Lawsuit Against Studebaker Dropped

[studemax]

The taking control, not actually buying, of Pierce Arrow in 1928 didn't help either. When Studebaker sold their interests in Pierce Arrow they took a big financial hit.

Joe, you're in the SDC, so you probably know this....

The gubmint offered Studebaker the money to buy Ford Motor Company at the end of WWII.... And Studebaker turned them down.
Volkswagen offered Studebaker the chance to be the American distributor in 1949.... And Studebaker turned them down.
In 1963 Datsun and Isuzu offered to build cars in Canada for Studebaker, and put Studebaker badging on them.... And Studebaker turned them down.

Studebaker management was downright STOOPID at the dumbest times... Pierce Arrow was small potatos compared these 3 examples.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Studebaker's design was always ahead of the curve; problem was, like even the AMC Eagle, being first to market usually means first to bankruptcy because no one knows that is what they want....

Yes, imagine what the mustang could have been....

[SuperBuickGuy]

Yes, imagine what the mustang could have been....

"usually means" don't you just hate it when you go to troll but it turns out that what you read wasn't what it said?

of course, the folks over at Pontiac may wish a word with you.

[Gateclyve Photographic]

Yes, imagine what the mustang could have been....

LOL.

Yet technically Mustang wasn't first . . . Just first with something that didn't stink . . .

Several others chased the sporty "youth market" before the legendary pony car, including Corvair Monza (oversteering into a ditch near you), Studebaker Avanti (although some would argue this fiberglass rebodied Lark was a "personal luxury" car or even a "sports car"), and even the "fishbowl" Plymouth Barracuda . . which beat the Mustang to market by a couple of weeks . . . Thank goodness we have "pony cars" and not "fishy cars" . . . .

To the list of horribles we should add the Studebaker-Packard Corporation's part-out of the proud and somewhat more fiscally sound heritage of Packard . . . and the controversial management of S-PC by Curtiss-Wright Corporation (My apologies if you're a fan of the "Packard-bakers")

Of course back in the day, nearly every kid had a free STP sticker on their notebook or school book covers . . . great marketing plan for what was probably useless snake oil.

Now I guess the world is safe for STP's brilliant return . . . Maybe the King will come out of retirement too . . . Even at his age, the King couldn't tear up more equipment or complain more than Bubba Wallace does . . .

[SuperBuickGuy]

Several others chased the sporty "youth market" before the legendary pony car, including Corvair Monza (oversteering into a ditch near you),

Because no one takes it in the tail better then the Germans and their 911s.

and it's pronounced Utes, not youtheze.

[Gateclyve Photographic]

Zees not a product defect . . . zees is feature . . . . Seriously, we don't want to awaken and inflame the "PORCH-UH" crowd, do we?


Yes, the 1950s were a more elegant time . . . And no, that giant feed bag she's helfting isn't loaded with cash looted from Packard . . . .

[JRoberts]

Joe, you're in the SDC, so you probably know this....

The gubmint offered Studebaker the money to buy Ford Motor Company at the end of WWII.... And Studebaker turned them down.
Volkswagen offered Studebaker the chance to be the American distributor in 1949.... And Studebaker turned them down.
In 1963 Datsun and Isuzu offered to build cars in Canada for Studebaker, and put Studebaker badging on them.... And Studebaker turned them down.

Studebaker management was downright STOOPID at the dumbest times... Pierce Arrow was small potatos compared these 3 examples.

Yeh management was really off base most of the time throughout Studebaker's history. Even their association with Mercedes as the sole distributor for them in the U.S. was fraught with problems. By-the-way had you ever heard that a team from Studebaker was sent to Germany to address Mercedes's poor quality control? Basically this problem was in the lower models not the high dollar sports cars.

[silver_bullet]

Because no one takes it in the tail better then the Germans and their 911s.

and it's pronounced Utes, not youtheze.

My Cousin Vinnie takes a stand!

[studemax]

Yeh management was really off base most of the time throughout Studebaker's history.

Since Porsche was mentioned, do you suppose that now would be a good time to tell that them that Studebaker and Porsche were working on a four door sedan to be powered by an aircooled V6 in Europe and a water cooled V8 in America? YES! They built 4 prototypes which were driven here and over the pond, but when Studebaker and Packard merged, that all went out the window....


By the way - the lady pictured in the white and gold Studebaker? That was a very rare Golden Hawk 400 built in 1957 - Studebaker only built 41 of these ultra-luxury Hawk models. Note the "trim" next to the rear window? That's leather. They had a matching padded elbow trim below each window on the door. The whole interior was matching leather.

[Gateclyve Photographic]

Special Interest Autos did a story years ago on the aborted Studebaker Porsche sedan. http://www.hemmings.com/blog/2008/06...er-by-porsche/

By the way - the lady pictured in the white and gold Studebaker? That was a very rare Golden Hawk 400 built in 1957 - Studebaker only built 41 of these ultra-luxury Hawk models. Note the "trim" next to the rear window? That's leather. They had a matching padded elbow trim below each window on the door. The whole interior was matching leather.

Interesting.

The photo was taken by notable fashion photographer Karen Radkai (1919-2003), who worked for Vogue magazine in the 1950s and 1960s. Conde Nast, which sells several print versions of this beautiful image, says the car is a 1958 Packard Hawk. I have no knowledge one way or the other.

Some of the things I find interesting about Radkai's photo are the completely unnatural, yet elegant pose (what is she sitting on?) and that she's posed as ostensibly getting out of the car (whatever kind it is) with her legs crossed .. . . I doubt anyone could actually stand up with their legs like that. Also the high angle composition emphasizes the lines of both the auto and its occupant.

There's a companion photo from this shoot where the model is looking back with the car door open and her face is reflected in a circular mirror (likely a makeup "compact") . . . but sadly the fin script is unreadable in that photo as well.

My dusty recollection of the Golden Hawk 400 on display at the Studebaker Museum in South Bend, IN is that it has four slashes on each fin where the gold script is on this one. But it's been years since I visited the museum. I took some snapshots, but who knows where I put them.

Mavis Beacon out . . . .