Read Part One of this tour of the Studebaker National Museum, with vehicles made before World War II, here.
This dramatic Lark sign–the first thing you see when you enter the Studebaker National Museum–marks the stairs leading to the museum’s collection of mostly postwar cars.
Like the downstairs gallery of older vehicles, the upstairs gallery is tightly packed. This photo of a 1952 Commander Starliner gives a good flavor of the space: cars everywhere, with narrow paths among them. The museum is also dimly lit, with bright spotlights on the vehicles, making photography a challenge.
Studebaker made trucks, of course, and this 1949 2R5 represents the first year for the 2R truck series. Designed by the Raymond Loewy studio, these were remarkably nicely styled trucks for their day. They are the best-selling Studebaker trucks ever, with almost 250,000 built during a five-year life cycle.
Since I last visited the Studebaker National Museum they’ve added a 1950 Champion to the exhibit, which they allow visitors to climb into for a photo. I handed my camera to my son and took my turn at the wheel. The goofiness of my grin is in direct proportion to how great it felt to sit there. I was surprised by how long and narrow this car felt from the driver’s seat.
A masterstroke of the Raymond Lowey studio, Studebaker’s new 1953 coupe body lived for more than a decade with various names, most of them involving Hawk. By the end, the body was heavily modified but was still the same car underneath. This 1953 Champion Starliner hardtop is perhaps this body style’s purest and best form. (CC here.)
Packards from the Studebaker-Packard years are not well represented at the Studebaker National Museum, but this 1958 Packard Hawk shows how far Studebaker was willing to stretch its meager resources to stay alive.
In 1961, you could get your Hawk with the same four-speed transmission used in the Corvette. It was also the only year you could get your Hawk in this color, which Studebaker called Flamingo. The tail fins were added in the late 1950s to be fashionable, but really, the car looked better without them.
This 1958 (I think) Hawk is parked with a few other Studebakers on a set built to resemble a Bonnie Doon drive-in restaurant. Bonnie Doon is a South Bend institution that once had several locations. My mother talks about a 1950s-60s teen cruising strip known as the “merry go-round” along South Bend’s main drag. It started downtown and turned around in the parking lot of the south-side Bonnie Doon.
One Bonnie Doon location, on Lincolnway West in Mishawaka, still operates, and Bonnie Doon vanilla ice cream is available at local supermarkets.
A prestige car meant to raise Studebaker’s stakes, the Avanti simply came too late to help the company survive. This 1963 Avanti packs a 289 CID V8 that produced 240 hp. (CC here.)
For decades, South Bend’s ambulances and police cars were Studebakers. A badge behind the front wheel well of this 1964 Pursuit Marshal announces it: This car is Avanti-powered, carrying the same engine as the ’63 Avanti above.
Meet the last regular-production Studebaker to roll off the South Bend assembly line. This 1964 Daytona is Avanti- powered, too, and also carries the special badge. It was ordered by a Pennsylvania buyer, but Studebaker sent that fellow a different car and kept this one. It has about 50 miles on the odometer. (See another ’64 here, and yet another here.)
And meet the last Studebaker, a 1966 Cruiser. Like all 1965 and 1966 Studebakers, it was built in the company’s Hamilton, Ontario plant. Company executives drove it for two years before it was placed in the company’s collection. (Read about the Canadian plant here.)
Let’s spend an extra minute with this final Stude. The interior was reasonably well appointed for the day.
Here’s this Studebaker’s engine, a Studebaker Thunderbolt V8, which was really a Canadian-built Chevrolet. It offered up 283 cubic inches.
Given that I grew up in South Bend, I remember South Bend’s post-Studebaker economy and how the city wanted to bring back good manufacturing jobs on a Studebaker scale. South Bend certainly had the manpower for it, but I assume that many of those workers ended up in the RV industry that burgeoned in neighboring Elkhart County through the 1970s and 1980s. South Bend never really recovered from Studebaker’s loss. Instead, it was forced to forge a new path, and it struggled for years trying to figure out what it should be. Some argue that South Bend never figured it out.
