How many wrote letters to Studebaker pre1966? 1939 Champion.

[Studebaker Wheel]

[Peanut]

I was born two years after they went out of the automobile business, for good. So, I don't have much to contribute except interest in the other responses to your post!

[studegary]

I do not remember writing letters directly to Studebaker at that time, but I may have.
We did own Studebaker stock prior to that. This generated mailings directly from Studebaker.
We did own and drive Studebakers prior to that.
I just went to one of the local Studebaker dealers when I wanted parts or service.

[8E45E]

Unfortunatetly, the link to the newpaper is gone, but the author was a Studebaker admirer and wrote Sherwood Egbert how much he loved the cars, and got the royal treatment by him: http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.c...ghlight=egbert

Craig

[60ragtop]

I remember writing Studebaker in about 1960 or so telling them how terrific "my" '59 Lark V-8 was. (Actually, since I was 17 at the time, it was my mom's, but she agreed with the sentiment.) As I recall, someone there sent a short, but very nice letter back. I can't imagine any of the big 3 companies doing that, but it's possible. Unfortunately, with all the moves I've made since 1960, I didn't keep either the letter or the reply.

[jclary]

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Well...at that time, I was fresh out of high school and too busy trying to convince people I was older than 15 to be bothered by writing folks about their cars.

However, I notice that they told you they had attached a list of companies that supplied parts for the older Studebakers. Do you still have that list? Any of them still in business?

[greyben]

In the 1980s I purchased two 62 GTs from the widow of the original owner. Along with the the cars there were some misc items including a response letter from the Technical Services Operation of SASCO dated Dec 12, 1969. The main item concerned retrofitting a '63 od solenoid with the 56-57 governor. SASCO advised against the swap noting that the major cause of solenoid failure was moisture getting into the contact points. Maybe a good followup would be find the latest customer response sent by Studebaker. Didn't SASCO go out of business in the early 7

[53k]

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Sometime in early '63 I wrote to Sherwood Egbert with a suggestion of adding a two-door Chevrolet Nomad type wagon and I also reported my satisfaction with my '61 Cruiser. I received a very prompt personal reply from him explaining that the market wasn't there for two-door wagons and he was happy with my Cruiser report. I don't know if I have a copy of my letter, but I do have his reply letter (treasured item). My scan of the letter is in my very ill desktop so I can't access it at the moment. I also wrote several times regarding parts and service dilemmas and always got pretty quick responses. I know I have those letters too, but putting my hands on them...

[SN-60]

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While digging through some old correspondence I chanced upon the letter above date October 11, 1963. I had written to the company looking for parts for my ’39 Champion. I am not certain what specific parts I ask about but apparently they didn't have them! Note that it took over nine weeks to respond. I know Bob Palma carried on a lively correspondence and wonder if anyone else did also and if so what was the response.

I corresponded with Studebaker Corp. a few times in '63 & '66 asking various questions....First letter I have in front of Me is dated 11/6/63, and was a response to a question I had on an Engine swap (Studebaker) into a '53 coupe....... It was
answered by a Gent named H.J. Nieb of the General Service Department....The second letter from Studebaker Corp. I have regards an inquiry about a part I needed at that time. (Front prop shaft, P/N 532221 at a
cost of $27.45.) This letter was answered by a S.E. Ferrel, Parts and Service Division. This letter is dated 12/14/66.....The third Studebaker letter I'm looking at was sent to Me on 8/20/63, and was an answer to questions I had concerning the Skypower 352 engine. It was sent to Me by a R.C. Atkinson of the General Service Department.... Next are two letters from Paxton Supercharger Division. One was sent to Me by a Floyd J. Wheeler,
Paxton sales manager,..... and the other by John C. Thompson, Chief Engineer, Paxton Division Studebaker Corp. Interesting stuff! (In My opinion)

[Studebaker Wheel]

Well...at that time, I was fresh out of high school and too busy trying to convince people I was older than 15 to be bothered by writing folks about their cars.

However, I notice that they told you they had attached a list of companies that supplied parts for the older Studebakers. Do you still have that list? Any of them still in business?

Here is the list:

[BobPalma]

Here is the list:

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Well, Dick; that list is not entirely a wash: As you know, Max Merritt is still in business in Franklin IN, south of Indianapolis...only he sells Packard parts, not Studebaker.

From The January 2013 Cormorant News Bulletin:



BP

[BobPalma]

Well, Dick, you asked for it, so here it is.

Sometime in July 1961, Cousin George Krem (age 19 at the time) and I (age 15 at the time) decided to take the matter of Studebaker's declining sales into our own hands. We mustered our amassed knowledge of 34 combined years on the planet and wrote the following letter to The Corporation.

(The only surviving "original" of this is a poor, pencil, handwritten rough draft; difficult to read in places and all but unable to be reproduced. So I typed the following exactly as written in that draft -no editing- so it would be usable for our Indy Chapter SDC Brickyard Bulletin newsletter a couple years ago. The "we" referenced in the letter vis-a-vis the 1960 Lark was George Krem's father's car he had bought new, as described.):



And here is the response we got from Studebaker:



(It's interesting to consider how much was known about the up-coming 1962 models when Mr. Towner penned his guarded response, eh?) BP

[ddub]

I did write one letter, probably 1958-60 time period. I had seen a magazine (Ford?) directed by the factory to car owners. I wrote Studebaker informing them of my interest in their cars and that I was a third generation Studebaker owner and inquiring if they had a similar magazine for their owners. I received a polite reply thanking me for my interest and regretting that they did not have such a publication. I didn't bother to save the letter.

[2R2]

I was only five when the last Studebaker was made in '66, so no letters from me. Regarding the LAST letters from Studebaker, I don; know but I do have letters from Studebaker-SASCO dated October 16, 1969, May 6, 1971, and May 25, 1972. I would think the '72 letter has to be one of the last, as I THINK Studebaker sold everything later that summer. By the way, the '69 letter is signed by Ed Dunbar, while the last two letters are signed by Carl Thompson, Technical Service Publications.

[Warren Webb]

I wrote a couple of letters. As I remember the responces came back with the greeting "Dear friend of Studebaker." I had kept them but after I got married they were disposed of by my mom. One was writting back to my proposal of a turbocharger on the OHV 6.