Mystery of the missing NOS C/K front fenders

[Bo Markham]

Frankly, I doubt there were ever any stacks of C/K fender just "thrown out". Even before Studebaker closed their doors, it was generally recognized that coupes and Hawks were desirable cars, and had a following. I suspect it's more a case that there never were huge stocks of C/K body parts to begin with. They'd have had the normal quota of factory repair panels to sell into the body repair business, and that's it.

Those huge stacks of Lark and sedan fenders were for the production of cars that were never built. Remember that when the C/K's were introduced in 1953, they made what was it, two sedans for every C/K, and the market demand was more like 2 C/K's for every sedan?

I doubt we will ever see affordable steel front fenders for C/K cars again, unless somebody invents a rapid replicator that can work in sheet metal. But there are perfectly good fiberglass fenders out there, and they can be made to look good on a car.

Gordr,

Your are correct in that there were no huge stacks of just C/K fenders, but they were thrown out just like Lark and Truck fenders. I have 4 sets of them that are the remaining stock bought directly from Hurwich Iron. There are lots of parts no longer available because of the scrapping. Of course, back in the day, it was no big deal, just another day at work trying to clear stuff out and make a living at the same time. Remember, you could buy a very nice, nice driving Studebaker for a couple hundred dollars, because nobody wanted them.

Bo

[Roscomacaw]

I'm surprised no one's posted that photo I've seen at different times - the one that shows a mountainous pile of sheet metal outside bldg 58. Surely N & A bought what they did from Studebaker without much of an inventory to figure on. I'd love to know just what they DID pay to take over the stuff.

[Chris_Dresbach]

Yes, the story is true. Though I am not exactly sure what Newman & Altman's reasoning was, they determined that they had more C/K front fenders than they would ever sell and scrapped the vast majority of them in 1969. It's unfortunate what happened, but you have to remember that at N&As time they were still supplying parts to people using Studebaker's as cars, not show pieces. At the time the '53-'54 C/K cars were probably more common and they figured there would never be much of a market for those parts. The reason we don't remanufacture those fenders in because a '53 front fender (either C/K or Sedan) is a three step stamping process to make. Each stamping dye would cost in excess of a hundred thousand dollars times three.

[avanti76]

Yes Chris, and you would need two sets of dies just for the front fenders left and right ! Many $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ woldn't be enough demand
to justify the cost.

[Milaca]

Hi Dan White, sorry I didnt get to meet you but I did meet your brother and spoke to him a while at the hotel and I got a good look at your '64 Hawk. It's a great car!
As for fenders at Newman & Altman, I have a '64 Hawk that had the front left fender replaced back around 1973 from Newman & Altman stock. The right fender would have been replaced too but they no longer had any.

[Dan White]

Thanks Milaca! Are you the one with the green convert. Lark? That also was quite nice. How did you do in the judging?

[Milaca]

Thanks Milaca! Are you the one with the green convert. Lark? That also was quite nice. How did you do in the judging?

The red 1964 convert is mine. The green 1960 Lark belongs to Eric Gohdes, and I havent heard how many points it achieved in judging but I agree, it is a very nice car.

[62champ]

I seem to remember seeing an older photo that showed complete P2 pickup beds sitting outside the old N&A building.

As others, I have heard the 'stock out the window to be scrapped' story as well - but in this case it was before Studebaker closed up shop in SB and the product was excess Packard sheet metal. Who knows if it was true. Does make you wonder what happened to all the stock at the Detroit Packard facility when they shut it down.

[studegary]

I remember that large quantities of truck sheet metal were scrapped (thrown out of upper floor windows).
In the early 1970s, I remember C/K rear quarters at $20-$30 each, left and right sides, NOS in the box (including the gas door and springs) from N&A/SS. .
In the early 1970s, I was already using fiberglass C/K front fenders, due to the cost/availability equation.

[StudHawk60]

I knew I should've grabbed these when I had the chance....

[Dan White]

Those Stude shop carts are for sale at SI for $350 ea.

[StudHawk60]

Those Stude shop carts are for sale at SI for $350 ea.

They were considerably cheaper (free) when they were sitting outside. Besides, it will be a Loonnngggggggg time before I buy anything else from SI. (If ever)

[rkapteyn]

I know several people have made that statement but as far as I can see S.I. has kept a lot of Studebakers on the road.
Prices are bound to go up.
Can you imagine the real estate taxes , payroll , rent in South Bend, a huge sum every month and casos wanting parts for 1963 prices.
Go to your Ford or Chevy dealers and order comparable parts for their cars.
I know for a fact that C/K fenders were never scrapped. I bought some slightly bend front fenders from Veldman on the West side of South Bend in 1968
that had come in from Sasco as damaged sheet metal.
I bought the last right hand C/K/ fender from Sasco and it had the part number for the 1963/64 C/K fender on it.
It was the earlier fender and it had a note that minor modifications had to be made to fit the 1963/64 cars.
At that time (1969) there were probably 40 left fronts both in early and late C/K/'s
Herman Hersch was the parts man at that time and when I asked why there were so many parts of which one side was plentiful.
and the other side N.L.A. He told me that they were to supply parts for seven years and if they ran out of left fenders before the seven years were over
Studebaker ordered an other batch of the left fenders but the right fenders did not run out until after the seven years were over , they were not reordered.
They ran out of right fronts for the late Hawks before the seven years were over but had plenty of early right front C/Kfenders so they remarked some with the note that they had a slight modification to be made, rather than tooling up to make new late model C/K fenders in their own stamping plant
Left rear fenders were plentiful and Hurwich got quite a few and were selling them at $15.00 ea.
Hurwich never had front fenders nor right rear fenders for the C/K.
I still have plenty of early front and rear C/K fenders for sale but only restoration shops buy these because they pass the high cost onto the insurance companies. I failed to mention that Studebaker's stamping plant made these fenders but later Lark fenders were made by Budd.


Robert Kapteyn

[rkapteyn]

Reading my last post I realized that many members do not know who Hurwich was.
It was or maybe still is a huge scrap yard close to the Studebaker South Bend plant.
Robert Kapteyn

[DieselJim]

Reading my last post I realized that many members do not know who Hurwich was.
It was or maybe still is a huge scrap yard close to the Studebaker South Bend plant.
Robert Kapteyn

Like Studebaker, it is gone.