Tomorrow: Oddballs and rarities in the Studebaker National Museum.
Fabulous stuff, I really must go.
One nit – many don’t realize it, but the 53 Starliner (hardtop) and Starlight (pillared) coupes were not the basis for any later Lark. These coupes were completely different from the regular line of Stude coupes and sedans, and virtually no body parts interchanged. The Loewy coupes morphed into the Hawk line. Larks came from cutting down a standard Stude Champion, which was a much taller vehicle. In fact, trying to build two completely separate lines has been called one of the reasons for the badly botched 1953 launch.
The 61 Hawk has become one of my favorite cars. I have beat the drum here before, but believe it to have been the very first American production moderately-priced 4/5 place car equipped from the factory with bucket seats and a four on the floor, beating the Impala SS by a year. (The Chrysler 300F offered this also, but was horribly expensive and very rare.) One so-equipped (and painted that same Flamingo color) came up on ebay awhile back, and I was really jonesing for it.
And yes, I still carry a torch for the 64 Stude. I occasionally stumble on one online, and they are not expensive at all. Maybe after the kids are out of college . . . .
I corrected the error, Jim. And you know, South Bend’s a one-tank trip from Indianapolis…
A pretty good argument could be made for any of the Avanti-powered Studes as having been the first pony (i.e., “muscle”) car. More than one of any Big-Three cars got dusted off at a stop light by a Lark in mufti…
The 1963-64 Super Larks came with either R1 or R2 Avanti power, heavy duty 4 speed manuals, heavy suspensions and disc brakes, and were smoking fast. Certainly the fastest compacts in the land. The R2 V8 got 289 horsepower out of 289 cubic inches. Sadly, not many were made. These cars came out about a year before the GTO, which threw another 100 cubic inches at the car and made it beautiful. Still, it is arguable that the Super Lark was the first American musclecar (excluding the Chrysler 300 letter cars).
Any late ’62-’64 Studebaker, not just Larks, could be ordered with partial-to-full packages. This includes Champ pickups, as a few were ordered with R1 and R2 engines. DAGS for “Jet Thrust” or “Jet Thrust News.”
Another fan of the Hawk’s here, to the point that I even like the Packard Hawk. Yes, I love oddly styled cars. Also have a fascination for the last ’66’s. Have always thought the styling was really clean for what was obviously a desperate last gasp.
Just the same, all you need to do is to look at the interior of those ’60’s Larks (seat height, center tunnel are its painfully obvious just how outdated the body was by that point.
Next to the ’52 – is that the Packard Predictor? Always wondered what that would have looked like had they been able to tone it down into a production ’57 Packard.
Good eye — that is the Predictor. I’ll have a better photo of it for you tomorrow.
I will admit to liking the 65-66 too, but have long maintained that if I am going to have a Studebaker, it will have a Studebaker engine. But, I guess another way to look at it is that the 65-66 Stude was the only way to get a 3 speed automatic with a Chevy 283 V8. 🙂
Thanks for the photos. I did not know about this museum and now want to go next summer in connection with a day at the flea market at Shipshewanna and a pilgrimage to Cincinnati for baseball and beer.
The remnants of the Studebaker proving ground is west of South Bend on US 20. Is there anything there to see after going to the museum in the city? Is it still being used by anyone?
I have driven in that area and it is always fun to see Studebakers driving around and for sale in driveways and car lots.
The proving grounds are now part of Bendix Woods, a county park you can visit. The track itself I believe is not open to the public under normal circumstances, however.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bendix_Woods
Don’t forget to check out the Hudson museum while in Shipshewana!
Perhaps this is part of your next installment, Jim, but Studebaker made Wright Cyclone engines under license during the war… I have 3/10 hours logged in the EAA’s “Aluminum Overcast” B-17, which is Studebaker-powered (I believe two of the four engines are still Studebaker as of the latest info I found).
