.00. Still though, nobody has the right to tell you what you can and can't do with the stuff you have, any more than they have the right to tell that low life fisherman he has to eat what he catches, or the guy that wants to build a parking lot where once stood a grand old Victorian era house.

Yes, we still have some semblance of property rights here, and you can't tell someone what to do with their property in a free country. If you have an extra couple of hundred thou laying around and want to fill your pool with Dom Perignon champagne, it may be utterly stupid, but it is your choice. I would not own a pool because the money could be spent more responsibly and ethically on building housing for & feeding poor people in poor countries. OK, maybe I'd would really spent the $$ on a couple of nice Studes & an insulated garage for them TBH. It could be fairly said that investing in saving things when people are starving and dying is worse than destroying things. Maybe it is rare and interesting things that should be preserved, and that for which there is no need or demand will not be saved, be it people or rusty, uninteresting cars.
People who behave dishonorably must endure the disrespect of responsible members of society, though.