1955 Speedster (dogs) not such a “hot” seller (memos from Nance and Churchill)

[Studebaker Wheel]

[StudeRich]

#1 and 2 confirms what a lot of us here already knew, '55's were Dogs! You heard it from the top.

In #3, Looks like the Gibson Co. had some very fancy Company Cars!

[57pack]

I guess they were just yesterday's news and not many were interested. They were very different than the all new 1956 models.
Perfect time to buy a new Speedster on the cheap though. Our local dealer, Mathis Motors sold his last new Studebaker in stock in 1968.

[raprice]

Wow, that's remarkable. That's the car many of us lust after and they cost big bucks to buy now. Go figure.
Rog

[PackardV8]

Wow, that's remarkable. That's the car many of us lust after and they cost big bucks to buy now. Go figure.

Not really. It was pretty much the way it was with most of the performance models. Marketing guys knew the "halo" models built showroom traffic, even if they didn't sell many. GM couldn't give away early Corvettes. The Chrysler 300s got showroom traffic but few sales. The Hawk would have been canceled in '59, but the dealers knew it was the only thing bringing lookers. Mopar built way more hemis, Superbirds than the market would bear and they sat in showrooms for months after model change.

It is only years later the low production high performance models find their following. R3s come to mind.

jack viens

[Andy R.]

I wonder if that third photo was taken at Gibson Motors (Studebaker) in Mansfield, Ohio.

If so, that was where my grandfather bought a '55 President State. I remember Dad telling me it was in the Spring of 1956. It was languishing in a corner indoors because they didn't want it out on the lot with the newer '56 models. Fortunately he preferred the '55 AND getting a great deal. WIN-WIN!

My grandmother preferred a C-K. If she'd found out the discounts were offered on those also, well... she could be very persuasive. A Speedster would have been a lot of flash for the owner of a small rural general store.

[14x7]

Thanks for posting this , I'll have to go look at my build sheet , for my 55 president.....

[Studebaker Wheel]

I wonder if that third photo was taken at Gibson Motors (Studebaker) in Mansfield, Ohio.

If so, that was where my grandfather bought a '55 President State. I remember Dad telling me it was in the Spring of 1956. It was languishing in a corner indoors because they didn't want it out on the lot with the newer '56 models. Fortunately he preferred the '55 AND getting a great deal. WIN-WIN!

My grandmother preferred a C-K. If she'd found out the discounts were offered on those also, well... she could be very persuasive. A Speedster would have been a lot of flash for the owner of a small rural general store.

The photo was taken in South Bend, Indiana just across the street from the Freeman-Spicer Studebaker dealership.

[Bill Pressler]

Similarly, new Packard Caribbeans often languished. Their production orders will show an A, B, C, etc., for how many times it had been assigned to a zone or dealer. Quite a few, IIRC, had B or C noted. As expensive as they were, you'd think they could move 500 of anything. The one my local dealer sold was factory stock although our dealer put the "Custom Built for...." plaque on the dash.

[DEEPNHOCK]

Question....
Were the majority of the unsold models Lemon/Lime color?

[r1lark]

Put yourself in the place of a new car buyer in early 1956 - if you wanted a 'sporty' Studebaker, why would you buy last years news when you could have a '56 Golden Hawk with a Packard V8? As Nance said, by early 1956 these cars were obsolete.

[8E45E]

If there were that many left over in inventory, they were sure building them very late in the model year as per Post #4 here: http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.c...one-Speedsters I wonder why they were still building them up to the point of producing at least one in a 1956 color combination.

Craig

[studefan]

I noticed the difference in whitewall widths on the Speedsters in the picture. It's interesting that the cars with the dark color on top had the wider whitewalls. The cars with dark on the bottom all had the narrower whitewalls. I wonder if this was a coincidence or intentional from the factory?

[56H-Y6]

Hi

Nance was very familiar with leftover, hard-to-move expensive models: both the '53 and '54 Packard Caribbean convertibles ended their selling seasons with significant numbers of leftovers as the new model year cars arrived. Dealer discounts and financial assistance was allotted to clear those out. As noted, they helped generate showroom traffic but inventory control seemed to have been poorly managed, too optimistic when initial strong sales were taken to mean continued strong demand. For those who weren't "early adapters" who had to have the latest first, those leftovers were a considerable bargain. In retrospect: special to us now; a headache to the company, zones and dealers then.

Steve

[8E45E]

In late 1954, that was all Packard had to sell were 1954 models, and they weren't 'leftovers'. Packard missed the important September new-car-intros, and didn't have any new 1955's available until January of that year.

Craig