R3 Lark shopping, San Diego, Oct. 1963

[Huck]

It's a rainy weekend, in Detroit. I just escaped by reading an old letter from an old pal. Here's the part that may interest you....."I was down at the dealers the other day looking at the new Studebaker Daytona. I think it's a really sharp car. I asked the salesman to figure up a price for the model I wanted with 304.5 cu.in. and supercharger, 4 speed trans., and a few other minor goodies. The price came to $3758. I asked him what he had in the way of a used Lambretta scooter. I could have bought an Avanti demonstrator with 7,000 miles, blower with auto for $2,999. I sure wish I had the money." Wow! Hey the rain stopped! Later, Huck

Gary Hildebrandt

[studegary]

For price comparison, my father and I both bought new 1964 Plymouth Fury hardtops with Torqueflite, vinyl interior, ps and several other options. His was a 318 (230 HP) and had an MSRP of around $3100 and mine was a hipo 383 (330 HP) with heavy duty suspension and several other special options that had an MSRP of around $3400. My sister was considering a new Avanti for 1963, but ended up buying a 1963 Thunderbird with 390 and many options for less money. My sister and I each kept our new cars for about one year.

There was a reason that there weren't many R2 and R3 cars sold. They were good cars, but there was a lot of good competion that was priced lower. This is besides the fact that at that time people were thinking that Studebaker wouldn't be around much longer (and they were correct).

I know that the Studebakers are worth more now, but I am referring to the people that were buying a new car every one to three years in the 1960s.

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

1959 DeLuxe pickup (restomod)

[studegary]

For price comparison, my father and I both bought new 1964 Plymouth Fury hardtops with Torqueflite, vinyl interior, ps and several other options. His was a 318 (230 HP) and had an MSRP of around $3100 and mine was a hipo 383 (330 HP) with heavy duty suspension and several other special options that had an MSRP of around $3400. My sister was considering a new Avanti for 1963, but ended up buying a 1963 Thunderbird with 390 and many options for less money. My sister and I each kept our new cars for about one year.

There was a reason that there weren't many R2 and R3 cars sold. They were good cars, but there was a lot of good competion that was priced lower. This is besides the fact that at that time people were thinking that Studebaker wouldn't be around much longer (and they were correct).

I know that the Studebakers are worth more now, but I am referring to the people that were buying a new car every one to three years in the 1960s.

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

1959 DeLuxe pickup (restomod)

[StudeRich]

Yes, you would need to trade those Plymouths off every year, because the bodies would not hang together 3 years! And you got what ya paid for!

quote:Originally posted by studegary

For price comparison, my father and I both bought new 1964 Plymouth Fury hardtops

StudeRich
Studebakers Northwest
Ferndale, WA

[StudeRich]

Yes, you would need to trade those Plymouths off every year, because the bodies would not hang together 3 years! And you got what ya paid for!

quote:Originally posted by studegary

For price comparison, my father and I both bought new 1964 Plymouth Fury hardtops

StudeRich
Studebakers Northwest
Ferndale, WA

[BobPalma]

This has been discussed here several times, but cannot be over-emphasized for newbies in our midst who may wonder "why Studebaker went out of business." There is no one factor, of course, but the fact that their cars were not generally competitively priced after WWII was certainly a major factor. [xx(]

To wit: Another current forum thread shows a photo of a man with his new 1952 Buick Super "Riviera" 2-door hardtop. The photo's seller [on e-bay] initially mis-identified the car as a Studebaker. While Studebaker and Buick may not have appeared to be competitors, their 2-door hardtops certainly were: A 1952 Commander Starliner was actually priced $10 [u]more</u> than a 1952 Buick Super Riviera hardtop! And the Buick had leather interior standard equipment (on the Riviera).

How about the cheaper 1952 Buick Special Riviera hardtop? It was almost $200 less than a Commander Starliner; $2,295 for the Buick vs. $2,488 for the Commander. In fact, the well-proven OHV in-line eight Buick Special Riviera was only $75 more than the flathead-six 1952 Studebaker [u]Champion</u> Starliner! [V] Unless gas mileage was your thing, why would a buyer eschew a Buick Special for a Studebaker Champion when the difference was barely one month's car payment back then? [?] BP

[BobPalma]

This has been discussed here several times, but cannot be over-emphasized for newbies in our midst who may wonder "why Studebaker went out of business." There is no one factor, of course, but the fact that their cars were not generally competitively priced after WWII was certainly a major factor. [xx(]

To wit: Another current forum thread shows a photo of a man with his new 1952 Buick Super "Riviera" 2-door hardtop. The photo's seller [on e-bay] initially mis-identified the car as a Studebaker. While Studebaker and Buick may not have appeared to be competitors, their 2-door hardtops certainly were: A 1952 Commander Starliner was actually priced $10 [u]more</u> than a 1952 Buick Super Riviera hardtop! And the Buick had leather interior standard equipment (on the Riviera).

How about the cheaper 1952 Buick Special Riviera hardtop? It was almost $200 less than a Commander Starliner; $2,295 for the Buick vs. $2,488 for the Commander. In fact, the well-proven OHV in-line eight Buick Special Riviera was only $75 more than the flathead-six 1952 Studebaker [u]Champion</u> Starliner! [V] Unless gas mileage was your thing, why would a buyer eschew a Buick Special for a Studebaker Champion when the difference was barely one month's car payment back then? [?] BP

[studegary]

quote:Originally posted by StudeRich

Yes, you would need to trade those Plymouths off every year, because the bodies would not hang together 3 years! And you got what ya paid for!

quote:Originally posted by studegary

For price comparison, my father and I both bought new 1964 Plymouth Fury hardtops

StudeRich
Studebakers Northwest
Ferndale, WA

I was trading often then because I wanted a new car to spend a lot of time in and I was driving quite a bit then (32K miles in ten months -local roads, two counties, not Interstates).

