Studebaker Alert!

[THE PILGRIM]

I was just driving my GD home from an after school choir practice.
We were stopped at a redlight on Academy in NE Albuquerque.
I looked over in the right lane and saw a low to the ground multi - colored car.
I let it go ahead of me at the green so I could see it.
It was a Studebaker apparently junkyard assembled from several cars.
I yelled at my GD look at that Studebaker!
Have you ever seen one before?
She gives me that Grandpa is losing it look.
Then I tell her they were built in South Bend.
Her Grandma is from Vincennes.
It was one of these types, I think.

 

[model70hunter]

A car ahead of it's time.

The Avanti was on my want list as a youngster. It held the land speed record for a while which is why my Dad would have held the NO! NO! NO! record.

 

[hannstv]

I used to have a lust for a Golden Hawk. Studebaker had such sex lines. I seem to remember there was a small industry of putting small block Chevys in them.

 

[jrm53]

That 53 Studebaker was the neatest car, it was designed by Raymond Lowry. The joke going around back then was not to leave the windows down because a dog might mark the seats because they were so low. When I met my wife she had a 58 Silver Hawk. My father-in-law used to say the biggest mistake they ever made was taking the tounge out of their wagons and building cars. I had a 47 Sudebaker starlite coupe when I was in the 11th grade. NOTE the red stude in gripmakerswife post #21 I believe is a 51 starlite coupe like my 1947 as the rear winds wraped almost to the doors. Jeff

 

[arjay]

One of the few new cars I remember my folks buying was a '64 Lark

 

[Old TexMex]

That 53 Studebaker was the neatest car, it was designed by Raymond Lowry. The joke going around back then was not to leave the windows down because a dog might mark the seats because they were so low. When I met my wife she had a 58 Silver Hawk. My father-in-law used to say the biggest mistake they ever made was taking the toung out of their wagons and building cars. I had a 47 Sudebaker starlite coupe when I was in the 11th grade. Jeff

Cool car.
My wedding coach in New Orleans, 1979 was a fully restored '48 Starlight coupe!
I owned a 59 commander that was a pretty nice car. Had a (fairly) big V8 and automatic.
(Might have been a 58. Somewhere around the time they moved to Canada. It was a box with no fins. Ugly green with cop hubcaps)

No pictures, solly.

 

[old bear]

Pilgrim,
the photo you posted is of a Golden Hawk. If I remember they had the V-8 engine and factory super charging was either standard or an option.

The Avanti was a two sports type car.

No matter what they are/were interesting cars.

Added comment:

Pilgrim, I stand corrected, thanks.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Pilgrim,
the photo you posted is of a Golden Hawk. If I remember they had the V-8 engine and factory super charging was either standard or an option.

The Avanti was a two sports type car.

No matter what they are/were interesting cars.

Probably not!
Notice that the Golden Hawk has a prominent grill and fins.
The car I saw, most likely an earlier Stud, probably a 53-54. It was swooped down smooth - front and rear.
And it could be a mix of 53-54, it certainly was built with different color body parts.
It has several colors, including rust.
Definitely a work in progress.
If I get a chance, I will take a picture.

 

[Marshwheeling]

A stepbrother had a Lark VIII that he used in our high school carpool. It was refrigerator white, with a 289 V8 and 3-speed column shifter. It was light, deceptively fast and physically unprepossessing. We embarrassed a lot of supposedly faster cars.

 

[Longhorn1986]

Always liked the old Studbusters! They weren't common, but weren't rare, when I was a kid.

Used a see a fair few of the Avanti II, which were new issues using the old tooling.

Avanti (car - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

 

[jimmyj]

That 53 Studebaker was the neatest car, it was designed by Raymond Lowry. The joke going around back then was not to leave the windows down because a dog might mark the seats because they were so low. When I met my wife she had a 58 Silver Hawk. My father-in-law used to say the biggest mistake they ever made was taking the toung out of their wagons and building cars. I had a 47 Sudebaker starlite coupe when I was in the 11th grade. Jeff

My Father's opinion :" They should have stuck with building wagons, as they made a great wagon"

 

[DWalt]

My very first car was a battleship gray '51 Studebaker. I don't remember the model (Champion maybe?), but it was the bottom of the line. I learned a lot keeping it running, but it was easy to work on, as were most cars from that era. It had a standard transmission with a "Hill Holder". Quiz - how many know what that is? It also had some sort of overdrive, but it didn't work and I never used it.

