Young Folks in the club.

[kmac530]

I am happy that there are some younger members. That is great and I love watching them smile as they build a project. It is a bit sad that of the 13 or 14 youth that have been named only like 2 have actually posted it themselves.

I do not think he was under 21 but there was a young guy here who was building that SUPER COOL white gasser Lark with the Sinclair dinosaur on it. I will remember his name in a minute, my brain is malfunctioning today

[Sdude]

I am happy that there are some younger members. That is great and I love watching them smile as they build a project. It is a bit sad that of the 13 or 14 youth that have been named only like 2 have actually posted it themselves.

My grandaughter loves her Studebaker but I am not fooling myself into believing that she's into Studebakers like I am. I continue to try to get her interested in things we do but she has her own activities and I am happy to settle for the fact that she drives a Stude. I seriously doubt that she will ever be into it like her grandpa.

Perhaps by just driving the car around her friends, a seed wil be planted in the mind of another youth. Every little exposure will add up.

[DEEPNHOCK]

I never counted, but I have hundred's of pic's of kids setting in the Yellow POS over the years...
(Over 500 perdy young gal pic's...but they don't count)...
"The Black Car" has about 30 kid pic's so far..

That's my motivational tool for membership....
(I have a personal Ohio Geroge Montgomery kid experience that got me started on that...)

We all try to motivate youth in our own way....
But motivate we should always try to do!
Jeff

[FlatheadGeo]

A great idea has turned into a wonderful thread!!!!

[rockinhawk]

If my count is accurate we have 15 boys and 6 girls. I think maybe our club is in pretty good hands.

[dnevin]

How many of those, however, came into the club without having a family member bring them into the hobby?

Please do not take this as a negative criticism in any way--I'm thrilled to see these things pass along through family members. But I think we could probably do a better job of welcoming a young owner who happened to buy an old Stude because it was different. Or that 15 year old who is car crazy like I was back then.

It is one thing to show up at an event with a parent or uncle introducing you to the group and helping form those relationships--but it is even more difficult for those who don't have that.

I've been very welcomed by my local group--but I'm older than dirt (almost half a century). And I'm sure that my local group would be thrilled to death to see anyone show up in a Stude. But what are we doing to get that new stude owner to show up in the first place?

Jeff is doing a good job of spreading the word. And I think maybe Chris and Alex came to the club without family to assist?

[JRoberts]

...Remembered another one, guy named Crockett who has one of the Chevybakers (a '65 F-body, I think) beautifully rodded...have never actually seen the car but coveted it instantly I saw a photo of it.



S.

Is this the young man who had the beautiful Black '65 or '66 at the Lancaster? It had a 383 small block if I recall. If this is him he was one of the last to receive a 21 and Under t-shirt. He was just 21 then I think.

[Bob Andrews]

My nephew Evyn was completely enthralled when he was little. Really enjoyed SB in '07 at 11 years old. Sonny J gave us a Lark body that I hauled home from GA that I thought we would build together. Now he's 16 and has found girls and drums and lacrosse, and they don't mix well with Studebakers. Or old uncles.

I hope to bring him back someday to the car world, and Studes in particular. Time will tell. Hopefully that seed is still alive, just dormant.

[Milaca]

I've brought my youngest nephew with (just turned 15) to a couple of shows each of the last 5 years in my 1963 Hawk. He's at the age now where he is becoming more independent but I hope to bring him with in the Daytona convertible to the Studebaker car show at Hugo MN on Labor Day. I dont know if he will ever want a Studebaker (we certainly can't force people to like them), but I have given him lots of exposure to them.

[Chris_Dresbach]

And I think maybe Chris and Alex came to the club without family to assist?