Unfortunately, no. The museum is dedicated to wagons and streetable motor vehicles. Well, there’s one small tractor. You’ll see that tomorrow.
The museum used to have a Wright Cyclone engine on display at their previous location.
Thanks Jim another great read.I’d forgotten how elegant the 53 Loewy design was without fins.It makes the opposition look frumpy,the Packardbaker Hawk doesn’t look as nice as it’s Studebaker relative it’s got a face like a catfish.The last Studebakers looked thoroughly modern,what a shame it had to end.
I was there at the end of June. The lighting makes it very difficult to get decent pictures, but you did a great job. The Packard Hawk was on the turntable when i was there, and it was virtually impossible to get a decent picture up there.
Great museum, and great posts!
I have had similar problems taking photos at the LeMay Museum in Tacoma, Washington. That struck me as odd given that this museum is quite new (and expensive).
This brought me wonder: Are there inherent lighting limitations given current technology? Or do they purposely limit photographic quality in order to encourage people to see their automotive collection live?
I know what you mean about the LeMay Museum. When I was there recently, the glare on the main floor ruined most of my shots. They had a really nice Kaiser Dragon and a Pontiac Nomad (Safari, I mean), both cars that I had never seen before outside of magazines, but I wasn’t able to get any good pictures on account of the glare. I had a lot better luck taking pictures downstairs where the lighting wasn’t quite so bright.
Dr Lemming I am sure the latter point has to be it. Some museums are quite dimly lit, but the lighting is always highly uneven as shown by Jim’s photos – parts of each car are lit by spotlights much more than the overall. Maybe also to sell copies of posters, books etc with professional photography?
Love that museum. The Bonnie Doon exhibit is pretty neat. Last time I was in South Bend the museum even had a Lark in the airport as part of a Mr Ed tv show display.
Other than Notre Dame, and the Studebaker museum, I don’t think South Bend has a “there” there.
The golf of the President’s Cup came on at 5a.m. here on the west coast. While waiting for it, I stumbled upon a truly bizarre episode of a weird TV show – Mr. Ed. The premise was that Ed could advise the LA Dodgers on baseball technique. Yes, it showed a horse with a baseball bat in his mouth. The actual players were featured – Sandy K, John Roseboro, Leo Durocher, etc. While my body attempted to get the medication and caffeine to work, my mind twisted trying to ponder what they were thinking. Then, to my surprise, the credits showed “cars supplied by Studebaker Motor Company”. This had to be within one year of shutdown. I guess they went down swinging?
The FAMOUS Mr. Ed coached Sandy Koufax? I need to see that one.
If Mr. Ed were alive today he’d only blog when he had something to say. Not very net-savvy.
BTW, did you know that Richard Nixon was the voice of Mr. Ed?
Mr. Ed was voiced by western movie actor Alan “Rocky” Lane…who did sound a lot like Richard M. Nixon, now that you mention it.
If that wasn’t Richard Nixon, how come no one ever saw him and Mr. Ed in the same room at the same time?
Last fall we did the Elkhart County Heritage trail along with the Stude museum and ended up at the Auburn museum. A great way to spend a few days and something for everyone. Oh and don’t forget the museum next to Auburn with a basement full of older original work trucks. Paul, you would love it.
There are too many museums to see them all, but we did see the Auburn Cord Duesenberg and National Auto & Truck Museum back in June. The latter had a wide range of displays, the trucks in the basement were interesting and they had other areas of specialisation like a wide range of Checkers. The ACD museum lived up to its reputation – one of the best museums I’ve been too.
Perhaps I will make it to the Studebaker museum one day.
Great subject and photos. This is a great museum. I have not been there in several years.
Out of towners might want to take a short drive (25 miles or so) to Elkhart to see the RV/MH hall of fame too.
Just noticed the hood springs on the 1966 , they are like the type that hold up the trunk doors on older and recent cars I always liked the larks
I too visited that museum when in town for work many years ago. A great museum, very well done.