 

[Chuck24]

That 53 Studebaker was the neatest car, it was designed by Raymond Lowry. The joke going around back then was not to leave the windows down because a dog might mark the seats because they were so low. When I met my wife she had a 58 Silver Hawk. My father-in-law used to say the biggest mistake they ever made was taking the toung out of their wagons and building cars. I had a 47 Sudebaker starlite coupe when I was in the 11th grade. Jeff

Raymond Loewy

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

On the Golden hawk with the 3 spd on the collum...When in 3rd gear..pull the gear shift knob out & pull down.....VIOLA!....Overdrive!

....Does knowing this make me old?........

 

[rburg]

When I was young, Roger Corrado's mom drove one of the B29 models. I have no idea what the correct name was, but it looked like a Bomber with those windows. There were a few times over the years when we rode with her. Always an experience. Then someone discovered she never had a drivers license. She still did better than my own mother. Rolling fear.

OK, so a guy up on top of the hill has an Avanti. I don't know if its an original or one of the repro's. In nice weather he cruises around in it.

Then about 1987 we were on a Jeep outing out in Empire, CO. We got a motel in Idaho Springs and were walking the town, looking. There in a driveway was a Studebaker pickup truck. In my limited experience, I'd never seen or heard of one. But there it was, parked and apparently capable of being driven.

Then 2 years ago we were up at Whites flea market in Brookville, IN. Pulling out in front of me was another. It sure seemed to drive well enough to get the occupants around. Live and learn.

 

[Alpo]

One of the few new cars I remember my folks buying was a '64 Lark

We had a 64 Lark. Probably also bought new, as we had it when I was in 5th grade, so that was '65. Fourdoor. Kinda a camel **** brown color.

 

[Fishslayer]

A car ahead of it's time.

The Avanti was on my want list as a youngster. It held the land speed record for a while which is why my Dad would have held the NO! NO! NO! record.

LOL... my first thought was "Looks nice. Wouldn't look too out of place today."

 

[SW MP15]

When I started the first grade in 1960 at DuPont Elementary School there was a Studebaker Dealer in Old Hickory Tennessee. Our school bus went by it everyday. It was an old stone building. I can remember it like it was yesterday. There was always a few new Studebakers setting out front. And there to be serviced. I can remember the signage on the front of the building, as well. We moved to Mt Juliet in 62 and I don't remember seeing it after that. It must have closed in 62-63?

A true piece of American Automobile History!

 

[BUFF]

A few years back, mebbe 10, I responded on an auto accident up in our foothills. Teenage girl parked her stick shift Toyota sedan in her parents' driveway and didn't use the park brake. It rolled down the steep driveway, across the street, down the neighbors' steep driveway, through their garage door and smacked into the neighbor's brand new looking Avanti parked inside. Well, it looked brand new before it got smashed up! White, they said one of the last years they were made in the U.S. Brick attached garage, Avanti sandwiched between the Toyota and the rear wall. I was really surprised at how smashed up it was. Avanti owner looked ready to cry.

Secretary at work and her husband have a Studebaker Hawk, two-tone gold. Beautiful car, had some great style. A coworker has his granddad's Studebaker pickup up on blocks as a project. Body parts and trim re rare to find. He's had it 'in progress' for probably 25 years.

They built some interesting vehicles, lots of heavy trucks during WWII.

Didn't they have some link to Rambler and Nash?

 

[muddocktor]

Your picture you posted is of a 1953 Studebaker Commander Starliner. A pretty nice looking car, if I must say.

My first car was a 1963 Studebaker Lark and had a V8 and auto tranny. You could start it in gear too, which meant meant you could be rolling as soon as it cranked up. It also had an AC too. My Grandma gave me the car in 1973 when Grandpa bought her a new Olds Cutlass 4 door.