Budd Mfg.

[Roscomacaw]

Budd Manufacturing made lotsa things for various auto-makers thru the years, Studebaker included. While this ISN'T a Studebaker, it is an orphan make and I found it pretty interesting when I got to see it in the Henry Ford museum earlier this month.
It's a one-off design study that Budd did for American Motors. It's a sporty convertible and it's easy to pick up on it's relationship to the early 60s Rambler Americans.

[img] http://images.andale.com/f2/115/106/...9/100_1333.JPG [/img]



Miscreant adrift in
the BerStuda Triangle


1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe

[Guido]

Do you know if they ever produced those wheels for sale (being that I am probably too young to remember if they did).

[Guido]

Do you know if they ever produced those wheels for sale (being that I am probably too young to remember if they did).

[BobPalma]

I don't know about early Rammers, Bob, but that cowl section and windshield look suspiciously like first-generation Ford Mustang. I bet if you pull the front fenders off that thing, it's a 65-66 Mustang underneath. [}]

Guido: I can't get a good enough look at those wheels to be sure, but they, too, look suspiciously like a styled wheel COVER (not the actual wheel; it was the conventional stamping) that was available on 1963-1964 or thereabouts Falcons, especially Sprint V-8s.

The spinner would have been added. With or without spinner, it was a rare option, if it is what I think it is.

OTOH, it could simply be a chromed steel wheel, given the unused (on this application) hub cap "nubs." [}] BP

[BobPalma]

I don't know about early Rammers, Bob, but that cowl section and windshield look suspiciously like first-generation Ford Mustang. I bet if you pull the front fenders off that thing, it's a 65-66 Mustang underneath. [}]

Guido: I can't get a good enough look at those wheels to be sure, but they, too, look suspiciously like a styled wheel COVER (not the actual wheel; it was the conventional stamping) that was available on 1963-1964 or thereabouts Falcons, especially Sprint V-8s.

The spinner would have been added. With or without spinner, it was a rare option, if it is what I think it is.

OTOH, it could simply be a chromed steel wheel, given the unused (on this application) hub cap "nubs." [}] BP

[Guido]

Bob,

Good eye on the wheels. One closer examination, the spinners look like they are lucite or some other transparent material. They could probably sell a tin of them today in a 20" size if they lit up.

[Guido]

Bob,

Good eye on the wheels. One closer examination, the spinners look like they are lucite or some other transparent material. They could probably sell a tin of them today in a 20" size if they lit up.

[8E45E]

quote:Originally posted by BobPalma

I don't know about early Rammers, Bob, but that cowl section and windshield look suspiciously like first-generation Ford Mustang. I bet if you pull the front fenders off that thing, it's a 65-66 Mustang underneath. [}]

Well, Bob, after reading about it in Collectible Automobile, I would have doubted that as it was made a good two years before the Mustang!![:0] Of course this 2-seat Bird revival doesn't have that same windshield/cowl shape as the 2-seat Rambler or Mustang, but it appears Budd was working closely with Ford and Lee Iacocca at that time. So just maybe some of Budd Company's styling ideas from that Rambler XP got used on the Mustang[]



Craig

[8E45E]

quote:Originally posted by BobPalma

I don't know about early Rammers, Bob, but that cowl section and windshield look suspiciously like first-generation Ford Mustang. I bet if you pull the front fenders off that thing, it's a 65-66 Mustang underneath. [}]

Well, Bob, after reading about it in Collectible Automobile, I would have doubted that as it was made a good two years before the Mustang!![:0] Of course this 2-seat Bird revival doesn't have that same windshield/cowl shape as the 2-seat Rambler or Mustang, but it appears Budd was working closely with Ford and Lee Iacocca at that time. So just maybe some of Budd Company's styling ideas from that Rambler XP got used on the Mustang[]



Craig

[autocrat]

Thanks for the great photos!
The wheels look like chrome rims to me with a tri-bar spinner as cap. The spinners have a cut-out center section, instead of being lucite, to my eyes. BTW, the Mercury Comet had the chromed rim wheelcovers around 64-5. The only AM bodylines I can detect; the scallops in the front fenders, which terminate at a crease line before the end, like 63-4 senior Rambler. The trunk character line, waterfalling over the deck and then terminating, is similar to the later American. The windscreen looks more foreign than US.
I wonder if Budd did the design, or AM. It appears to have a crest or medallion on the side.
What is the tall green wagon behind it. Certainly not a production car.
autocrat

[autocrat]

Thanks for the great photos!
The wheels look like chrome rims to me with a tri-bar spinner as cap. The spinners have a cut-out center section, instead of being lucite, to my eyes. BTW, the Mercury Comet had the chromed rim wheelcovers around 64-5. The only AM bodylines I can detect; the scallops in the front fenders, which terminate at a crease line before the end, like 63-4 senior Rambler. The trunk character line, waterfalling over the deck and then terminating, is similar to the later American. The windscreen looks more foreign than US.
I wonder if Budd did the design, or AM. It appears to have a crest or medallion on the side.
What is the tall green wagon behind it. Certainly not a production car.
autocrat

[lstude]

quote:What is the tall green wagon behind it. Certainly not a production car.
autocrat

I think that green car was an old "Safety Car" that was done by some university. I have pictures of it in an old magazine, but finding them would be hard.

Leonard Shepherd

http://leonardshepherd.com/

[lstude]

quote:What is the tall green wagon behind it. Certainly not a production car.
autocrat

I think that green car was an old "Safety Car" that was done by some university. I have pictures of it in an old magazine, but finding them would be hard.

Leonard Shepherd

http://leonardshepherd.com/

[8E45E]

quote:Originally posted by lstude


I think that green car was an old "Safety Car" that was done by some university. I have pictures of it in an old magazine, but finding them would be hard.

That's the "Cornell-Liberty" Safety-Car. It had bi-fold doors on each side.

Craig

[8E45E]

quote:Originally posted by lstude


I think that green car was an old "Safety Car" that was done by some university. I have pictures of it in an old magazine, but finding them would be hard.

That's the "Cornell-Liberty" Safety-Car. It had bi-fold doors on each side.

Craig