My father kept his '64 Fury for 13 years and there was not one rust hole in it. This was in New York State. I remember seeing his '64 around the area for quite a few years after that.

If you were talking about '57-'59 Plymouths, I might agree with you. My father's 1961 Plymouth, that he sold when he bought the '64, stayed in the area for many years. I don't remember any rust holes appearing in it.

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

1959 DeLuxe pickup (restomod)

[studegary]

quote:Originally posted by StudeRich

Yes, you would need to trade those Plymouths off every year, because the bodies would not hang together 3 years! And you got what ya paid for!

quote:Originally posted by studegary

For price comparison, my father and I both bought new 1964 Plymouth Fury hardtops

StudeRich
Studebakers Northwest
Ferndale, WA

I was trading often then because I wanted a new car to spend a lot of time in and I was driving quite a bit then (32K miles in ten months -local roads, two counties, not Interstates).

My father kept his '64 Fury for 13 years and there was not one rust hole in it. This was in New York State. I remember seeing his '64 around the area for quite a few years after that.

If you were talking about '57-'59 Plymouths, I might agree with you. My father's 1961 Plymouth, that he sold when he bought the '64, stayed in the area for many years. I don't remember any rust holes appearing in it.

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

1959 DeLuxe pickup (restomod)

[ddub]

In 1964 I was a first year teacher driving a 53 Commander hardtop. I test drove a new Avanti. It would have taken a years pay to buy it. I settled for a '62 GT which I could afford at the time.

Don Wilson
53 Commander Hardtop
64 Champ 1/2 ton
Centralia, WA

[ddub]

In 1964 I was a first year teacher driving a 53 Commander hardtop. I test drove a new Avanti. It would have taken a years pay to buy it. I settled for a '62 GT which I could afford at the time.

Don Wilson
53 Commander Hardtop
64 Champ 1/2 ton
Centralia, WA

[StudeRich]

I was referring to all the fit and finish, trim, moldings and what seemed like tinny, rattly sheet metal. The interior and dash was loose and rattled on all of the Chrysler Prod. dad brought home which were Stude. trade ins.

All of the 1954 and older ones were solid as a rock and like all Mopars had strong engines. But you could see a marked difference in the '55-'61's body quality.

I liked my custom ordered new '76 Volare~Premere 318 c.i. Station Wagon, nice engineering, beautiful style... UNTIL I got it home and everything began falling apart! First week the rear axle seal leaked all over the brake linings, the optional locking gas cap didn't fit and I noticed all the factory screw-ups like no primer over the welds on the roof pillars and rusting through the paint[xx(]We just hammered on the Dealer until a dozen things were fixed and I put an ad in the paper when it was 6-8 months old and dumped it!

quote:Originally posted by studegary

If you were talking about '57-'59 Plymouths, I might agree with you. My father's 1961 Plymouth, that he sold when he bought the '64, stayed in the area for many years. I don't remember any rust holes appearing in it. Gary L.

StudeRich
Studebakers Northwest
Ferndale, WA

[StudeRich]

I was referring to all the fit and finish, trim, moldings and what seemed like tinny, rattly sheet metal. The interior and dash was loose and rattled on all of the Chrysler Prod. dad brought home which were Stude. trade ins.

All of the 1954 and older ones were solid as a rock and like all Mopars had strong engines. But you could see a marked difference in the '55-'61's body quality.

I liked my custom ordered new '76 Volare~Premere 318 c.i. Station Wagon, nice engineering, beautiful style... UNTIL I got it home and everything began falling apart! First week the rear axle seal leaked all over the brake linings, the optional locking gas cap didn't fit and I noticed all the factory screw-ups like no primer over the welds on the roof pillars and rusting through the paint[xx(]We just hammered on the Dealer until a dozen things were fixed and I put an ad in the paper when it was 6-8 months old and dumped it!

quote:Originally posted by studegary

If you were talking about '57-'59 Plymouths, I might agree with you. My father's 1961 Plymouth, that he sold when he bought the '64, stayed in the area for many years. I don't remember any rust holes appearing in it. Gary L.

StudeRich
Studebakers Northwest
Ferndale, WA

[studegary]

Yes, Chrysler has made some bad cars, like all of the others have. I remember Volares and Aspens (the first ones). The front fenders rusted out in the first year. On the other hand, they made some very good cars. I bought a new 1966 Charger with 361. I put 150,000 miles on it and sold it to a guy at work for his high school age son. I figured that was the end of it, but it wasn't. I saw it around for many years after that. In 150K, other than maintenance, the only repair was to replace the water pump that started to seep at 99K (the easy type of pump. like a Studebaker V8).

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

1959 DeLuxe pickup (restomod)

[studegary]

Yes, Chrysler has made some bad cars, like all of the others have. I remember Volares and Aspens (the first ones). The front fenders rusted out in the first year. On the other hand, they made some very good cars. I bought a new 1966 Charger with 361. I put 150,000 miles on it and sold it to a guy at work for his high school age son. I figured that was the end of it, but it wasn't. I saw it around for many years after that. In 150K, other than maintenance, the only repair was to replace the water pump that started to seep at 99K (the easy type of pump. like a Studebaker V8).

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

1959 DeLuxe pickup (restomod)