You would be right in thinking that. I'm the "odd ball" of the family I guess. I think being a South Bend native had a lot to do with my gaining interest in Studebaker, however none of my relatives worked at Studebakers, were members of the drivers club, or really much of anything to do with the brand. I think I only had two relatives that owned them: a Lark and a '55 Champion. I don't even have a photo of the Lark, and one of the '55. Still though, my grandpa worked for Bendix (later Allied Signal and Honeywell) and drag raced a Ford Galaxy! As a matter of fact the most he did with Studebaker's was repair carburetors for extra money. My stepdads grandpa worked for Studebaker, but I never knew him and I was already into Studebakers well before my stepdad was in the picture.
I got my interest in the brand when I was 3 years old. I barely remember riding in my moms car going down Sample Street and seeing the abandoned factory buildings. I also barely remember seeing Newman & Altman in operation, but I remember I was devistated when I saw the building coming down. But it was really the factory buildings, most of which are now gone, that started this madness. I was fascinated with what used to go on in there and have always loved history. One day when I was about 8 years old I convinced my mom to drive down Franklin Street because I wanted to see the other side of those buildings, and I clearly remember seeing "SASCO" on the doors of the Engineering Building and didn't know what that meant, but I saw the Studebaker symbol on the doors. It was a Sunday and SASCO was closed, but I looked inside and was in awe of what I saw in the showroom. I didn't even know what those parts were or what they went on, but SASCO became a household name after that day and I hadn't even been inside! I thought how cool it would be to work there. (little did I know...) Now my mom is a dental assistant and like most people that work with the public she likes to talk with her patients. There were two patients that started my interest in Studebaker vehicles and the drivers club: Jim Maxey and Ray Neid. Jim lives just down the road from my grandparents and told my mom to bring me down to his barn and I could check out the Diesel. Then Ray Neid brought a stack of old Turning Wheels to my moms office to give to me. I read those TWs cover to cover about eight times over, that was 2005. After that three years passed (for whatever reason) and I joined the SDC and have loved every minute of it ever since.
The moral to this long rambling from the rear corner of my mind is that to attract more younger members we must have a large flatbed Diesel transtar with a payload of old Turning Wheels and give them out to kids at car shows. The factory and Jims truck is what got my interested in the vehicles, and the magazine is what got me in the club. To this day I'm still not really sure what sparked such a strong interest in the factory buildings for me and ultimately for everything Studebaker, but I sure do wish it would get other young folks like it did me.
I'd like to hear Alex's story.

[Milaca]

I agree with Chris about those old Studebaker buildings, they were fascinating. The first time I visited Newman & Altman back in 1988 (when I was 17), it was an awe inspiring moment as it was like traveling back in time to another era. A dark grundgy oil-soaked wood floor brick building with lots of new old stock parts on the shelves. I think it was that visit that really hooked me on Studebaker. A Studebaker is just another car until you visit it's birthplace and can go into a building that played a part in the creation of it. The Studebaker museum is nice, but it's nothing compared to a Studebaker factory building visit. Perhaps the South Bend school system could give it's students a guided interprative tour of the body plant for history class? I think it would raise a lot of interest in the marque among young people.

[RJMcGregor]

young Studebaker fans

Well, I'm 44, but my boy is 5 and he loves our "stoo-da-baker", he has jumped right in and is a full partner in it's resto, Alex and I have checked out a few show and shine and he always says, "Daddy i don't see any Stoo-da-bakers", but the last one he liked a '29 Essex, so I think it's save to say a studebaker is in good hands with him

[Lark Novice]

I am 46 and I still feel like the youngest kid at all the Studebaker events I go to. I embarrass my 13 year old when I pick her up from soccer practice in my flamingo Lark 4 dr. sedan in front of her friends! -- I am sure she will begin to appreciate old Studebakers in future years. Me, I just love it and I don't care whether my kids get it yet or not.

My 10 year old daughter still thinks it's sort of cool but she doesn't like it when it vapor locks or won't start right away--- she is spoiled by our 2009 Nissans!!

[Chris_Dresbach]

Perhaps the South Bend school system could give it's students a guided interprative tour of the body plant for history class? I think it would raise a lot of interest in the marque among young people.

As much as I like your idea I don't think it will come true any time soon. The South Bend schools eliminated basically all field trips unless they deem it absolutely necessary as a form of budget cuts unfortunately. I remember going on a field trip to the SNM when I was in first grade. We went there for an unrelated exhibit... So naturally I snuck out of that group and looked at the cars. That was back in the old Freeman-Spicer building museum.
Besides that, I think the Chippewa plant would be a better choice to lead a tour for kids through. For us "Studebaker diehards", a tour through the body building would be great, mostly because we already know what happened there and we would be there with the intention to see a Studebaker building. If you just want to learn about the INDUSTRIAL HISTORY of Studebaker the Chipeewa plant is the best choice because there is a little more to see.

[laughinlark]

Just caught this thread. My daughter is 19 now. She is a drag racer. She got her licence at 16 in her 64 Cruiser. She also raced her Cruiser. She went to prom driving her graduation present (63 Lark). She now races her 63 Lark. Funny story, at 16 with a learner permit NHRA wouldn't allow her to race the Cruiser. The require more licensing than a permit. So she would tow her Jr. Dragster on the trailer to the track with the 63 Lark. We would unload the Jr and she would run it. She was NHRA licensed to do that.

Gordon S