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Postwar Studebakers

2061 messages,  Last post on May 19, 2013 at 11:06 AM

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What is this discussion about? Classic Cars, Coupe, Convertible, Truck, Sedan, Wagon

Messages Page 179 of 207

#1773 of 2061 Re: Today's "Click and Clack" column [uplanderguy] by jljac

Jan 05, 2013 (9:45 am)

Replying to: uplanderguy (Jan 05, 2013 7:21 am)
The guys in the article worry too much about the reliability of Studebakers. I made many trips of 200-300 miles (each way) in my 1955 Commander after it was 40 years old and found out about this site because Andys120 posted an image of it at this forum. link title Note how Mr. Shiftright says, "It was a pretty fast car for its day."
 
That image was taken in 2005 on the 50th anniversary of the James Dean crash at Cholame, California on September 30, 1955. The car was 50 years old when I made that trip and it was 103 degrees when we passed through Bakersfiled, CA on the same route that James Dean took. I made that trip in the Commander five times, while James Dean only made it once in a Porsche, and that was a one-way trip.
 
I do carry some tools and extra parts (fuel pump, breaker points, water pump, duct tape) only had to use the breaker points on a trip. I also carry a Studebaker Driver's Club roster so I can call someone for help if I break down. It is like having an Auto Club membership.
 
I also recently posted a picture of the Commander in Las Vegas around 1995. I made at least 5 trips there over the past 15 years, which is 290 miles from my home.. This is an article about my friends from Brea CA, who drove their '55 Commander to the Studebaker meet in South Bend in 2007.link title The only thing the broke down was an electric fuel pump that he added before the trip to stay on the safe side.

#1774 of 2061 Some pics of a pleasant day memory for me by uplanderguy

Jan 11, 2013 (9:08 am)

A friend in the Studebaker Drivers' Club passed a couple days ago, about 90 miles from here. While finding something to post about him on the club forum, I came across this link from the 2009 old car show in my little hometown of Greenville, PA (the one which I saw the largest industry in town just move away when NAFTA was signed). The fellow had a beautiful '64 Daytona convertible, but also had a handsome, bone-stock low-line Lark Wagonaire, '63, red, which he drove the couple hours up to this show for on that day. He was a great guy.
 
http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?23768-Greenville-PA-trip-o- - - - n-Drive-Your-Studebaker-Day&highlight=greenville+car+show
 
Post no. 22 has a picture of my old Skytop Lark that I really like and had forgotten about...one can see the optional 'tinted glass, all windows' (like old Coke bottles!) in the pic, as well as the brushed-metal air cleaner that was part of the Avanti R1 engine option.
 
Here's what the front-fender badge looks like--script mimics that on the Avanti--this badge not seen on many Larks or Hawks in '63:
 
http://www.studebakerparts.com/studebakerparts/store/s/agora.cgi?product=misc3c&- - next=60&xm=on
 
Also in the first link is a pic of the old Studebaker dealer in my hometown. They also sold M-B and in front of me now is a 1958 color 8 by 10 of the building with a new dark green Stude pickup out front, and a neon M-B 'tristar' neon light in the one showroom window.

#1775 of 2061 Old Cars Price Guide by uplanderguy

Jan 15, 2013 (5:24 am)

I've often joked with other Stude guys that the OCPG lists a four-door sedan Cruiser as worth more than a Daytona Hardtop, which is not 'real world' at all. I saw the other day that they also list a "solid roof" Wagonaire as a premium. What a joke! The first thing somebody says when they want a Studebaker wagon of that era is, "it has to be a 'slider'"!

#1776 of 2061 Re: Today's "Click and Clack" column [jljac] by uplanderguy

Jan 16, 2013 (6:38 am)

Replying to: jljac (Jan 05, 2013 9:45 am)
jl, I remember seeing that very yellow '55 Commander outside the Studebaker National Museum in '07. Even then I heard the buzz that an older fellow from CA had driven it the whole way out.

#1777 of 2061 Record price set for an R2 Avanti at Barrett-Jackson by uplanderguy

Jan 19, 2013 (6:02 pm)

Replying to: uplanderguy (Jan 16, 2013 6:38 am)
Beautiful restored-as-factory specimen, serial no. 1004 (fourth production car)--sold for $74.8K:
 
http://www.goodingco.com/car/1963-studebaker-avanti

#1778 of 2061 Re: Record price set for an R2 Avanti at Barrett-Jackson [uplanderguy] by fintail

Jan 19, 2013 (8:03 pm)

Replying to: uplanderguy (Jan 19, 2013 6:02 pm)
I wonder how much more than that it cost to restore.

#1779 of 2061 Re: Record price set for an R2 Avanti at Barrett-Jackson [fintail] by uplanderguy

Jan 20, 2013 (3:47 am)

Replying to: fintail (Jan 19, 2013 8:03 pm)
Good point. There's a lot more NOS and reproduction stuff available for Studebakers than a lot of folks think, though, but still...that looks to me to be a top-notch restoration.
 
The photographer must have had the camera about laying on the ground, but on a white car, the lack of grille from that angle is unattractive I think. Just walking around the car, you wouldn't notice. Still, later '63's had a grille installed there.
 
For a long time, I didn't like the square glass headlight covers of the '64 model or the woodgrain wheel and trim inside, but then a friend got one last year and from the photos, I'm thinking maybe I like the '64 better. But I'll see a clean '63 like this and my mind changes again. I don't know.

#1780 of 2061 Re: Record price set for an R2 Avanti at Barrett-Jackson [uplanderguy] by uplanderguy

Jan 20, 2013 (4:48 am)

Replying to: uplanderguy (Jan 20, 2013 3:47 am)
Man, I just 'bit' to register for free to see the rest of that Avanti's pics, and I am in love! I don't believe I've seen one as completely authentic as that, other than one shown by a fellow named Richard Vaux--a turquoise '64 that he had at South Bend this year--and he is an authenticity expert supposedly.
 
That interior is not red under a light, it's the factory orange interior!
 
That got discontinued somewhere in the '63 run. I know a gold car with that interior not real far from here!

#1781 of 2061 Re: Record price set for an R2 Avanti at Barrett-Jackson [uplanderguy] by uplanderguy

Jan 20, 2013 (5:25 am)

Replying to: uplanderguy (Jan 20, 2013 4:48 am)
Found a pic of Richard Vaux and his very authentic '64 Avanti in Turquoise, image no. 32:
 
http://www.hemmings.com/hmn/stories/2011/10/01/hmn_feature6.html#PhotoSwipe13586- 84666982
 
I know they're not practical, but I love seeing bias-plys on old cars!

#1782 of 2061 Re: Record price set for an R2 Avanti at Barrett-Jackson [uplanderguy] by jljac

Jan 20, 2013 (7:50 am)

Replying to: uplanderguy (Jan 20, 2013 4:48 am)
Here is an excellent slide show of the white Studebaker Avanti owned by Dick Van Dyke. http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/dick-van-dyke-s-studebaker-avanti-at-los-angel- es-county-art-museum . It seems to have his original California license plates on it. It has the burgundy red interior. The one I owned looked just like it.

Messages Page 179 of 207

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