Mutts...let's see 'em!

[hausdok]

I dunno,

I get a sort of hearse vibe from its appearance.

[Jerry Forrester]

Joe Bacon's old roadster.

[WinM1895]

Nope, it didn't come from that wagon. It came from the Maserati 3500GT Allemano. A S-P bigwig took his family to Europe for vacation, fell in love with the 3500GT and then came back and instructed staff to build him a one-off that resembled it. They didn't have any money or much to work with so they decided to modify a K body. In the middle of that process the marketing types stuck their nose in and decided that it should go into production and they wouldn't keep their fingers out of the pudding. By the time the P.H. finally rolled off the line it didn't look much like what the designers were originally going for. That's the story in a nutshell as told by one of the designers that worked on the PH.

The "Studebaker" bigwig was probably Roy Hurley of Curtiss-Wright who is known as 'the father of the Packard Hawk.'

[PlainBrownR2]

I like the story on why there's only 588 of them running around. 500 of them were sent to the major dealers around the country, guess how many the customers actually ordered? The majority of them running around now were the dealer's promos. Every major dealer had to carry at least one. The story was similar to the selling of Ford's Model K!

[8E45E]

Nope, it didn't come from that wagon. I think it would be cool to find those sketches and build the P.H. that the designers wanted instead of the one they ended up with.

Here is a scale model of an S-P concept wagon with a similar grille:



Craig

[avantilover]

This looks better because the grille is full width. Yes, it was Roy Hurley who wanted the car which became the Packard Hawk.

[56H-Y6]

Hi

The cowl to front axle-line dimension is shorter on the Lark than 1958 and earlier models, therefore direct front clip interchanges aren't possible. The mix-'n-match that is possible is swaping front clips between the '53 to '58 sedan and wagon models. Frankly, any '56 to '58 fitted with a '53-'55 front is a real stylistic mismatch "mutt".

But, If a '56-'57 front was fitted to a '53-'55 Y-body Land Cruiser/President State sedan, it would be one great looking Studebaker! Keep the sides clean of all trim except rocker and wheel-lip mouldings, and graft a Hawk decklid shell onto the decklid frame to complete the luxury car looks. Notice I didn't include the '58 front, it only goes well with flairing, ungainly tacked-on fins!

Steve

[SN-60]

I like the story on why there's only 588 of them running around. 500 of them were sent to the major dealers around the country, guess how many the customers actually ordered? The majority of them running around now were the dealer's promos. Every major dealer had to carry at least one. The story was similar to the selling of Ford's Model K!

I would not doubt that the above story is in all probability.......True.

[scott.rodgers]

Some pix from my collection (of pictures, not cars!):

[SN-60]

Some pix from my collection (of pictures, not cars!):

The raised rear face bar really does look good on that Daytona convertible!

[hausdok]

Scott,

Help me out. I'm not very familiar with the Lark-like Studes. What's going on in pictures 3 through 5 that makes them mutts?

[pinehurstbob]

Picture 3 has 66 tail lights and non standard back up lights as well as the bumper raised up from stock 64, 65 & 66 location. I think I read somewhere that these were potential design changes that were never produced. Picture 4 has a 66 grille in a 63.
Bob
64 Daytona
60 Lark Convert

[8E45E]

Help me out. I'm not very familiar with the Lark-like Studes. What's going on in pictures 3 through 5 that makes them mutts?

Now, THESE are "Mutts"!!







Craig

[mapman]

this the kind of stuff you're looking for?

[StudeRich]

Picture 4 has a 66 grille in a 63.

The whole nose is '66, as is the drive train.